Rebellion buys Lara Creator Core Design
Eidos, meanwhile, confirms Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition
Nice boots
Rebellion, one of the UK’s leading games development studios and the owners of cult sci-fi comic book 2000AD, has announced that it has inked a deal with SCi/Eidos to buy the staff and the physical assets of Core Design. However, the Core Design brand and IP’s will be kept by Eidos.
The news comes hot on the heels of Rebellion's recent acquisition of former Empire Interactive-owned Strangelite Studios, makers of "Starship Troopers".
A prolific independent developer from the late 80s, Derby-based Core was responsible for 8- and 16-bit classics such as Rick Dangerous and Heimdall. When Core's parent company was acquired in 1996, its new owner, a fledgling Eidos, inherited the work-in-progress Tomb Raider. Hitting pay dirt with a single game, Eidos and Core have since been inextricably linked with that title and its treasure hunting heroine.
Rebellion’s boss Jason Kingsley said of the deal: "With next-gen development upon us now, and publisher requirements changing, this studio’s deep and experienced talent allows us to continue to compete at a global level... Together with our business plan for 2006, it's our goal to develop Rebellion further."
Eidos, meanwhile, has also just announced more details on the forthcoming Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition, a title which was originally being developed by Core, but has now been handed over to Crystal Dynamics.
Larry Sparks, Head of Brands Management at Eidos said: “Our ‘10th Anniversary Edition’ of Tomb Raider, is a one-off title to celebrate both Lara and Tomb Raider, it will appeal not only to the loyal fans of the Tomb Raider series but will also attract a totally new audience.”
So what, you might be asking, happened to the version of the game which Core had been working on for the last six months and which had a pretty impressive video demo at E3 last month, or for that matter, the parkour "simulator", Free Running?
All very intriguing and we'll be asking around developer and publisher contacts at all the companies involved to try to get to the bottom of this story.
The news comes hot on the heels of Rebellion's recent acquisition of former Empire Interactive-owned Strangelite Studios, makers of "Starship Troopers".
A prolific independent developer from the late 80s, Derby-based Core was responsible for 8- and 16-bit classics such as Rick Dangerous and Heimdall. When Core's parent company was acquired in 1996, its new owner, a fledgling Eidos, inherited the work-in-progress Tomb Raider. Hitting pay dirt with a single game, Eidos and Core have since been inextricably linked with that title and its treasure hunting heroine.
Rebellion’s boss Jason Kingsley said of the deal: "With next-gen development upon us now, and publisher requirements changing, this studio’s deep and experienced talent allows us to continue to compete at a global level... Together with our business plan for 2006, it's our goal to develop Rebellion further."
Eidos, meanwhile, has also just announced more details on the forthcoming Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition, a title which was originally being developed by Core, but has now been handed over to Crystal Dynamics.
Larry Sparks, Head of Brands Management at Eidos said: “Our ‘10th Anniversary Edition’ of Tomb Raider, is a one-off title to celebrate both Lara and Tomb Raider, it will appeal not only to the loyal fans of the Tomb Raider series but will also attract a totally new audience.”
So what, you might be asking, happened to the version of the game which Core had been working on for the last six months and which had a pretty impressive video demo at E3 last month, or for that matter, the parkour "simulator", Free Running?
All very intriguing and we'll be asking around developer and publisher contacts at all the companies involved to try to get to the bottom of this story.
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