Mark Webley

Last updated

Mark Webley
BornNovember 1963 (age 59)
Occupation Video game developer
Known for
Notable work

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 (which he co-founded) 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.

Contents

Career

Webley began working with Molyneux in 1992. [1] He was a programmer on Theme Park , [2] and headed a department at Bullfrog responsible for porting games to other platforms. [3] [4] He later became a designer, programmer, and project leader of Theme Hospital. [4] [5] [6] Although he was new to making original games, he picked the project from a list provided by Molyneux. [4] For research, he and Carr visited hospitals such as the Royal Surrey County Hospital and Frimley Park Hospital. [4] [5] During a visit to Frimley Park, they were watching an operation when they made a fuss and distracted the surgeon, who called the pair "bloody idiots" and ordered them out. [4] [5] It was around this time when it was decided that the game should not be realistic, [4] but Webley did not initially like the idea of using made up ailments. [7] Webley improved an animation editor written by Molyneux and called it the Complex Engine. [4]

Webley held weekly meetings at a pub, in which he provided lists of tasks. [4] [5] It was realised that the game was complete during one such meeting, [5] and it was released in 1997 to widespread critical acclaim: [4] [5] it sold four million copies, remained in the charts (it reached number one) for over a decade. [4] [5] According to Steve Jackson, Webley was "chuffed to bits" about Theme Hospital's success. [8] The game also attracted some controversy: there was an article in The Daily Telegraph that said "Sick computer game used by British Medical Association to train senior management", NHS bosses complained about the game, and there was a mention in the Houses of Parliament. [4] [5] Webley appeared on some radio programmes to defend against these claims. [4] [5]

After Theme Hospital, Webley co-founded Lionhead Studios with Molyneux, Jackson, and Tim Rance. Webley and Molyneux came up with the name, which the company shared with Webley's pet hamster. The hamster died shortly afterwards, and the studio was briefly renamed Red Eye Studios, but the name was shortly thereafter reverted to Lionhead. [9] Around this time, Molyneux described Webley as "one of the best people in the industry". [10] Webley worked on Black & White as a programmer and project manager, [11] and also provided voices for the Missionary Song on the game's first island along with Russell Shaw. [12] Before he became the project manager, he worked on the creature's artificial intelligence on a testbed version. [13] [14]

On 3 May 2011, Webley was elected as a director to The Independent Game Developers' Association board. [15] By this time, he was Lionhead's chief operating officer. [15] [16]

In 2012, following Molyneux's departure from the company, Webley became head of Lionhead, [17] He quit and was replaced by Scott Henson the following year. [18] In 2016, Webley founded Two Point Studios with Carr. [19] [20] The following year, on 30 May, it was announced that the company had signed a publishing deal with Sega for a game revealed on 16 January 2018 to be Two Point Hospital , a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital. [21] [22]

In 2011, Molyneux believed that Webley was worthy of Game Developers Choice Awards' Lifetime Achievement honour. [1]

Personal life

As of July 1997, Webley is Peter Molyneux's brother-in-law. [10] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionhead Studios</span> Defunct British video game developer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Molyneux</span> English video game designer and game programmer

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. He currently works at 22cans.

<i>Black & White</i> (video game) God video game

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 players 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullfrog Productions</span> British video game developer

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, 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.

<i>Theme Park</i> (video game) 1994 video game

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.

<i>Dungeon Keeper</i> 1997 strategy video game

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.

<i>Theme Hospital</i> 1998 video game

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Healey</span>

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. Healey joined Bullfrog Productions to work with Peter Molyneux on titles such as Magic Carpet and Dungeon Keeper. When Molyneux left Bullfrog to form Lionhead Studios, Healey joined him, and worked as a senior artist on Black & White and Fable. Whilst still at Lionhead, he developed Rag Doll Kung Fu independently in his spare time, which was the first third party game to be distributed over Steam - Valve's online distribution system. He is a co-founder of Media Molecule and creative director of LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Shaw (composer)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">22cans</span> British video game developer

22cans Ltd is a British video game developer based in Guildford. It was founded in February 2012 by Peter Molyneux, previously of Bullfrog Productions and Lionhead Studios.

