Bullfrog Productions Limited was a British video game developer based in Guildford, England. Founded in 1987 by Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar, the company gained recognition in 1989 for their third release, Populous, and is also well known for titles such as Theme Park, Theme Hospital, Magic Carpet, Syndicate and Dungeon Keeper. Bullfrog's name was derived from an ornament in the offices of Edgar's and Molyneux's other enterprise, Taurus Impact Systems, Bullfrog's precursor where Molyneux and Edgar were developing business software. Bullfrog Productions was founded as a separate entity after Commodore mistook Taurus for a similarly named company.
Electronic Arts, Bullfrog's publisher, acquired the studio in January 1995. Molyneux had become an Electronic Arts vice-president and consultant in 1994, after EA purchased a significant share of Bullfrog. Molyneux's last project with Bullfrog was Dungeon Keeper, and as a result of his dissatisfaction of the corporate aspects of his position, he left the company in July 1997 to found Lionhead Studios. Others would follow him to Lionhead, and some founded their own companies, such as Mucky Foot Productions. After Molyneux's departure, Electronic Arts' control over Bullfrog caused several projects to be cancelled. Bullfrog was merged into EA UK in 2001 and ceased to exist as a separate entity. Bullfrog titles have been looked upon as a standard for comparison and have spawned numerous spiritual sequels.
Peter Molyneux, co-founder of Bullfrog Productions, in 2010
In 1982, entrepreneur Peter Molyneux met Les Edgar at an audio electronics shop called PJ Hi-Fi.[3] When Molyneux left the company where he was working, Edgar suggested that they start a new one,[3][4] which would later develop business software for the Commodore 64 as Taurus Impact Systems (also known as Taurus Software).[5][4] The new company was named after Molyneux and Edgar's shared astrological sign, the Taurus.[5] At some point, Molyneux accepted a deal to export money systems to Switzerland and baked beans to the Middle East.[3]
One day, Taurus received a call from the head of Commodore Europe, wanting to discuss the future of the Amiga and Taurus' software's suitability for the system.[3][4] Molyneux was invited to Commodore Europe's headquarters, where he was offered several Amiga systems and a space at a show in Germany.[3][4] When Molyneux was told that they were anticipating getting his network running on the Amiga, he realised that they had mistaken his company for one called Torus, a producer of networking systems.[3][4] Molyneux wanted the Amiga systems, so he did not inform Commodore of this error.[4] He received them and began writing a database program called Acquisition.[3] Commodore kept asking about the database, and Molyneux gave them excuses because they were threatening to shut Taurus down.[3] When Acquisition was finished, it was shown at the exhibition in Germany, and won product of the year. 2,000 copies were sold to a company in the United States, giving Molyneux and Edgar funds to sustain Taurus.[3]
Another program Taurus wrote was a computer-aided design (CAD) package called X-CAD.[5] They knew the Amiga was becoming a gaming machine, and a friend of Molyneux's asked him to convert Druid II: Enlightenment from the Commodore 64 to the Amiga.[3] According to Edgar, it was around this time Bullfrog was founded in preparation for the day when Acquisition was no longer important and they could focus on games.[6] Bullfrog was originally a brand of Taurus; Molyneux explained that this was because they wanted to avoid confusion over business software and money-making opportunities.[3]
The name came from an ornament of a bullfrog located in the office:[5] when asked by Joystick why the name "Bullfrog" was chosen, Molyneux stated that they wanted "an idiotic name" without having to find one, and there happened to be a sculpture of a colourful frog on a pedestal labelled "Bull Frog by Leonardo" on the table.[7] Afterwards, Molyneux and Edgar were running out of money, and Edgar suggested they close the company down.[3] It was at this point when Molyneux came up with the idea of Populous.[3] The conversion of Druid II: Enlightenment, Populous, and a shoot 'em up game called Fusion were the first games developed under the Bullfrog brand.[6]
Early success (1989–1995)
Populous was difficult to publish at first due to a lack of recognition—the god genre was, according to Bullfrog, "misunderstood by everyone".[8] Despite this, Electronic Arts was willing to publish the game.[6] Molyneux did not expect it to be successful,[3] yet in 1989, the game received 10 awards, and another 12 the following year, with sales reaching one million copies.[8] It ultimately sold four million copies.[6] Edgar took note of the game's success and gave developers such as Imagineer licences to create ports for platforms such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Sega Mega Drive, which enabled the game to gain traction in Japan.[9][10]
