Creative Assembly Sofia | |
Formerly |
|
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 7 May 2001 |
Founder | Vesselin Handjiev |
Headquarters | , Bulgaria |
Key people | Georgi Dinchev (studio head) |
Products |
|
Number of employees | 60 (2017) |
Parent |
|
Sega Black Sea EOOD, officially doing business as Creative Assembly Sofia (formerly Black Sea Studios and Crytek Black Sea) is a Bulgarian video game developer based in Sofia. It was founded in May 2001 by Vesselin Handjiev. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Crytek, which then sold it to Creative Assembly (a studio of Sega) in March 2017.
Black Sea Studios was founded by Vesselin Handjiev, the lead designer of Tzar: The Burden of the Crown , on 7 May 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria. [1] [2] At the time, the company began developing three separate games: two real-time strategy games and one arcade-style action game. [2] The company became known for its 2004 title Knights of Honor , a historical real-time strategy game released for Microsoft Windows, and for the 2008 science fiction real-time strategy title WorldShift . [3] [4]
In 2016, some of the former developers from Black Sea Studios founded Black Sea Games, which in 2022 released Knights of Honor II: Sovereign, a sequel to Knights of Honor . [5]
In July 2008, German developer and publisher Crytek announced their acquisition of the studio, and renamed it Crytek Black Sea. At the time, Black Sea Studios was based in Sofia, Bulgaria, with Vesselin Handijev was managing director. [3] In May 2014, Crytek announced the development of their own multiplayer online battle arena game using the CryEngine, titled Arena of Fate and under development at the Sofia studio. The game was shown at E3 2014. [6] In November 2016, founder Handjiev, together with Michael Peykov, formed a new video game company, Black Sea Games. [7]
In December 2016, Crytek announced that it would shut down five of its international studios, due to financial troubles, of which Crytek Black Sea was put up for sale. [8] [9]
In March 2017, it was announced that the studio was acquired by British developer Creative Assembly (itself owned by Sega), and was renamed Creative Assembly Sofia. [10] [11] At the time, Crytek Black Sea had 60 employees. [10] [12] Under Creative Assembly, Creative Assembly Sofia developed downloadable content for Total War: Rome II , including Empire Divided [13] and Rise of the Republic. [14] It also developed a new game in the Total War Saga series, Total War Saga: Troy . [15]
On 23 May 2023, Total War: Pharaoh , focused on the New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt, was announced, with Creative Assembly Sofia's Todor Nikolov as Game Director. The game is slated for release in October 2023. [16] [17]
Year | Title | Platform(s) | Developed as |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Knights of Honor | Microsoft Windows | Black Sea Studios |
2008 | WorldShift | ||
2017 | Total War: Rome II – Empire Divided | Creative Assembly Sofia | |
2018 | Total War: Rome II – Rise of the Republic | ||
2020 | Total War Saga: Troy | ||
2023 | Total War: Pharaoh |
Total War is a series of strategy games developed by British developer Creative Assembly for personal computers. They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. Rather uniquely for real-time strategy games, flanking manoeuvers and formations factor heavily into gameplay. The first of the series, Shogun: Total War, was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Pharaoh on October 11, 2023. As of April 2021, the series had sold over 36 million copies.
Relic Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver, founded in 1997. The studio specializes in real-time strategy games and is known for series such as Homeworld, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes. Acquired by THQ in 2004, the company was sold to Sega on January 22, 2013, as part of THQ's bankruptcy and operated under its European division. By May 2024, Relic had secured a partnership with an external investment group, allowing it to split from Sega and operate independently.
Crytek GmbH is a German video game developer and software developer based in Frankfurt. Founded by the Yerli brothers in Coburg in 1999 and moved to Frankfurt in 2006, Crytek operates additional studios in Kyiv, Ukraine and Istanbul, Turkey. Its former studios included Crytek Black Sea in Sofia, Bulgaria, Crytek UK in Nottingham, and Crytek USA in Austin, Texas. Crytek is best known for developing the first instalment of the Far Cry series, the Crysis series, and the open world nature of their games which showcase the company's CryEngine. As of August 2024, Crytek is the largest game developer in Germany with 405 employees.
Daybreak Game Company LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. The company was founded in December 1997 as Sony Online Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, but was spun off to an independent investor in February 2015 and renamed Daybreak Game Company. On December 1, 2020, Daybreak Game Company entered into an agreement to be acquired by Enad Global 7.
Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. is a Japanese global holding company and conglomerate formed from the merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004. Both companies are involved in the amusement industry.
The Creative Assembly Limited is a British video game developer based in Horsham, founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell. In its early years, the company worked on porting games to MS-DOS from Amiga and ZX Spectrum platforms, later working with Electronic Arts to produce a variety of games under the EA Sports brand. In 1999, the company had sufficient resources to attempt a new and original project, proceeding to develop the strategy computer game Shogun: Total War which was a critical and commercial hit, and is regarded as a benchmark strategy game. Subsequent titles in the Total War series was built following the success of Shogun: Total War, increasing the company's critical and commercial success.
Feral Interactive Limited is a British video games developer and publisher for macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows platforms. It was founded in 1996 to bring games to Mac and specialises in porting games to different platforms.
Empire: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. The fifth installment in the Total War series, the game was released in 2009. The game, which focuses on the early modern period of the 18th century, was announced at the Leipzig Games Convention in August 2007. The macOS version of the game was released by Feral Interactive on 10 June 2014. The Linux version was released, also by Feral Interactive, on 8 December 2014.
Total War: Arena was a strategy game under development by Creative Assembly and published by Wargaming Alliance. It was the first free-to-play title in the Total War series. Total War: Arena focused on online multiplayer, mixing elements of real-time strategy and multiplayer online battle arena gameplay. The game featured 10-vs-10 battles with each player controlling 3 units, each containing up to 100 warriors.
Alien: Isolation is a 2014 survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Based on the Alien film series, the game is set 15 years after the original 1979 film, and follows the engineer Amanda Ripley, voiced by Andrea Deck. Amanda investigates the disappearance of her mother, Ellen Ripley, aboard the space station Sevastopol, which has fallen into disarray due to an alien creature on the loose. The game emphasizes stealth and survival horror gameplay, requiring the player to avoid, outsmart, and fight enemies with tools such as a motion tracker and flamethrower.
Arena of Fate is a cancelled free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by Crytek Black Sea. The game was announced in May 2014, closed beta began on August 5, 2015. It featured five-against-five battles with legendary heroes from history and fantasy.
Amplitude Studios SASU is a French video game developer based in Paris. The studio was founded in January 2011 by former Ubisoft employees Romain de Waubert de Genlis and Mathieu Girard. Sega Sammy Holdings acquired it in June 2016 and became part of Sega Europe.
Total War: Warhammer is a 2016 turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for Windows via the Steam gaming platform. The game was brought to macOS and Linux by Feral Interactive. The game features the gameplay of the Total War series with factions of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy series; it is the first Total War game not to portray a historical setting. It is the 10th title in the Total War series and the first title to be released in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy.
Total War: Warhammer II is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is part of the Total War series and the sequel to 2016's Total War: Warhammer. The game is set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe. The game was released for Windows-based PCs on 28 September 2017. Feral Interactive released the game on macOS and Linux on 20 November 2018. Total War: Warhammer II was succeeded by Total War: Warhammer III, which was released in February 2022. The game requires a Steam account to play.
Snapshot Games is a Bulgarian video game developer headquartered in Sofia. Snapshot Games was founded in 2013 by Julian Gollop and David Kaye. Gollop is recognized for creating the X-COM video game franchise in the 1990s with X-COM: UFO Defense and X-COM: Apocalypse. Gollop also is the CEO of Snapshot Games. In addition to Gollop, the company includes about eight developers who are industry veterans with years of previous experience working for Ubisoft Sofia, Crytek Black Sea, and other Bulgaria studios.
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.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, released on 3 May 2018 for Windows. The game was brought to macOS and Linux by Feral Interactive on 24 May 2018 and 7 June 2018 respectively. It is the twelfth game in the Total War series of video games.
Total War Saga: Troy is a 2020 turn-based strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly Sofia and published by Sega. The game was released for Windows on 13 August 2020 as the second installment in the Total War Saga subseries, succeeding Thrones of Britannia (2018). The game received generally positive reviews upon release.
Total War: Pharaoh is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly Sofia and published by Sega. Part of the Total War series, Pharaoh is set in the New Kingdom of Egypt and its surrounding areas before the Late Bronze Age collapse. The game was released for Windows PC and macOS on October 11, 2023. Feral Interactive publishes the game’s macOS version.
Knights of Honor II: Sovereign is a grand strategy wargame developed by Black Sea Games and published by THQ Nordic. It is a sequel to 2004's Knights of Honor.