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Formerly | Frontier Developments Limited (1994–2013) |
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Company type | Public limited company |
AIM: FDEV | |
ISIN | GB00BBT32N39 |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 28 January 1994 |
Founder | David Braben |
Headquarters | Cambridge Science Park, , England |
Key people |
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Products | |
Revenue | ![]() |
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Number of employees | 790 [2] (31 May 2022) |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | frontier.co.uk |
Frontier Developments plc. is a British video game developer [3] founded by David Braben in January 1994 and based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. [4] Frontier develops management simulators Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo , and has produced several games in David Braben's Elite series, including Elite Dangerous . The company takes its name from the earliest titles in the Elite series with which it was involved, a port of Frontier: Elite II and development of Frontier: First Encounters . In 2013, the company was listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange. It published third-party games under the Frontier Foundry label between 2019 and 2022.
Frontier Developments' first game was the 1993 Amiga CD32 port of Frontier: Elite II followed by Frontier: First Encounters , second sequel to the 1984 game Elite by Acornsoft. David Braben owned all rights to Elite assigned to the company in 2008.
Between 2005 and 2011, Frontier developed The Outsider , an action-adventure game set in Washington DC that Braben said would advance video game storytelling. [5] The Outsider was cancelled in January 2011 after it was dropped by the publisher, Codemasters, leading to nearly 30 staff layoffs. [6] [7]
Frontier had been planning a new Elite sequel, under the working title Elite 4, since 1998. The company completed a successful Kickstarter campaign at the end of 2012, where the new sequel's name Elite: Dangerous was revealed. Early-access versions of the game have been playable by backers since December 2013. The full game was released to PC on 16 December 2014.
Frontier Developments has made many other games, including Dog's Life , Thrillville , and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 . The company also made games for the Wallace and Gromit franchise, and has released Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo , and a tie-in game for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit . In 2008, Frontier released LostWinds , a launch title for Nintendo's WiiWare platform. It was followed up with a sequel in 2009, entitled LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias . In 2010, Frontier developed Kinectimals for Microsoft's Kinect controller on the Xbox 360. In 2011 Kinect Disneyland Adventures and Kinectimals: Now With Bears were developed, along with ports of LostWinds for iOS and Kinectimals for iOS and Windows Phone. In 2012, Frontier released Coaster Crazy, and started to work on Elite: Dangerous Kickstarter, which successfully closed at the start of 2013. In 2013, Frontier released Xbox One and Xbox 360 exclusive Zoo Tycoon , published by Microsoft Studios, and launched backers alpha for Elite: Dangerous in December. In 2015 the company released Screamride , a theme park construction and management simulation game for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The company has recently released Planet Coaster , a construction and management simulation video game similar to the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise. The game is the second major self-published franchises from Frontier along with the Elite series. Frontier announced that they will begin self-publishing all their future games, starting with Planet Coaster. [8]
Frontier opened a North American studio in August 2012 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada under the name Frontier Developments Inc. and headed by David Walsh. [9] It closed in January 2015.
On 3 January 2017 TMZ reported that the company sued Atari for not paying the company enough for royalties for their game RollerCoaster Tycoon 3; Frontier reported that they only received $1.17 million when they needed $3.37 million. David Walsh confirmed the report in a GameSpot interview, stating that they had previously attempted to resolve the issue without legal action since April 2016. [10] On 6 February 2017 Frontier announced that they had acquired licensing rights from Universal Pictures to be used in their third self-published title, an "enduring movie franchise of global renown". [11] This was later announced to be Jurassic World Evolution, which released on 12 June 2018. [12] On 26 July 2017 the company announced Frontier Expo 2017, a press and community event focusing on Elite: Dangerous, Planet Coaster, and Jurassic World Evolution . The event took place on 7 October 2017 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, UK. [13] In July 2017, Tencent, a Chinese investment company, bought a 9% share in the company. [14]
On 10 March 2020, Frontier announced that they had signed an agreement with Formula One to develop and release several management simulation games based on the F1 license. In this agreement, Frontier will release four games, starting from F1 Manager 2022 in 2022. [15] On 10 June 2021, Frontier announced Jurassic World Evolution 2 a sequel to their 2018 park builder game would be releasing in late 2021. [16] On 10 Mar 2022, Frontier announced they were cancelling all development of their latest version of Elite Dangerous , Odyssey, on consoles. [17]