After Populous, Bullfrog moved into the Surrey Research Park and had around 20 employees.[6] Bullfrog was starting to gain a reputation, so people started to want to work for the company.[3] Molyneux searched for staff himself, and employed artists and programmers.[3] He travelled to universities, including Cambridge, where he offered computer scientists and banks the chance to come to the gaming industry.[3]
Bullfrog's Powermonger was developed as a result of pressure from Electronic Arts for a follow-up to Populous. and was released in 1990.[6][11] The game won multiple Best Strategy Game awards,[8] including one from Computer Gaming World (as did Populous).[4] The direct sequel to Populous, Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods, was released the following year and sold over a million copies.[6][11] In late 1993, Bullfrog worked with researchers from the University of Surrey, who were nearby their offices, to study the movement and behaviour of underwater life so Bullfrog could reproduce it in the game Creation.[7]
By the mid-1990s, Bullfrog had become well known for innovation and quality.[12][13] A 1995 article in GamePro stated that "Bullfrog's work has been termed some of the most innovative by industry leaders, and it's pioneered different genres of software."[14] The same year, Next Generation similarly asserted that "Bullfrog has earned a reputation as one of the most consistently innovative and imaginative development teams in the world."[15] In July 1995, Edge stated that Bullfrog had "an unparalleled reputation for quality and innovation",[13] and by that year, Bullfrog were "rightly considered one of the most innovative in the world", according to GamesTM.[16]
In 1994, three games were in development: Creation, Theme Park, and Magic Carpet. Bullfrog focused on implementing multiplayer in all three games; Molyneux believed that multiplayer was more important than the compact disc (CD) format.[12]Theme Park and Magic Carpet were released that year,[8] the latter being the best-selling CD game that Christmas and winning Game of the Year awards in the United Kingdom and Germany.[8]Theme Park proved popular in Japan and was a best-seller in Europe.[4][17] During the development of Theme Park, artist Gary Carr left Bullfrog following a disagreement with Molyneux on the game: Molyneux wanted gaily coloured graphics that would appeal to the Japanese market, but Carr disapproved, believing it would not work.[11][18] Carr joined The Bitmap Brothers, returning to Bullfrog in 1995 to work on Dungeon Keeper, although he ended up working as the lead artist on Theme Hospital instead.[19]
In November 1994, Bullfrog began development for Dungeon Keeper.[20] By then, the company had been approached many times to develop games around film licences.[21]McDonald's approached Bullfrog at some point for a joint game venture.[21] By mid-1995, Bullfrog was focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and had a dedicated AI team working at its offices.[13] Two AI techniques, Personality Mapping and Skeletal Mapping, were developed.[13]
Acquisition by Electronic Arts and Molyneux's departure (1995–1998)
According to Edgar, Bullfrog began merger talks with Electronic Arts in 1993.[6] To get the best deal, he believed Bullfrog should also talk with other companies such as Sony and Virgin.[6] He explained that Electronic Arts was the obvious choice as Bullfrog already had a positive relationship with them.[6] According to Molyneux, Bullfrog received numerous offers expressing interest in purchasing the company. The offers were not taken seriously until major companies, such as Electronic Arts and Philips, made contact; it was then thought that the acquisition by one of these companies would be inevitable.[3] Bullfrog was bought by Electronic Arts in early January 1995.[22] The rumored price of the acquisition was $44 million(£29 million).[23] By this time, the studio's staff count had risen from 35 to 60 and the acquisition allowed it to grow to 150 people within months.[3] Molyneux became a vice-president of Electronic Arts and head of their European branch.[3][24] Edgar became the vice-president of the European branch and Bullfrog's chairman.[25] He described Bullfrog becoming part of a multinational company as "a very big change" and worked for Electronic Arts to assist with the transition.[26] Although Molyneux had said that Bullfrog's products would not suffer as a result of Electronic Arts' purchase,[27] the number of games in development meant that there was less time to refine them (despite the company's growth rate), affecting their quality.[4]
