Blitz Games Studios

Infobox_Company
company_name = Blitz Games Studios Ltd.
company_
company_type = Video game developer
foundation = 1990
location = Warwickshire, United Kingdom
key_people = Philip Oliver, Andrew Oliver, Richard Smithies
num_employees = 220+
industry = Video games
divisions = Blitz Games, Blitz Arcade, Volatile Games, TruSim, BlitzTech
homepage = http://www.BlitzGamesStudios.com/

Blitz Games Studios is a video game developer located in Warwickshire, United Kingdom. It was founded by the Oliver Twins, Andrew and Philip Oliver, in 1981. They completed their first game in 1984 and started developing titles for video game publisher, Codemasters.

The Codemasters publishing relationship led to the origin of the Dizzy series, and the Simulator series. Whilst with Codemasters, they were responsible for over 10 UK number one best sellers and over 3 million sales. [http://www.gignews.com/goddess/olivers.htm Interview with the Oliver Twins] from GIGnews.com] In 1986, it was reported that an estimated 7% of all UK games sales were attributable to the Oliver Twins.

The Olivers have diversified the company’s main activities and Blitz Games Studios now represents five different divisions.

Divisions

Blitz Games
*Creates the games that the company originally became well known for; family titles, often licensed on popular characters and existing IP.

Blitz Arcade
*This is the division that creates downloadable games. Its first release was the advergame series created for the US Burger King chain. Since then, Blitz Arcade has turned its focus to just downloadable titles and has had success with its first game of this type: "SpongeBob Squarepants – Underpants Slam".

Volatile Games
*Responsible for the company’s mature games. Video games created by this division include Reservoir Dogs (video game), runner up in the 2006 BAFTA awards for best sound track. [http://www.bafta.org/site/page413.html] Despite allowing the player to complete the game without firing a single shot, the game was considered so realistic in its depictions of violence that it was banned in Australia. [http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6153207.html?sid=6153207]

TruSim
*Blitz Games Studios "serious games" division. It is best know for its work on medical related training programs including the award-winning Interactive Trauma Trainer. [http://www.iecs.bham.ac.uk/hit/sg_research.htm]

BlitzTech
* In-house Technology

Games

*"" (2008)
*"SpongeBob Squarepants - Underpants Slam" [http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/spongebobunderpantsslam?q=spongebob%20slam] (2007)
*"" (2007)
*"" (2007)
*"Sneak King" (2006)
*"PocketBike Racer" (2006)
*"Big Bumpin'" (2006)
*"" (2006)
*"" (2006)
*" Reservoir Dogs" (2006)
*"" (2005)
*"Pac-Man World 3" (2005)
*"" (2004)
*"" (2004)
*"" (2003)
*"" (2003)
*"" (2002)
*"Zapper" (2002)
*"Fuzion Frenzy" (2001)
*"WarGames" (1998)

Awards

2007
*Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2007 - Favourite Videogame – SpongeBob Squarepants Creature from the Krusty Krab
*Edge award for Training and Development of young people
*ICT Excellence in Skills
*Blitz Games wins Develop Industry Excellence Award for Business Development
*Cannes Titanium Grand Prix Award for the Burger King games
*Golden Clio Award for Burger King games

2006
*Blitz Games CEO Philip Oliver named Best Industry Player by Tiga [http://www.tiga.org/index.php?action=showNewsDetails&newsId=39]
*Warwickshire Employer of Choice Awards 2006 for creating an exceptional working environment [http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/504E3FCF32EB39C28025723E003C4E25] .

References

External links

* [http://www.BlitzGamesStudios.com/ Blitz Games Studios Official Website]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/company/blitz-games Blitz Games] entry at MobyGames
* [http://www.olivertwins.com/ OliverTwins.com] , a website about the company's founders

Divisions

*Blitz Games - [http://www.BlitzGames.com/ BlitzGames.com - Family Games]
*Blitz Arcade - [http://www.BlitzArcade.com/ BlitzArcade.com - Downloadable Games]
*Volatile Games - [http://www.VolatileGames.com/ VolatileGames.com - Mature Games]
*TruSim - [http://www.Trusim.com/ trusim.com - Serious Games]
*BlitzTech - [http://www.BlitzTech.com/ BlitzTech.com - In-house Technology]