<i>Creation</i> (video game) 1997 video game

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Edgar</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Point Studios</span> British video game devloper

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Toys</span> British video game developer

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.

<i>Two Point Hospital</i> 2018 simulation video game

Two Point Hospital is a 2018 business simulation game developed by Two Point Studios and published by Sega for Linux, MacOS, and Microsoft Windows. Console versions for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch were released in February 2020. A spiritual successor to Bullfrog Productions' 1997 game Theme Hospital, players are tasked with constructing and operating an empire of hospitals in the fictional Two Point County, with the goal of curing patients of fictitious, comical ailments. Because visiting real hospitals is often unpleasant, the emphasis on humour to lighten the mood was deemed important by the developers. The game was designed and developed by some of the creators of Theme Hospital, including Mark Webley and Gary Carr.

References

  1. 1 2 Rob Crossley (10 March 2011). "Take a bow Russell Shaw, Paul McLaughlin, Gary Carr and Mark Webley". Develop. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  2. ↑ Bullfrog (1994). "Credits". Theme Park Manual (PC ed.). Slough: Electronic Arts. p. 77.
  3. ↑ "Lionhead Studios". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "The Making of Theme Hospital". Retro Gamer . No. 130. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. June 2014. pp. 46–51. ISSN   1742-3155.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Behind The Scenes Theme Hospital". GamesTM . No. 113. September 2011. pp. 128–131. ISSN   1478-5889.
  6. ↑ "Hospital Update". Bullfrog Bulletin. No. 3. Guildford: Bullfrog Productions. 1996. p. 11.
  7. ↑ Julian Benson (29 June 2017). "How the makers of Theme Hospital made hospital wards and diseases funny". PCGamesN. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  8. ↑ Steve Jackson (February 1998). "The Lionhead Diaries". The Lionhead Diaries. PC Zone . No. 60. London: Dennis Publishing. p. 60. ISSN   0967-8220.
  9. ↑ James Leach; Christian Bravery (2001). The Making of Black & White. Prima Games. p. 5. ISBN   978-0-7615-3625-3.
  10. 1 2 "An Audience With Peter Molyneux". audience. Edge. No. 47. Bath: Future plc. July 1997. pp. 22–27. ISSN   1350-1593.
  11. ↑ James Leach; Christian Bravery (2001). The Making of Black & White. Prima Games. pp. 95, 96. ISBN   978-0-7615-3625-3.
  12. ↑ James Leach; Christian Bravery (2001). The Making of Black & White. Prima Games. p. 77. ISBN   978-0-7615-3625-3.
  13. ↑ Steve Jackson (January 1999). "Bug-Busting". The Lionhead Diaries. PC Zone . No. 72. London: Dennis Publishing. pp. 168, 169. ISSN   0967-8220.
  14. ↑ Steve Jackson (November 1998). "Black & White, enfin!". Génération 4 (in French). No. 116. pp. 84, 85. ISSN   1624-1088.
  15. 1 2 "TIGA Welcomes New Board Members". TIGA. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  16. ↑ Griffin McElroy (13 March 2012). "Former Sony exec Phil Harrison takes over Microsoft's European Game Studios". Polygon. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  17. ↑ Ben Parfitt (7 March 2012). "Peter Molyneux quits Lionhead and Microsoft". MCV. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  18. ↑ Matt Martin (10 January 2013). "Scott Henson takes head of operations role at Xbox, overseeing Lionhead". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  19. ↑ "SEGA ® Europe Ltd. announce publishing partnership with Two Point Studios". Gamasutra. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  20. ↑ Stephanie Chan (30 May 2017). "Sega Europe's partnership with Two Point Studios is another sign of its PC growth". VentureBeat. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  21. ↑ Joe Donnelly (30 May 2017). "Sega announces publishing partnership with Lionhead and Bullfrog veterans". PC Gamer. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  22. ↑ "Theme Hospital creators announce Two Point Hospital". Metro . 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  23. ↑ Geoff Keighley. "The Final Hours Of Black & White". GameSpot. GameSpot. p. 4. Archived from the original on 9 November 2001. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.