After the release of Magic Carpet in 1994, seven games were in development: Magic Carpet 2, Theme Hospital, The Indestructibles, Syndicate Wars, Gene Wars, Creation, and Dungeon Keeper.[4] After Electronic Arts' purchase, Molyneux was told to release a game, namely Magic Carpet 2 or Dungeon Keeper, within six weeks.[4] Neither was near completion, so to appease Electronic Arts, Hi-Octane was created.[4][11] It had a rushed development and no name by July 1995.[4][11][13] Molyneux explained that Bullfrog's games were normally original, and they were not concerned about them being copied, but the project was "a little derivative", which was why it was kept secret—even Edgar was not informed of the project at first.[4][13] Around this time, Bullfrog had a reputation for having largely ignored 16-bit game consoles, and Syndicate Wars was the company's first title originally developed for a console—the PlayStation.[13]
As Molyneux had been made vice-president of Electronic Arts, his corporate role and responsibility increased considerably and he began making frequent trips to San Francisco.[24][3] Over time, he grew increasingly frustrated with the position and wished to return to game development.[4] In July 1996, Molyneux decided to resign from Bullfrog to focus on game design, rather than become a mere employee.[4][28][29] In response, Electronic Arts banned him from its offices, forcing him to move development of Dungeon Keeper to his house.[30] Molyneux speculated that this was because Electronic Arts feared that he would take people with him.[3] He decided to leave as soon as Dungeon Keeper was finished and commented: "My last day will be the day that this game goes into final test. I'm very, very, very sad, but also very relieved."[28] He also said that Electronic Arts had been "unbelievably patient"[28] and thanked vice-president Mark Lewis for campaigning for Dungeon Keeper's completion.[31] Molyneux's planned departure was his motivation to make Dungeon Keeper good.[31] He believed that he would enjoy being an executive but said that it was "an utter nightmare".[28] Shortly after his departure, Molyneux said he still had feelings for Bullfrog and wished them success.[28][29] Despite his dissatisfaction with the corporate aspects of being vice-president, Molyneux said that he had learned "an enormous amount".[32] In 2017, he revealed that his resignation was the consequence of his, and technical director Tim Rance's, drunkenness. He said he would take his resignation email back if he could.[32]
Around this time, as Electronic Arts increased control over Bullfrog.[33]Mark Healey (the lead artist for Dungeon Keeper)[30] stated that the company "felt more like a chicken factory" after Electronic Arts' takeover and compared it to being assimilated by the Borg.[6][34]Glenn Corpes (an artist for Fusion and Populous)[5] stated that he was not surprised at Molyneux's departure.[35] Another employee believed that working for Bullfrog had become "a job" and that the company had lost its innovation.[6] In 2008, Electronic Arts' president John Riccitiello corroborated these sentiments by admitting that their "dictatorial managerial approach" had suppressed Bullfrog's creativity.[36] Sean Cooper (the designer of Syndicate)[6] said that if he could travel back in time, he would probably force Molyneux to refrain from selling Bullfrog to Electronic Arts. He described the period of resignations following Molyneux's departure as "such a horrible time".[37] Molyneux believed that Electronic Arts had good intentions for Bullfrog, saying that "they just wanted to make it nicer" and putting the company's effects on Bullfrog down to "love abuse".[37]
When Dungeon Keeper was nearing its completion in 1997, Molyneux, Rance, and Mark Webley (the project leader for Theme Hospital)[38] founded a new company, Lionhead Studios, that July.[3][39] By the time the studio's first game, Black & White, was released, Bullfrog employees such as Healey, Andy Bass (an artist who had worked on Theme Hospital),[40]Russell Shaw (the composer for various titles),[12] James Leach (Bullfrog's script writer),[19] Paul McLaughlin (who worked on Creation),[41] and Jonty Barnes (a programmer who had worked on Dungeon Keeper)[31] had joined Lionhead.[42] Healey stated that, because of his dissatisfaction at Bullfrog, he was happy to follow Molyneux and became Lionhead's first artist.[34] Also in 1997, Mike Diskett (the project leader, lead programmer, and lead designer of Syndicate Wars),[43][44][45] Finn McGechie (the lead artist for Magic Carpet),[46] and Guy Simmons left to found Mucky Foot Productions, with Carr joining them the following year.[47][11]
Other notable people at Bullfrog around the mid-1990s include Simon Carter (the lead programmer for Dungeon Keeper),[30] Richard Reed (the project leader for Gene Wars),[45] Mike Man (the lead artist for Syndicate Wars),[48] Alan Wright (the project leader and lead programmer for Magic Carpet 2),[49] and Eoin Rogan (the lead artist for Magic Carpet 2).[49]
Post-Molyneux, final years, and closure (1998–2001)
