Just Add Water (company)

Last updated

Just Add Water (Development) Limited
Type Private
Industry Video games
Founded24 October 2006;17 years ago (2006-10-24)
FounderStewart Gilray  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters
Leeds
,
England
Key people
  • Rebecca Gilray (Director)
  • Viktorya Hollings (COO)
  • Les Ellis (Studio Head)
  • Phil Jones (Technical Director)
Products
Sniper Elite VR
Number of employees
25
Website justaddwaterdevelopment.com

Just Add Water (Development) Limited is an independent video game developer based in Leeds, UK. [1] Founded by Stewart Gilray in 2006, Just Add Water has worked on different titles for the PlayStation 3 and PC, notably the Oddworld series. They have teamed up with Oddworld Inhabitants, to recreate the series in high definition as well as working on new installments in the series.

Contents

History

Just Add Water (Development), Ltd. was founded in 2006 by British career developer Stewart Gilray. The studio worked as a sub-contractor on a number of titles before moving onto its first unique project, Sony-published retro shooter Gravity Crash , [2] in 2008. PS3 and PSP versions released in 2009/2010. [3]

On 16 July 2010, Just Add Water announced they would start work on multiple Oddworld projects after signing a far-reaching contract with Lorne Lanning’s Oddworld Inhabitants to develop properties in the Oddworld franchise, a move Gilray describes as a "turning point" for the studio. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, a conversion of the 2005 original, was released on 3 September 2010, updating Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath in HD with enhanced 720p visuals, more detailed character models, remastered dialogue, PlayStation Move Support and "additional bonus material." [4]

A collection containing all four original games called the Oddbox, for Steam service was released on 20 December 2010. Both Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath made their debut on Windows PC with updates including Steamworks, which integrated new features including stats and Steam Achievements.in 2010 for PC, then a year later for PS3, and then PlayStation VITA in 2012.

Just Add Water released Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD for the PlayStation Network on 21 December in Europe and 28 December in North America. They have released an HD Remake of Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD for the PlayStation Network which was released on 19 December in Europe and on Christmas Eve 2012 in North America. [5]

Towards the end of development on Stranger’s Wrath HD, the team moved over to start development on what would become Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, VITA, PC, Mac and Linux.

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty launched in July 2014 on PS4 to critical acclaim, with other platforms arriving in the months following. The title did well to beat its own 12 month sales prediction within 2 months of release.

One of the next new instalments is a 2D HD remake of the Abe's Oddysee game, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! came out in the Summer of 2014 (beating its own 12 month sales prediction within 2 months of release) and had a public showing of pre-alpha footage at Eurogamer Expo 2012. [6] They have announced that they will complete Oddworld: Hand of Odd, which is a real-time strategy online game which was halted in the early 2000s, and it shall be released as a free-to-play title. Oddworld Inhabitants have also stated that 'Squeek's Oddysee' is in pre-production phases, with Just Add Water as the developer. In April 2015, Oddworld Inhabitants announced that an all-new remake of Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus is in the planning stages and more information about the project will be announced later. [7]

During this time the company also revisited their title Gravity Crash , by creating a PlayStation VITA version titled Gravity Crash Ultra, [8] which was released in August 2014.

From 2014 through to 2017 Just Add Water worked with new partners and clients, such as Paradox Interactive, Rising Star Games, Bossa Studios [9] & Mike Bithell. This work was focused on porting various projects from PC to console, and assisting development of titles.

In 2017 Just Add Water completed work on Micro Machines World Series for Codemasters [10] and moved into their new office in Leeds City Centre, and sought to expand their team to begin work on several new projects. [11]

In 2018 the team grew to 25 strong and began work on titles for Outright Games and Rebellion.

In March 2019 it was announced that Just Add Water would be partnering with Rebellion to release Sniper Elite VR, [12] a standalone VR title for the Sniper Elite series that would be released for PlayStation VR, Oculus VR and Steam VR. [13] Later that year, in October, the release of Ice Age Scrat’s Nutty Adventure for Outright Games on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC [14] occurred.

A teaser trailer for Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality was released in October 2020 [15] by Maze Theory, with a release date for 2021. [16]

Sniper Elite VR was released in July 2021, [17] followed by the release of Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality in October of that same year, after a two week delay for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. [18] The Nintendo Switch version was further delayed to November. [19]

By the end of 2021, Sniper Elite VR won a TIGA award for best VR/AR game. [20] It was also nominated for the Game Awards in the Best VR/AR category. [21]

On 6 January 2022, founder and CEO Stewart Gilray died from COVID-19, at the age of 51. [22] [23]

With a new management team in place, Just Add Water moved into new offices at Platform in Leeds in June where they are currently working on multiple projects on PC, consoles and VR.

