Revolution Software

Revolution Software

Type	Independent video game developer
Industry	Interactive entertainment Video game industry
Founded	March 1990
Founder(s)	Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, Noirin Carmody
Headquarters	York, England
Key people	Charles Cecil (Managing Director)
Products	Lure of the Temptress Beneath a Steel Sky Broken Sword (series) In Cold Blood Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado
Website	http://revolution.co.uk

Revolution Software Ltd. is a British adventure game company, based in York in northern England.^[1]

The company was founded in 1990 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes and Noirin Carmody. The company's speciality would be for writing adventure games, including Beneath a Steel Sky, and the Broken Sword series which have sold over 4 million copies worldwide and have earned £100 million.^[2] The company was started with a view to creating Lure of the Temptress; their first game and which incorporated the Virtual Theatre Engine. This virtual engine was subsequently used to develop the first two games in the Broken Sword series. The company also developed the games In Cold Blood and The Road to El Dorado; a game based on the 2001 DreamWorks' animated movie.

Company history

Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky

Released in 1992 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and PC platforms, Lure of the Temptress was reasonably successful^{[clarification needed]} which helped set the company up for their future game releases.^[3] Revolution released the game as freeware on 1 April 2003.^[4]

Their next game was released in 1994; Beneath a Steel Sky became a hit^{[clarification needed]} on the Amiga and PC. The game focused on protagonist Robert Foster's abduction and subsequent search for answers in a dystopian city of the future.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars and Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror

Despite the success of Steel Sky, it was Revolution's next game that they would become best-known for, and which would have both the biggest critical and commercial success.^{[clarification needed]} Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars was released for PC and PlayStation in 1996 and was later ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2002. The game revolves around the story of George Stobbart, an American tourist whose holiday in Paris is rudely interrupted by a bombing. Investigating, he runs into photo-journalist Nicole Collard, and the two embark on a globe-trotting adventure. The hand drawn graphics, story and characters, and gameplay helped make the game a hit,^{[clarification needed]} and cemented the company's reputation for story driven games.^[5] The game was quickly followed by a well-received sequel, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror.^{[clarification needed]} According to Charles Cecil, each of the first two Broken Sword games sold around a 1,000,000 copies in the mid-90's.

In Cold Blood, Gold and Glory: the Road to El Dorado, Good Cop Bad Cop cancellation

Sony requested that the company make a new game after the commercial success of Broken Sword on the PlayStation console.^{[clarification needed]} While working on this game, In Cold Blood, in 2000, the company also developed a children's adventure to coincide with the release of the film The Road to El Dorado.^[6]

In March 2001 In Cold Blood was released for the |PC and PlayStation; this was Revolution's first 3D game. Set in the near future, the game featured John Cord, an MI6 agent. Sent to the fictional, former soviet region of Volgia, the player embarks on a mission to investigate a newly discovered substance, Blue Nephrine. However, Cord is betrayed and must work out by whom, while simultaneously trying to work out what plans the dictator of Volgia, General Nagarov, has for this mysterious new chemical and the implications for the world. While the game was generally well-received, it was not as big a commercial success as expected.^{[clarification needed]}

The company then started work on Good Cop Bad Cop, an action game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. However the game was eventually cancelled ^[7] so that the company could concentrate on Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon.

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon and Broken Sword: The Angel of Death

Released in November 2003, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon featured 3D graphics, and moved away from the 2D point-and-click style of older games. As the game was developed for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox simultaneously, they decided to implement a direct control mechanism for the protagonist, instead of mouse control clicking on hot spots, as this was easier to convert to console game pads.^[8]

Revolution released Broken Sword: The Angel of Death on 15 September 2006. At the start of the game, George is working as a bail bonds clerk, when he falls in love with Anna-Maria, a woman who asks George to help him find an artifact.^[9]

Broken Sword - Director's Cut and Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered

On 1 March 2009 Revolution released the remake of the first in their Broken Swordseries, called Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut, for Wii and Nintendo DS platforms (later on iOS, MAC OSX and PC).^[10] According to a Charles Cecil interview with Pocket Gamer, the Director's Cut sold around 160,000 copies by December of 2010.^[11] Revolution also announced that The Director's Cut is coming soon to Android.^[12]

During October 2009, Beneath a Steel Sky - Remastered was made available on the iPhone app store for iPhone and iPod touch devices.^[13] The Remastered Edition sold around 20,000 copies in its first month and expected to hit 70,000 sales in the first year and 100,000 lifetime sales.^[14]

After the release of Beneath a Steel Sky - Remastered, Charles Cecil and Dave Gibbons stated that a sequel could be likely and that iPhone would be the ideal platform.^[15]

Broken Sword II - Remastered and Broken Sword 5 announcement

Revolution announced the remastered edition of the second game in the Broken Sword series on 9 December 2010, called Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror - Remastered. The game was released in late 2010 on iPhone, April 2011 on Mac OS and May 2011 on PC.^[16] According to Revolution Software's official Facebook page, Broken Sword: the Smoking Mirror - Remastered sold over 250,000 copies on iOS.