In 1998, two games were released: Theme Aquarium, and Populous: The Beginning.[11]Theme Aquarium was an attempt to "cross barriers" between the United Kingdom and Japan. Edgar explained that Bullfrog was more successful than most western game developers in Japan due to Populous and Theme Park, and wondered about the possibilities of having a game designed in the United Kingdom and implemented in Japan by Japanese development teams.[26] A small group was set up to do this.[26]Theme Aquarium was released as a Theme game in Japan only; western releases removed the Bullfrog branding.[11] As of 2012, many ex-Bullfrog employees were unfamiliar with the game.[11] Shortly before Molyneux's departure, Bullfrog announced that the games then in development may be the final ones released for MS-DOS. It was "quite likely" that all future games would be Windows-only.[50] The reason for the change in platform focus was so Bullfrog could create games with Windows in mind and use "powerful features" (such as 3D acceleration), which were difficult to use with MS-DOS.[50]
In 1999, Theme Park World and Dungeon Keeper 2 were released.[11] Most of Theme Park World's development team came from Mindscape—they were brought to Bullfrog wholesale.[11] Bullfrog worked with its sister company Maxis to release Theme Park World in North America under their Sim brand as Sim Theme Park to further establish itself in the region.[51]Theme Resort, a Theme game based around holiday islands, was cancelled and its team reallocated to Theme Park World.[11]Dungeon Keeper 2 had a new development team led by Nick Goldsworthy,[30] previously an assistant producer for Theme Park at Electronic Arts.[52] During the development, Colin Robinson was interviewed for the role of Bullfrog's chief technical officer,[35] and helped the project succeed.[30] In 2016, Glenn Corpes speculated that Electronic Arts did not understand Molyneux's role at Bullfrog and thought he was in charge of everything and that Electronic Arts' response to his departure would be to install managers. In fact, he focused on one game at a time, and let others carry out their work.[35]
In mid-1999, Edgar stepped down as chairman.[26] He was succeeded as managing director by Bruce McMillan of Electronic Arts' Canadian studios.[53] Corpes left to found the studio Lost Toys with Jeremy Longley (who had worked on Theme Hospital, Syndicate Wars, and Populous III) and Darren Thomas (who had worked on Dungeon Keeper and Magic Carpet 2, and was the lead artist on Theme Park World),[35][54] which Edgar supported financially.[26] Corpes stated that he was inspired by Mucky Foot Productions running its own affairs and that it was "quite embarrassing to still be working for the Borg".[55] He also said that Lost Toys was partially his take on what Bullfrog was.[56] Alex Trowers (a designer who had worked on Syndicate and Powermonger) believed that Bullfrog had become too corporate after Electronic Arts' takeover and left for Lost Toys to return to "making games for the sake of making games", rather than to satisfy shareholders.[55]
In August 1999, Electronic Arts appointed Ernest Adams as the lead designer of the fourth instalment in the Populous series, Genesis: The Hand of God.[57] Bullfrog's management had concerns about its similarity to Lionhead Studios' Black & White and cancelled the project.[57] Adams then became the lead designer on Dungeon Keeper 3.[57] As Dungeon Keeper 2 did not perform as well as hoped, the team were instructed to make the third game more accessible. Development began in November 1999,[57] but Electronic Arts' focus was changing.[30] It was in negotiation with J. K. Rowling and New Line Cinema for licences to Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, respectively.[57] Electronic Arts saw a profitable opportunity and, in March 2000, cancelled Dungeon Keeper 3 in favour of those franchises,[57] although its cancellation was not officially announced until August.[58] Bullfrog moved to Chertsey in 2000 and went through "a quiet patch" for the remainder of the year.[59]
The final game under the Bullfrog brand, Theme Park Inc, was released in 2001.[11] By the time the game was in development, most of the Bullfrog teams had become part of EA UK and much of the development was handled by another company.[11] What remained of Bullfrog was then merged into EA UK.[6] Molyneux stayed with Lionhead Studios until the formation of 22cans in 2012.[11] Edgar had some involvement with the gaming industry since Bullfrog but eventually left for the automotive industry.[6][60] In August 2009, Electronics Arts were considering revising some of Bullfrog's games for modern-day systems.[61]
Legacy
Several employees founded their own companies after leaving Bullfrog. These include:
Lionhead Studios – Founded by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, and Tim Rance (as well as Steve Jackson, the co-founder of Games Workshop and co-author of the Fighting Fantasy books),[39] Lionhead is best known for their Black & White and Fable series.[11] The company was acquired by Microsoft and closed down on 29 April 2016.[62]
