Milestone (Italian company)

Last updated

Milestone S.r.l.
FormerlyGraffiti (1994–1996)
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Founded1994;31 years ago (1994)
FounderAntonio Farina
Headquarters
Milan
,
Italy
Key people
Luisa Bixio (CEO)
Number of employees
280 [1]  (2022)
Parent
  • Leader Group (2002–2011)
  • Plaion (2019–present)
Website milestone.it

Milestone S.r.l. is an Italian video game developer based in Milan. Founded in 1994 by Antonio Farina, the studio specialises in racing games, especially motorcycle racing games. The company began under the name Graffiti, developing the car racing game Screamer . After the studio rebranded as Milestone in 1996, it used Screamer's success for multi-game publishing deals with Virgin Interactive and Electronic Arts. The poor performance of Racing Evoluzione , published by Atari with little marketing, lead to key figures leaving Milestone. As part of Leader Group from 2002 on, the studio hired many younger developers and developed multiple games for multiple platforms, including several based on the Superbike World Championship. This shaped Milestone's identity as a developer of motorcycle racing games. After detaching from Leader Group in 2011, the studio obtained the license for MotoGP games in 2013. In 2019, Milestone was acquired by Koch Media.

Contents

History

Antonio Farina founded Milestone as Graffiti in 1994. [1] [2] The nascent studio's first notable game was Screamer , a racing game for personal computers. [1] In 1996, the studio rebranded as Milestone and used Screamer's success to reach publishing agreements with Virgin Interactive and Electronic Arts (EA). Virgin Interactive published Screamer 2 and Screamer Rally , while EA obtained a licence for games based on the Superbike World Championship (SBK). Milestone and EA worked on three such games released through 2000. These games grew Milestone's visibility and led to a deal with Atari. The publisher was in a troubled financial situation at the time and approached Milestone with a game idea for what became Racing Evoluzione . The deal appeared like a good idea to Milestone but Atari provided little marketing and released it in 2003 in direct competition with Project Gotham Racing . [1] In late 2002, Milestone joined Leader Group. [3] [4] Racing Evoluzione attracted mixed reviews and underperformed commercially, leading to the departures of key figures at the company. Consequently, the studio hired many younger developers, who sought to take the studio in a new direction. [1] As part of Leader Group, Milestone initially worked exclusively with the internal publisher Lago but later found that working with external publishers would be in its best interest. Still, Milestone's position as a subsidiary allowed it to grow and develop multiple games for multiple platforms simultaneously. [3]

With its younger staff, Milestone developed games that aimed to compete with the Gran Turismo series, albeit with limited scopes. This resulted in the production of Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano and Corvette Evolution GT . The studio then returned to games based on motorcycle racing, a popular sport in Italy, with Super-Bikes Riding Challenge. The game, released in 2006, greatly shaped the studio's identity, and it continued developing motorcycle racing games, including further games with an SBK license. It also supported Capcom's MotoGP games. [1] Milestone grew to 55 employees by October 2007 and to 80 by January 2010, making it the largest video game developer in Italy. [3] [5] In 2011, Milestone restructured as an independent company, aiming for further growth while remaining self-reliant. [6] It saw low earnings of €2.6 million in 2012 and consequently ceased developing games on a work-for-hire basis while it began self-publishing its games. [7] [6] Milestone obtained the licence for MotoGP-based games in 2013 and released the first such game, MotoGP 13 , later that year. The success of the studio's MotoGP games led to licensing deals with FIM Motocross, WRC, and Monster Energy Supercross. [1] The company's profits rose to €28 million by 2017. [6] On 14 August 2019, Koch Media acquired Milestone, at the time with 200 employees, and all of its intellectual property for €44.9 million paid in cash. Chief executive officer Luisa Bixio remained with the studio after acquisition. [2] [7]

Games developed

As Graffiti

YearTitlePlatform(s)
1994 Super Loopz Super Nintendo Entertainment System
1995Iron Assault MS-DOS
Screamer MS-DOS

As Milestone

YearTitlePlatform(s)
1996 Screamer 2 MS-DOS
1997 Screamer Rally MS-DOS, Windows
1999 Superbike World Championship Windows
2000 Superbike 2000 Windows, PlayStation
Superbike 2001 Windows
2003 Racing Evoluzione Xbox
L'eredità Windows, PlayStation 2
2005 Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
The X Factor Sing Windows, PlayStation 2
2006Australian Idol Sing PlayStation 2
Corvette Evolution GT Windows, PlayStation 2
Super-Bikes Riding Challenge
Suzuki Super-Bikes II: Riding Challenge Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2
2007 MotoGP 07 PlayStation 2
SBK-07: Superbike World Championship PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
Super PickUps PlayStation 2, Wii
2008 MotoGP 08 Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360
SBK-08: Superbike World Championship Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360
2009 SBK-09: Superbike World Championship
Superstars V8 Racing Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2010 SBK X: Superbike World Championship
Superstars V8: Next Challenge
WRC FIA World Rally Championship
2011 SBK 2011: FIM Superbike World Championship
WRC 2: FIA World Rally Championship
2012MUD: FIM Motocross World Championship Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360
SBK Generations Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
WRC 3: FIA World Rally Championship Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360
2013 MotoGP 13
WRC 4: FIA World Rally Championship
WRC Powerslide Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
WRC Shakedown Edition iOS
2014 MotoGP 14 Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360
MXGP: The Official Motocross Videogame
2015Karate Master 2: Knock Down Blow Windows
MotoGP 15 Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Ride
2016 Ducati: 90th Anniversary Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
MXGP2: The Official Motocross Videogame
Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO
Valentino Rossi: The Game
2017 MotoGP 17
MXGP3: The Official Motocross Videogame Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Ride 2 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2018 Gravel
Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
MotoGP 18
MXGP: Pro Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Ghostly Matter Windows
Ride 3 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2019 Monster Energy Supercross 2: The Official Videogame Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
MotoGP 19
MXGP 2019 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2020 Monster Energy Supercross 3: The Official Videogame Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One
MotoGP 20
Ride 4 Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Amazon Luna
MXGP 2020 Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
2021 Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 4 Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia
MotoGP 21 Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia
Hot Wheels Unleashed Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Amazon Luna
MXGP 2021 Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2022Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 5
MotoGP 22 Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
SBK 22 Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2023Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 6
MotoGP 23 Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Ride 5 Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2024MotoGP 24
Monster Jam Showdown

Cancelled titles

TitlePlatform(s)
FX Racing GameCube, Windows, PlayStation 2
Lamborghini FX Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
SBK-07: Superbike World Championship Windows, Xbox 360
SBK-08: Superbike World Championship Nintendo DS, Wii

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Iwaniuk, Phil (6 October 2022). "Studio Profile: Milestone Interactive". Edge . No. 377. Future Publishing. pp. 96–99.
  2. 1 2 Blake, Vikki (14 August 2019). "Koch Media to acquire Milestone and all IPs, including MotoGP and Supercross". MCV . Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Fear, Ed (9 October 2007). "Milestone". Develop . Archived from the original on 27 September 2009.
  4. ↑ "Timeline". Milestone. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  5. ↑ "Intervista a Luisa Bixio – Amministratore Delegato Leader" [Interview with Luisa Bixio – Chief Executive Officer Leader] (in Italian). Associazione Editori Sviluppatori Videogiochi Italiani. 11 January 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. 1 2 3 Handrahan, Matthew (26 October 2017). "Milestone races towards its biggest ever year". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  7. 1 2 Romano, Sal (14 August 2019). "THQ Nordic acquires Milestone S.r.l". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
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