Charles Cecil announced Broken Sword 5 is coming soon in an interview with Pocket Gamer.^[17] Cecil also confirmed that Revolution wanted to start making 2D games again.

Games

Game	Publisher	Platform	Year	Average Review Score
Lure of the Temptress	Virgin Interactive	DOS, Amiga, Atari ST	1992	57.50%[18]
Beneath a Steel Sky	Virgin Interactive	DOS, Amiga, Amiga CD32	1994	76.67%[19]
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars	Virgin Interactive Entertainment (PC, Mac), Sony Computer Entertainment (PS1)	DOS, Windows, PlayStation, Mac OS, Palm OS	1996	80.83%[20]
Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror	Virgin Interactive Entertainment (PC, Mac), Sony Computer Entertainment (PS1)	Windows, PlayStation	1997	73.09%[21]
In Cold Blood	Sony Computer Entertainment/Ubisoft (EU), DreamCatcher Games (NA)	Windows, PlayStation	2000	68.86%[22]
Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado	Ubisoft	Windows, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2	2000	60.40%
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon	THQ	Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox	2003	82.53%[23]
Broken Sword: The Angel of Death	THQ	Windows	2006	75.03%[24]
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut	Ubisoft (Wii, DS), Kalypso Media (PC, Mac)	Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, Wii, iPhone, iPad, Android	2009	80.87%[25]
Beneath a Steel Sky - Remastered	Revolution Software	iPhone, iPod	2009	90.00%[26]
Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror - Remastered	Revolution Software	iPhone, iPad, Mac OS X, Windows	2010	n/a[27]
Broken Sword 5	Revolution Software	Windows	2012	n/a

References

1. ^ "Official Revolution Software Website". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/. 
2. ^ "Revolution Games Facebook Info". Revolution Software. http://www.facebook.com/revolutionsoftware?sk=info. 
3. ^ "Lure of the Temptress". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=1&platform_id=0. 
4. ^ "Lure of the Temptress Freeware". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=14&game_id=1&platform_id=0. 
5. ^ "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=3&platform_id=0. 
6. ^ "Gold and Glory: The Road to El Do Rado". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/objects/014/014685.html. 
7. ^ "Good Cop Bad Cop Canceled". IGN. http://ps2.ign.com/objects/016/016475.html. 
8. ^ "Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=6&platform_id=0. 
9. ^ "Broken Sword: The Angel of Death". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=7&platform_id=0. 
10. ^ "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=9&platform_id=0. 
11. ^ "Revolution's Charles Cecil on Broken Sword 2 and why it's the best time ever to be an indie". Pocket Gamer. http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Revolution+news/news.asp?c=25880. 
12. ^ "Revolution Software to bring Broken Sword and a mysterious new game to Android". Droid Gamer. http://www.droidgamers.com/index.php/game-news/android-game-news/2104-revolution-software-to-bring-broken-sword-and-a-mysterious-new-game-to-android. 
13. ^ "Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=8&platform_id=0. 
14. ^ "iPhone's Beneath a Steel Sky on track for 20,000 sales in first month". Pocket Gamer. http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Beneath+A+Steel+Sky%3A+Remastered/news.asp?c=16414. 
15. ^ "Beneath a Steel Sky 2". Pocket Gamer. http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPhone/Beneath+A+Steel+Sky%3A+Remastered/news.asp?c=16007. 
16. ^ "Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror - Remastered". Revolution Software. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=8&platform_id=0. 
17. ^ "Revolution already working on new Broken Sword game". Pocket Gamer. http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/Revolution+news/news.asp?c=25881. 
18. ^ "Lur of the Temptress Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/564759-lure-of-the-temptress/index.html. 
19. ^ "Beneath a Steel Sky Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/565007-beneath-a-steel-sky/index.html. 
20. ^ "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/ps/196824-broken-sword-the-shadow-of-the-templars/index.html. 
21. ^ "Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/ps/196823-broken-sword-ii-the-smoking-mirror/index.html. 
22. ^ "In Cold Blood Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://revolution.co.uk/?page_id=5&game_id=5&platform_id=0. 
23. ^ "Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/473507-broken-sword-the-sleeping-dragon/index.html. 
24. ^ "Broken Sword; The Angel of Death Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/929468-secrets-of-the-ark-a-broken-sword-game/index.html. 
25. ^ "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/ds/955010-/index.html. 
26. ^ "Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/iphone/962333-beneath-a-steel-sky-remastered/index.html. 
27. ^ "Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror - Remastered Average Review Score". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/mac/605988-broken-sword-the-smoking-mirror-remastered/index.html. 

External links

• Revfans - Revolution Software Fansite
• Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars Fangame
• Beneath a Steel Sky at Game Nostalgia
• Revolution Software entry at MobyGames