Games

Release dateTitlesGenrePlatform(s)
2009 Gravity Crash Multidirectional shooter PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
2011 Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD First-person/Third-person action-adventure PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Windows
2012 Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD PlatformPlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
2014 Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! Side-scrolling, Platform PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox One
2014 Gravity Crash Ultra [24] Multidirectional shooter PlayStation Vita
2015 I Am Bread [25] Action-adventure, simulation PlayStation 4, Windows, OS X, Xbox One, [26] iOS, Android
2015 Volume [27] Stealth game PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
2015Poncho [28] PlatformPlayStation 4
2016Lumo [29] PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One
2016 Volume: Coda [30] Stealth game PlayStation 4
2017 Micro Machines World Series Racing PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2019 Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure PlatformPlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows
2021Sniper Elite VR [31] Virtual Reality First-Person Shooter Oculus Quest, PSVR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index
2021Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality [32] Adventure PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows
2021 BPM: Bullets Per Minute [33] First-person shooter PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Related Research Articles

Oddworld is a video game series and fictional universe, created by developers Oddworld Inhabitants under the direction of Lorne Lanning. The series has been released on various platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, PlayStation 3, Game Boy, Windows and Wii U.

<i>Oddworld: Abes Oddysee</i> 1997 video game

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is a platform video game developed by Oddworld Inhabitants and published by GT Interactive. It was released in 1997 for the PlayStation game console, and computers running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. A version for the Sega Saturn was planned but was never released. Emulated versions for the PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network were released in 2009, 2010, and 2013. It was then later released as a PS5 emulation in 2022 in Asia, and then later parts of the world.

<i>Oddworld: Abes Exoddus</i> 1998 video game

Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus is a platform video game developed by Oddworld Inhabitants and published by GT Interactive. Although the game is a sequel to the video game Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, it is considered a spin-off title in the Oddworld series, and not part of the main Oddworld Quintology. It was released in November 1998 for the PlayStation video game console and in December 1998 for Microsoft Windows. A Game Boy Color version, titled Oddworld Adventures 2, was released in 2000. The PlayStation version was re-released on the PlayStation Network in October 2009.

<i>Oddworld: Munchs Oddysee</i> 2001 video game

Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee is a 2001 video game, released for the Xbox. It is the third game made by Oddworld Inhabitants, the second chapter of the Oddworld Quintology, following Abe's Oddysee, and the third overall Oddworld game.

<i>Oddworld: Strangers Wrath</i> 2005 video game

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is an action-adventure video game developed by Oddworld Inhabitants and published by Electronic Arts for the Xbox. It is the fourth overall entry of the Oddworld series. It was released on January 25, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorne Lanning</span> American game designer

Lorne Lanning is an American game designer, director, writer and voice actor. He is also co-founder and president of the video game developer Oddworld Inhabitants. He is best known for creating the Oddworld series including the games Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! and Oddworld: Soulstorm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oddworld Inhabitants</span> American video game developer

Oddworld Inhabitants Inc. is an American video game, film and television company founded in 1994 by special-effects and computer-animation veterans Sherry McKenna and Lorne Lanning. The company is primarily known for the Oddworld, series of video games about the fictional planet of Oddworld and its native creatures. The series debuted with Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee in 1997 and continued with Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee in 2001 but the studio has also developed standalone titles Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus in 1998 and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath in 2005.

Abe (<i>Oddworld</i>) Fictional character

Abraham Lure is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Oddworld video game series, created by Oddworld Inhabitants. Abe was introduced in the 1997 game Abe's Oddysee and his character has changed and developed throughout the subsequent games, Abe's Exoddus and Munch's Oddysee.

<i>Super Stardust HD</i> 2007 video game

Super Stardust HD is a downloadable shoot 'em up video game that was released for the PlayStation 3 by Sony Interactive Entertainment, developed by the Finnish company Housemarque. In Asian regions, it is known as Star Strike HD. In 2015, a port for the PlayStation 4, called Super Stardust Ultra, was released. In 2016, Super Stardust Ultra VR, a PlayStation VR compatible version that contains Super Stardust Ultra, was released for the PlayStation 4. It is also available as paid downloadable content for Super Stardust Ultra.

Bluepoint Games Inc is an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2006 by Andy O'Neil and Marco Thrush, the studio is known for video game remasters and remakes, such as Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (2015), Shadow of the Colossus (2018), and Demon's Souls (2020). Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired the company in September 2021, making them a first-party developer for PlayStation Studios.

<i>Gravity Crash</i> 2009 video game

Gravity Crash is a multidirectional shooter released on the PlayStation Network. Its visual style pays homage to arcade games of the 1980s. A PlayStation Vita port was released in August 2014 under the title Gravity Crash Ultra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Door Lemon</span>

Four Door Lemon Ltd was a video game company based in Bradford, West Yorkshire and was one of the UK's longest-lived independent video games and middleware developers. Commonly known as "FDL", the company’s name derived from a children’s joke.

Sony has released a number of previously released PlayStation video games, remastered in high-definition (HD) for their newer consoles, a form of porting. A number of related programs exist, the most prominent two being "Classics HD" and "PSP Remasters". The former consists of multiple PlayStation 2 games compiled on one Blu-ray Disc. The latter are individual PlayStation Portable games republished on Blu-ray. These games are not direct ports, but remastered versions in high-definition, to take advantage of the newer consoles' capabilities. The remastering of the games include updated graphics, new textures, and Trophy support, and some of the remastered games released on PlayStation 3 have included 3D and PlayStation Move support. Some HD remasters have also been released individually or in bundles as downloads on the PlayStation Store; others are released exclusively as downloads.