Lost Toys – Founded by Glenn Corpes, Jeremy Longley, and Darran Thomas. The studio created two games—Ball Breakers/Moho and Battle Engine Aquila—before shutting down.[11]
Media Molecule – Best known for LittleBigPlanet, Media Molecule was established by Mark Healey, Alex Evans, Dave Smith, and Kareem Ettouney.[11]
Intrepid Computer Entertainment – This company was started by Joe Rider and Matt Chilton, and signed by Microsoft as a first-party developer. Intrepid closed in 2004, and its employees moved to Lionhead Studios.[11]
Big Blue Box Studios – Founded by Bullfrog programmers Simon and Dene Carter, and Ian Lovett (who worked on Magic Carpet and Dungeon Keeper), Big Blue Box Studios were "very close" to Lionhead Studios, and the two companies merged.[11]
22cans – Founded in 2012 by Molyneux after he left Lionhead.[11] 22cans is known for Godus, which took inspiration from Populous and Dungeon Keeper, as well as Lionhead's Black & White.[64]
Two Point Studios – Founded in 2016 by Gary Carr and Mark Webley, Two Point Studios signed a publishing deal with Sega in May 2017.[65][66]
Several Bullfrog games have spawned spiritual successors or have been used as a base for comparison. Dungeon Keeper has influenced War for the Overworld and Mucky Foot's Startopia, the former being described as "a true spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper".[30][67]DR Studios' Hospital Tycoon has been compared to Theme Hospital.[68]Satellite Reign (programmed by Mike Diskett) has been labelled a spiritual successor to the Syndicate series.[69][70]Two Point Hospital, developed by Two Point Studios, is considered to be a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital.[71][72][73] In October 2013, Jeff Skalski of Mythic Entertainment, which produced a free-to-play remake of Dungeon Keeper for mobile platforms, said he would like to remake other Bullfrog titles, and described the company as "unstoppable".[74]Theme Park also received a freemium remake in December 2011.[75]
Bullfrog cancelled several projects. According to Molyneux, the most common reason games were abandoned in the company's earlier days was because the game testers did not like them. That being the case, his theory was that customers would not either.[5] Cancelled games include:
Ember – Players would have piloted a speeder craft to repair a microprocessor chip, competing against a rival trying to undo the player's repairs.[5]
Colony – An arcade-adventure-puzzle game in which players would have attempted to save the passengers and crew of a cryogenic ship by repairing the cryogenic suspension system, using video cameras to monitor activity on the ship.[5]
Hell – A scrolling shoot 'em up based in the underworld and based on Joust.[5]
The Indestructibles – Described as "an action-beat-'em-up-strategy-everything game", The Indestructibles would have involved creating superhumans to defend cities from invaders.[76][13]
Creation – Set in the same reality as Syndicate, Creation would have had the player battling to transform an alien water world.[76]
Void Star – This was to be a 3D real-time strategy game set in space, but was cancelled it was believed that there would be no interest in the concept.[77]
Theme Resort, Theme Prison, Theme Ski Resort, and Theme Airport – These were "talked about" after the release of Theme Hospital but never materialised due to Mark Webley and Gary Carr leaving for other companies.[40]Theme Resort was in development (according to Webley, its team were trying to have a trip to Club Med for research),[40] and its team joined Theme Park World after cancellation.[11] Webley stated that Bullfrog intended to explore other possibilities for its Designer Series (of which Theme Park and Theme Hospital are part of),[78][13] but Electronic Arts had it shut down.[40]
Genesis: The Hand of God – Intended to be the next instalment in the Populous series but was cancelled due to similarities to Lionhead's Black & White.[57]
Dungeon Keeper 3 – Project was cancelled in favour of film franchises such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.[57][30] Bullfrog also decided to cease developing real-time strategy games.[79]
Theme Movie Studio – Did not make it past the concept stage.[79]
Related Research Articles
Lionhead Studios Limited was a British video game developer founded in July 1997 by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, Tim Rance, and Steve Jackson. The company is best known for the Black & White and Fable series. Lionhead started as a breakaway from developer Bullfrog Productions, which was also founded by Molyneux. Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a god game with elements of artificial life and strategy games. Black & White was published by Electronic Arts in 2001. Lionhead Studios is named after Webley's hamster, which died not long after the naming of the studio, as a result of which the studio was very briefly renamed to Redeye Studios.
