Crave Entertainment

Last updated
Crave Entertainment
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Founded1997;27 years ago (1997)
FounderNima Taghavi
Defunct2012;12 years ago (2012)
FateDissolved
Headquarters Newport Beach, California, United States
Key people
  • Nima Taghavi (CEO)
  • Vincent Bitetti (President) [1]
Subsidiaries
Website CraveGames.com
Crave's old logo 2004-2011 CraveLogo.png
Crave's old logo 2004–2011

Crave Entertainment (aka Crave Games) was an American video game publisher founded in 1997 by Nima Taghavi. Its headquarters was in Newport Beach, California. It was acquired by Handleman Company in 2005 in a deal valued up to $95,000,000 but was then sold to Fillpoint LLC in early 2009 for only $8,100,000 due to Handleman's bankruptcy and pending liquidation. During its lifetime it published games for Dreamcast, Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Crave mainly focused on budget titles, and imported games such as Tokyo Xtreme Racer series.

Contents

History

Crave Entertainment was founded in 1997 by Nima Taghavi as a subsidiary of distributor, SVG Distributions.The company was headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris, and Hamburg. [2] In 1998 the company acquired Lobotomy Software, the creators of Death Tank and PowerSlave. [3] That same year the company also acquired Big Rain, a studio formed by former Squaresoft veterans and founded its first internal studio, Craveyard Studios. [4] [5] [6] In 1999 Crave signed an exclusive five year licensing deal for the video game rights to Ultimate Fighting Championship. [7]

In 2005 the company and its parent company were acquired by Handleman who would later sell the publisher to Fillpoint in 2009. [8] [9] In 2006, it formed a partnership with Oxygen Interactive via Liquid Games, whereas Liquid Games would market its titles by Crave Entertainment for the European market. [10]

During Fillpoint ownership, the company launched its own label for its family friendly gaming, Red Wagon Games. [11]

On August 15, 2012, Fillpoint LLC filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, with Crave ceasing operations. [12] In 2023, the website was revived with a Coming Soon page by Fillpoint and Throwback Entertainment. [13]

List of video games published by Crave Entertainment

Cancelled games

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References

  1. ↑ Adams, David (September 1, 2004). "Crave Gets New President". IGN . Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Corporate Overview" . Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  3. ↑ "Crave Lobotomizes Las Vegas". IGN. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive Interview: Crave Entertainment". IGN. 1998-04-10. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  5. ↑ "Details on Crave RPG Uncovered". IGN. 1997-11-20. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  6. ↑ "Playing Catch-Up: Ted Woolsey". Game Developer. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  7. ↑ "Ultimate Fighting Championship Details". Gamespot. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  8. ↑ "Handleman acquires Crave Entertainment Group". Games Industry. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  9. ↑ "Crave Entertainment acquisition". Games Industry. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  10. ↑ "Oxygen Brings Crave Titles To Europe". WorthPlaying. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  11. ↑ rawmeatcowboy (2010-11-19). "Red Wagon Games flies Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer into retail stores this holiday season". GoNintendo. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  12. ↑ "Malta video game distribution company Fillpoint files for bankruptcy". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  13. ↑ "Coming Soon" . Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  14. ↑ "Details on Crave RPG Uncovered". IGN . November 20, 1997. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
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