- Ninja Theory
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Ninja Theory, Ltd. 
Type Video game developer Industry Video game industry Founded March 2000 (as Just Add Monsters) Headquarters Cambridge, England, UK Key people Mike Ball (chief technology)
Nina Kristensen (chief development)
Tameem Antoniades (chief design)
Jez SanProducts Heavenly Sword
Kung Fu Chaos
Enslaved: Odyssey to the WestWebsite http://www.ninjatheory.com Ninja Theory, Ltd. is a video game developer based in Cambridge, England. Originally founded as Just Add Monsters in March 2000, the company was purchased by former Argonaut Games CEO Jez San in November 2004.[1] The team developed its first game, Kung Fu Chaos, in 2003 exclusively for the Xbox, which was published by Microsoft Game Studios.
Ninja Theory's second game, Heavenly Sword for the Sony PlayStation 3 was released in September 2007 and features a "free style" combat action system.[2] The developer was nominated for five Develop Industry Excellence Awards for the game including best new IP, visual arts, audio accomplishment, technical innovation, and best independent developer.[3]
In June 2008, the company licensed NaturalMotion's morpheme animation system.[4] Ninja Theory's third game, titled Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, was released for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and was published by Namco Bandai Games. Previously, Enslaved was believed to be a sequel to Heavenly Sword until Ninja Theory confirmed otherwise; stating that such a game is "extremely unlikely".[5]
At the Capcom Tokyo Games Show conference on September 15, 2010, it was announced that Ninja Theory are currently developing a prequel of the Devil May Cry franchise, simply called DmC.
Contents
Games
- Kung Fu Chaos (as Just Add Monsters) (2003)
- Heavenly Sword (2007)
- Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010)
- DmC (2012)
Exclusive relationship with Sony Computer Entertainment
In May 2005, Ninja Theory were on the verge of becoming defunct due to the collapse of the gaming studio Argonaut Games, however soon after the announcement was made, the BBC reported that Sony Computer Entertainment had signed them up to make an exclusive video game for the upcoming PlayStation 3.[6]
The teased Heavenly Sword 2 has been cancelled[7] for the time being. In June 2010, Ninja Theory expressed their interest in making another title and commented that they would have made a sequel had Heavenly Sword performed better in sales.[8]
Before the multi-platform release of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West; there were rumors claiming that the quality of the PS3 version was poor compared to the Xbox 360 version, although Ninja Theory recently addressed these rumors by stating, "I can re-assure you that through our development process neither format is favoured. In fact, all formats are developed simultaneously so it wouldn’t be possible for one format to be cared for more than the other."[9] Despite this statement, the game was revealed to have overall inferior performance on the PS3 after release, with EuroGamer's Digital Foundry team recommending "if you own both consoles and have the choice of which version to buy, the Xbox 360 release is the one to get". [10]
References
- ^ Wilson, Andrew (November 15, 2004). "Just Add Monsters Morphs Into Ninja Theory". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=4558. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ "Heavenly Sword free style action". http://www.ninjatheory.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=60.com. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ "Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008". Develop Map. July 2008. http://www.developmag.com/develop-awards. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ "Ninja Theory Licenses NaturalMotion's morpheme Animation System". GameSpy. June 17, 2008. http://www.gamespy.com/articles/882/882276p1.html. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ Steen, Patrick. "Heavenly Sword Sequel "Extremely Unlikely"". http://www.ripten.com/2008/05/27/heavenly-sword-sequel-extremely-unlikely. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ |http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4568777.stm%7C
- ^ "Heavenly Sword 2 Axed, Ninja Theory Moving". http://kotaku.com/5017126/heavenly-sword-2-axed-ninja-theory-moving.
- ^ |http://gamer.blorge.com/2010/06/21/ninja-theory-wants-heavenly-sword-2/%7C
- ^ |http://playstationlifestyle.net/2010/09/14/ninja-theory-addresseles-screen-tearing-concerns-with-ps3-enslaved/%7C
- ^ |http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-enslaved-faceoff?page=2%7C
External links
Categories:- Companies based in Cambridge
- Companies established in 2004
- Video game companies of the United Kingdom
- Video game developers
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