On 10 August 2022, Frontier announced David Braben was to step down from the position of CEO and take on a newly established executive role of President and Founder. Jonny Watts who has been with the company for 24 years, the last decade of which in the position of Chief Creative Officer was to become the new CEO. The changes were effective immediately. It was also announced that David Gammon would be retiring from his role as Chairman in December 2022 and David Wilton would take on this role at that time. [18] On 2 November 2022, Frontier announced that they had completed an acquisition of Complex Games following on from the success of Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters which was published under the Frontier Foundry label six months prior. [19]
On 17 October 2023, Frontier announced it would lay off an ‘unknown number of staff’ in an organisational review. [20]
In June 2019, Frontier announced that it would begin publishing games from third-party developers under a new label named Frontier Publishing. At Gamescom 2020, Frontier announced that their publishing label would be renamed to "Frontier Foundry", and that it would publish Struggling from Chasing Rats in 2020, and Lemnis Gate from Ratloop Games in 2021. [21] [22] They would also publish an upcoming project from Haemimont Games. [23] This game was revealed to be named Stranded: Alien Dawn which initially released as an Early Access title on Steam in October 2022, with a full release anticipated during 2023. [24]
On 13 June 2021, Frontier announced Lemnis Gate would be released on 3 August 2021 with an open beta being scheduled for July 2021. [25] On 3 June 2021 during the Games Workshop Warhammer Skulls event, Frontier announced they would be publishing a reboot to the 1998 turn based game Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate named Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters . The reboot is to be developed by Canadian developer Complex Games and published under the Frontier Foundry label. It is set to release in 2022. [26]
Additionally Frontier announced a sequel to FAR: Lone Sails named FAR: Changing Tides , developed by Okomotive and published under the Frontier Foundry label. The game was released in March 2022. [27] Deliver Us Mars , set ten years after the events of Deliver Us The Moon , was announced as part of the Future Games Show Spring Showcase on March 24, 2022. [28] It features a new protagonist who reactivates her companion robot after an apparent ship crash on the planet of Mars. Deliver Us Mars is set to launch on both Epic Games Store and Steam PC storefronts, as well as Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4 consoles. [28] The Great War: Western Front , a Real Time Strategy game developed by Petroglyph Games was announced as part of the Future Games Show during Gamescom on August 24, 2022. [29] It launched on the Epic Games Store and Steam PC storefronts in March 2023.
On 14 June 2023 it was announced that a review into the performance of Frontier Foundry concluded to cease all future third party publishing efforts due to disappointing financial performance, with most games releasing under the label failing to become profitable within one year of release. It was stated that games already released would continue to be supported but no further games would release under the label. Instead future funding that was to be allocated for this purpose would be diverted to producing games internally. [30]
Frontier released Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin on November 17, 2023. [31] Realms of Ruin flopped with a drop in concurrent players and lackluster sales. [31] Frontier shares plunged 20%. [31] Attempts to widen their game portfolio didn't achieve the anticipated success in the past 5 years. [31] Frontier stated it will refocus on creative management simulation (CMS) games. [31]
On 15 March 2024, Frontier announced that the publishing rights to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 would be sold back to Atari, Inc. [32] This was confirmed by their parent Atari SA on 2 April. [33]
Year | Title | Developer(s) | Platform(s) |
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2020 | Struggling | Chasing Rats Games | Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition [40] | Frontier Developments | Windows, Nintendo Switch | |
2021 | Lemnis Gate | Ratloop Games Canada | Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S |
2022 | FAR: Changing Tides | Okomotive | Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch |
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters | Complex Games | Windows | |
2023 | Stranded: Alien Dawn | Haemimont Games | Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S |
Deliver Us Mars | KeokeN Interactive | ||
The Great War: Western Front | Petroglyph Games | Windows |
Elite is a space trading video game. It was written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in September 1984. Elite's open-ended game model, and revolutionary 3D graphics led to it being ported to virtually every contemporary home computer system and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. The game's title derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of "Elite".
RollerCoaster Tycoon is a series of construction and management simulation games about building and managing an amusement park. Each game in the series challenges players with open-ended amusement park management and development, and allowing players to construct and customize their own unique roller coasters and other thrill rides.