<i>Choplifter HD</i> 2012 video game

Choplifter HD is a video game developed by inXile Entertainment and released in 2012-2013. It is a 3D polygonal remake of the 1982 game Choplifter by Dan Gorlin. inXile hired Gorlin to serve as a design consultant for the game. As in the original game, players fly missions in a helicopter, defeating enemies and rescuing people. Originally released for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the game was subsequently ported to the Ouya as well as Android devices. Choplifter HD was lauded for being true to the original, retaining the gameplay the series was known for, but was criticized for its high level of difficulty.

<i>Metal Gear Solid HD Collection</i> 2011 video game compilation

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is a compilation of remastered ports of Metal Gear video games released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011 and PlayStation Vita in 2012. The compilation contains Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on all three platforms, plus Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on the home console versions, with the individual games all branded as HD Edition. Bluepoint Games handled the conversions of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, while Genki worked on Peace Walker.

<i>Oddworld: New n Tasty!</i> 2014 video game

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! is a 2014 cinematic platform video game developed by Just Add Water and published by Oddworld Inhabitants as a "ground-up remake" of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. The game was released in North America on 22 July 2014 and in Europe on 23 July 2014 for the PlayStation 4. The title was also released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Wii U. It has been ported on iOS and Android and released worldwide on 14 December 2017. A Nintendo Switch version was released on 27 October 2020.

<i>Oddworld: Soulstorm</i> 2021 video game

Oddworld: Soulstorm is a platform game developed and published by Oddworld Inhabitants. It was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows in April 2021, with an enhanced edition released in November 2021 alongside a port for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. A port for Nintendo Switch, subtitled Oddtimized Edition, was released in November 2022. It is the sequel to 2014's Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! and a re-imagining of 1998's Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus as it was originally envisioned. The game received mixed reviews from critics and was downloaded over 4 million times through PlayStation Plus.

References

  1. ↑ "Location". Just Add Water (Dev) Ltd.
  2. ↑ Gravity Crash – IGN , retrieved 10 December 2021
  3. ↑ "Gravity Crash announced for PlayStation Network". Videogamesblogger.com. 13 June 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  4. ↑ Kietzmann, Ludwig (3 September 2010). "Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath remake coming to PS3 in 2011". Joystiq. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ↑ - By Stephen Johnson (16 July 2010). "Just Add Water Working on Multiple Oddworld Projects". G4tv.com. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New N' Tasty! Revealed at Eurogamer Expo". Eurogamer . 30 September 2012.
  7. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oddworld-abe-s-exoddus-remake-is-brewing/1100-6426606/ Gamespot Abe's Exxodus Remake Announced
  8. ↑ "Gravity Crash Ultra Coming to PS Vita". 6 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Be a Piece of Bread in I Am Bread on the PS4". 4 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Micro Machines World Series review". Eurogamer . 30 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "New Offices New Projects Bigger Team!". 23 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Four New Sniper Elite Projects in Development". 14 March 2019.
  13. ↑ "Sniper Elite VR unveiled at E3 2019". 11 June 2019.
  14. ↑ "Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure Releases October 18th". 18 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "Doctor Who: The Edge Of Reality Console Game Coming In 2021". 12 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality Video Game". The Doctor Who Site. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  17. ↑ "Sniper Elite VR Releases July 8 For Quest, PSVR & SteamVR". 3 June 2021.
  18. ↑ "'Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality' launches today". NME . 14 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Doctor Who: The Edge Of Reality Dev Cuts Deluxe Edition Cost And Apologises For Delays". 16 November 2021.
  20. ↑ "2021 Winners". TIGA. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  21. ↑ "VR Nominees at The Game Awards Include Lone Echo II, Sniper Elite VR & Hitman 3". VRFocus. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  22. ↑ "Tributes paid after Just Add Water founder Stewart Gilray dies aged 51". Eurogamer . 6 January 2022.
  23. ↑ "Just Add Water founder Stewart Gilray dies at 51". GamesIndustry.biz. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  24. ↑ ""Gravity Crash Ultra" Coming To PlayStation VITA". Just Add Water. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  25. ↑ "I am Bread Delivers Fresh-Baked Gaming Goodness on PlayStation 4 This Summer". Just Add Water. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  26. ↑ "I am Bread lands on Xbox One today". Just Add Water. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  27. ↑ "Oddworld developer handling PS4 and Vita versions of Mike Bithell's Volume". 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  28. ↑ "Poncho".
  29. ↑ "Console versions of Lumo developed by JAW!". 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  30. ↑ "Volume: Coda – JAW Ltd". Just Add Water. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  31. ↑ Burke, Ron (8 July 2021). "Virtual DOPE Book -- Sniper Elite VR review". GAMING TREND. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  32. ↑ O'Connor, James (11 October 2020). "Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality Is Coming Next Year, But It's Not An Entirely New Game". GameSpot . Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  33. ↑ "BPM: Bullets Per Minute". store.playstation.com. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
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.