Peter Douglas Molyneux is an English video game designer and programmer. He created the god games Populous, Dungeon Keeper, and Black & White, as well as Theme Park, the Fable series, Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube?, and Godus. In 2012 he founded and currently runs 22cans, a video game development studio.
Black & White is a god video game developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows in 2001 and by Feral Interactive in 2002 for Mac OS. Black & White combines elements of artificial life and strategy. The player acts as a god whose goal is to defeat Nemesis, another god who wants to take over the world. A primary theme is the concept of good and evil, with the atmosphere being affected by the player's moral choices. The core gameplay mechanic of Black & White is the interaction between the player and an avatar creature, who carries out the player's instructions and whose personality and behaviour change in reaction to how they are treated. Multiplayer is supported over a local network or online.
Syndicate is a series of science fiction video games created by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts. There are two main titles: Syndicate (1993) and Syndicate Wars (1996), both of which are isometric real-time tactics games. An additional first-person shooter Syndicate title was released in 2012, and a spiritual successor to the series, entitled Satellite Reign, was released in 2015.
Theme Park is a construction and management simulation video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1994. The player designs and operates an amusement park, with the goal of making money and creating theme parks worldwide. The game is the first instalment in Bullfrog's Theme series and their Designer Series.
Dungeon Keeper is a strategy video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and released by Electronic Arts in June 1997 for MS-DOS and Windows 95. In Dungeon Keeper, the player builds and manages a dungeon, protecting it from invading 'hero' characters intent on stealing accumulated treasures, killing monsters and ultimately the player's demise. The ultimate goal is to conquer the world by destroying the heroic forces and rival dungeon keepers in each realm. A character known as the Avatar appears as the final hero. Dungeon Keeper uses Creative Technology's SoundFont technology to enhance its atmosphere. Multiplayer with up to four players is supported using a modem, or over a local network.
Theme Hospital is a business simulation game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1997 for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows compatible PCs in which players design and operate a privately owned hospital with the goal of curing patients of fictitious comical ailments. The game is the thematic successor to Theme Park, also produced by Bullfrog, and the second instalment in their Theme series, and part of their Designer Series. The game is noted for its humour, and contains numerous references to pop culture.
Mark Healey is a British video game developer from Ipswich, Suffolk. Healey started his career making games for the Commodore 64 home computer – his first published game was KGB Super Spy for Codemasters, which led to developing the educational Fun School series of games for Europress Software.
Russell Shaw is a BAFTA nominated British composer and sound designer. He is known for his work in many video games, particularly those designed by Peter Molyneux.
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Dungeon Keeper is a series of strategy video games released by Electronic Arts. Two games were developed by Bullfrog Productions for the PC in the late 1990s, and a third was in development but was cancelled before release. A Chinese MMO was in development from 2008–2013 and achieved open beta release, but was cancelled before full launch. A free-to-play game for Android and iOS was developed by Mythic Entertainment and released in 2013.