David John Braben is a British video game developer and designer, founder and President of Frontier Developments, and co-creator of the Elite series of space trading video games, first published in 1984. He is also a co-founder of and works as a trustee for the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which in 2012 launched a low-cost computer for education.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is a 2004 construction and management simulation video game. It is the third installment in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, and was developed by Frontier Developments and published by Atari Interactive. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 places players in charge of managing amusement parks; rides can be built or demolished, terrain and scenery can be adjusted, and prices can be controlled to keep visitors or "peeps" happy.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a 2002 construction and management simulation game developed by Chris Sawyer and published by Infogrames Interactive. Released for Windows as the sequel to RollerCoaster Tycoon, the game simulates the management of amusement parks.
Elite Dangerous is an online space flight simulation game developed and published by Frontier Developments. The player commands a spaceship and explores a realistic 1:1 scale, open-world representation of the Milky Way galaxy, with the gameplay being open-ended. The game is the first in the series to attempt massively multiplayer gameplay, with players' actions affecting the narrative story of the game's persistent universe, while also retaining a single-player mode. Elite Dangerous is the fourth game in the Elite video game series. It is the sequel to Frontier: First Encounters, released in 1995.
RollerCoaster Tycoon is a 1999 construction and management simulation video game developed by Chris Sawyer and published by Hasbro Interactive. It was released for Windows and was later ported to the Xbox by Frontier Developments in 2003. It is the first game in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series.
The Outsider was an action-adventure game for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by Frontier Developments. It saw players control a CIA agent who goes on the run. It was announced in 2005 and cancelled in 2011.
Thrillville is a simulation and strategy video game developed by Frontier Developments that depicts theme park management, similar to RollerCoaster Tycoon. Thrillville is available for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and, in North America, Xbox.
Zoo Tycoon is a series of business simulation video games. The worlds focus around building and running successful zoo scenarios. The series was initially developed by Blue Fang Games and published by Microsoft Studios who later in 2001–2008 went on to create two stand-alone video games and seven expansion packs for PC and Macintosh platforms. In 2013, Microsoft Studios released a new Zoo Tycoon game, developed by Frontier Developments for Xbox One and Xbox 360. An enhanced version of the Xbox game, Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection, was released for Windows 10 and the Xbox One on October 31, 2017. Frontier Developments, the developer of the final Zoo Tycoon game, released the spiritual successor to the series, Planet Zoo, in 2019.
Thrillville: Off the Rails is a theme park simulation video game developed by Frontier Developments and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 2006 game Thrillville. The game was released worldwide in October 2007. DC Studios developed the Nintendo DS version, which is a completely different game.
RollerCoaster Tycoon World is a theme park construction and management simulation video game developed by Nvizzio Creations and published by Atari for Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth major installment in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. The game was released on 16 November 2016 to largely negative reviews.
Planet Coaster is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments for Windows. It was released worldwide on 17 November 2016. Frontier had previously worked in the amusement park construction and management genre with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Thrillville, Thrillville: Off the Rails, and Zoo Tycoon. A version for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, known as Planet Coaster: Console Edition, was released worldwide on 10 November 2020. The PlayStation 5 version was released in North America and Australia on 12 November 2020 and in Europe on 19 November 2020. A macOS version, developed by Aspyr, was later released on 17 November 2020 on both Steam and Mac App Store.
Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide is a 2015 cooperative survival video game developed and published by Fatshark. The game is set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. The game is multiplayer-only, and its structure is similar to Valve's Left 4 Dead series. Set during an apocalyptic event called the End Times, players can team up with three other players to fight against the Skaven, a race of rodent-like creatures, in the city of Ubersreik. At the end of each match, the players are given the opportunity to roll dice, which determine the weapons they will receive as reward.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is a first-person action video game developed and published by Fatshark. It is the sequel to 2015's Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide. Vermintide 2 was released for Windows on 8 March 2018. It was released for Xbox One on 11 July 2018, free for members of the Xbox Game Pass. It was released for the PlayStation 4 on 18 December 2018. It also released for Xbox Series X/S on 3 December 2020. A spiritual successor, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, was released in 2022.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a first-person action video game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, developed and published by Fatshark. It is a spiritual successor to the Warhammer: Vermintide series. It was released for Microsoft Windows on 30 November 2022. It also was released for Xbox Series X/S on 4 October 2023.
Elite is a space trading and combat simulation video game series created by David Braben and Ian Bell in 1984. The Elite series has been revolutionary innovative, genre defining, and the longest running space sim series in history. The series was met with commercial success, favorable reviews and near-universal acclaim.
Lemnis Gate was a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Ratloop Games Canada and published by Frontier Foundry. It was released on September 28, 2021 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It was also published to Xbox Game Pass on its first day of release as well.
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