Creation was a cancelled real-time strategy video game developed by Bullfrog Productions as a spin-off of their Syndicate series of real-time tactics games. Set on an alien water world, a player-controlled submarine is tasked with looking after marine life and defending it from the Syndicate, who run planet Earth.
Gary Carr is an English video game developer. His career began at Palace Software, where he worked on titles such as Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior and Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax. In 1989, he joined Bullfrog Productions and worked as lead artist on Powermonger and Populous II. He also worked on Theme Park, but, after a disagreement with Peter Molyneux, he left the company to work for The Bitmap Brothers, where he worked on The Chaos Engine 2. He returned to Bullfrog in 1995 hoping to work on Dungeon Keeper, but worked on Theme Hospital instead. He left Bullfrog again in 1998 to join Mucky Foot Productions.
Les Edgar is an entrepreneur, known for being the co-founder and joint managing director of Bullfrog Productions, which he set up with Peter Molyneux. After Bullfrog's acquisition by Electronic Arts in 1995, Edgar became a vice president there. Edgar left Bullfrog in 1999, and eventually left the video gaming industry for the automotive industry, where he reintroduced Aston Martin to racing, and became chairman of TVR, which has, under his leadership, set up partnerships with Gordon Murray and Cosworth. Edgar has stated that he intends to return TVR to Le Mans 24 Hours.
Mark Webley is a British video game developer, known for working with developers such as Peter Molyneux and Gary Carr for Bullfrog Productions and later Lionhead Studios on projects including Theme Hospital and Black & White. In 2012, he took over as head of Lionhead after Molyneux left, and in 2016, he founded a studio called Two Point Studios with Carr, which has signed a publishing deal with Sega.
Two Point Studios is a British video game development company founded on 26 July 2016 by Ben Hymers, Mark Webley, and Gary Carr. Carr and Webley had previously worked on titles including Theme Hospital, Black & White, and the Fable series for Bullfrog Productions and later Lionhead Studios, and Two Point Studios has other developers from those companies and Mucky Foot Productions. In May 2019, the company was acquired by Sega and became part of Sega Europe.
Glenn Corpes is an independent video game developer. He is best known for his work at Bullfrog Productions on titles including Populous, Magic Carpet, and Dungeon Keeper. He left Bullfrog in 1999 to form Lost Toys, which developed two games including Battle Engine Aquila. He has since focused on mobile game development and has created Ground Effect for iOS and Topia World Builder for iOS and Android. His latest projects are Fat Owl With A JetPack, and powARdup. His work has influenced games such as Minecraft.
Lost Toys Ltd. was a British video game developer founded in March 1999 by Glenn Corpes, Jeremy Longley, and Darran Thomas, all of whom had previously worked for Bullfrog Productions. Les Edgar helped by providing financial support. Lost Toys was the third Bullfrog break-off group, after Mucky Foot Productions and Lionhead Studios, and was founded due to disillusionment after Electronic Arts purchased Bullfrog.
The Indestructibles is an unreleased arcade strategy video game developed by Bullfrog Productions. The game would have had players control a superhero or a team of superheroes to do battle with super villains.
References
↑ Steve Jackson (1998). "Diary 4". Lionhead Studios. Guildford. Archived from the original on 16 June 2001. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
1 2 "Bullfrog Entretien Avec Peter Molyneux: Créateur, Programmeur Et Co-fondateur De Bullfrog" [Interview With Peter Molyneux: Creator, Programmer And Co-founder Of Bullfrog]. Joystick (in French). No.42. October 1993. pp.85, 86.
1 2 3 Melissa Tyler; Shin Kanaoya (1997). "Brief Words from the Dark Creator-Overlords". Bullfrog's Official Guide to Dungeon Keeper. Prima Publishing. pp.252–263. ISBN978-0-7615-0714-7.
1 2 James Leach; Christian Bravery (2001). "Introduction". The Making Of Black & White. Roseville, Calif.: Prima Games. pp.4, 5. ISBN978-0-7615-3625-3.
↑ James Leach; Christian Bravery (2001). "the lionhead team". The Making Of Black & White. Roseville, Calif.: Prima Games. pp.94, 95. ISBN978-0-7615-3625-3.
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