Guerrilla Games
 | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Interactive entertainment |
| Predecessor | Lost Boys Games |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Key people | Hermen Hulst (Managing director)[1] |
| Products |
|
| Owner | Sony |
Number of employees | ~270+[2] |
| Parent |
|
| Subsidiaries | Guerrilla Cambridge |
| Website |
www |
Guerrilla Games is a first-party video game developer founded in 2000 from the spin-off of Lost Boys Games, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is wholly owned by Sony through Sony Interactive Entertainment. It currently employs approximately 270 individuals, and is headed by managing director Hermen Hulst. It also owns a subsidiary based in Cambridge.
The developer is best known for its Killzone series, which is exclusive to PlayStation. The most recent game in the series, Killzone Shadow Fall, was first released in North America on 15 November 2013. On 18 August 2010 during a press briefing at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, managing director Hermen Hulst confirmed that Guerrilla Games' next title would be an all-new intellectual property, making it Guerrilla's first game not based on the Killzone series since Shellshock: Nam '67. The game was officially announced at Sony's E3 2015 press conference as Horizon Zero Dawn. It also uses it's proprietary game engine, Decima, for it's game development.
History
Prior to its acquisition by Sony Computer Entertainment, Guerrilla Games was a subsidiary of the large Dutch multimedia conglomerate Lost Boys, and operated under the moniker Lost Boys Games. The developer was formed as a result of a merger between three separate Dutch-based developers, including Orange Games, founded by Arjan Brussee, and Digital Infinity, founded by Arnout van der Kamp. Over the next three and a half years, Lost Boys Games would release four titles, two each for Nintendo's Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance handheld gaming consoles.
In mid-2003, due to a variety of mergers and corporate reshuffling, the gaming unit was sold off to Media Republic, a new media venture by original Lost Boys' founder Michiel Mol, and in July of that year was renamed to Guerrilla Games. The developer began work on its first two titles, Killzone, in development for Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, and Shellshock: Nam '67, in development for Eidos Interactive, for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows.
Both titles would be released the following year to mixed reception, however Killzone enjoyed pre-release hype and anticipation, and despite some backfire effect due to the media hype, Killzone went on to sell over a million copies worldwide, earning Greatest Hits and Platinum status in North America and Europe respectively. Guerrilla signed an exclusive development agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment in late 2004, that would see future development solely for Sony's line of video game consoles, the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. Shellshock: Nam '67 sold over 900,000 copies worldwide.[3] A sequel was developed by Rebellion Developments.
In May 2005, the developer enjoyed more attention and interest, both positive and controversial, after the release of a pre-rendered trailer of its upcoming Killzone sequel, Killzone 2 for the PlayStation 3, at the unveiling of the new console at Sony's press conference during the E3 video game trade show. The hype and skepticism surrounding both the game and its initial unveiling still resonates to this day, and has vaulted Guerrilla to the forefront of developers within Sony Computer Entertainment.
In December 2005, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of Guerrilla Games from then parent company Media Republic, making the developer a wholly owned first party studio within the publisher. Guerrilla went on to release Killzone: Liberation for the PlayStation Portable in October 2006, Killzone 2 for the PlayStation 3 in February 2009, and Killzone 3 for the PlayStation 3 in February 2011. It was then reported that Guerrilla was currently working on another first person shooter game.[4] On 24 February, co-founder and development director of studio Arjan Brussee, confirmed that he left the studio to work at Visceral Games on a new project.[5]
On 15 August 2012 at Sony's Gamescom Press Conference, Killzone: Mercenary was announced for the PlayStation Vita.[6] It was developed by Guerrilla Cambridge (formerly SCE Cambridge). In February 2013, Guerrilla announced Killzone Shadow Fall, to be released on the PlayStation 4. On 15 June 2015, during E3 2015 Sony's press conference, Horizon Zero Dawn was announced. Unlike the Killzone series, it is a third-person role-playing game that is set to be released for the PlayStation 4 in 2017.[7][8]
Products
Video games
| Game title | Year released | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Shellshock: Nam '67 | 2004 | Windows |
| Killzone | PlayStation 2 | |
| Killzone: Liberation | 2006 | PlayStation Portable |
| Killzone 2 | 2009 | PlayStation 3 |
| Killzone 3 | 2011 | |
| Killzone Shadow Fall | 2013 | PlayStation 4 |
| RIGS: Mechanized Combat League | 2016 | PlayStation VR |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 2017 | PlayStation 4 |
Decima
Decima is a proprietary game engine developed by Guerrilla Games. It uses and sports artificial intelligence (AI), physics, logics and world creation tools and features for the development of games via source code.
References
- ↑ "Management Team". Guerrilla Games. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ↑ "Guerrilla Games status". Twitter. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
Including our studio in Cambridge, I believe we're around 270 employees.
- ↑ Garratt, Patrick (3 October 2005). "Eidos on the brink as investors flee sinking ship". Eurogamer. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ↑ Hess, Bill (10 October 2011). "Surprise! Killzone Developer's New Game is FPS". Attack of the Fanboy. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ↑ Goulter, Tom (23 February 2012). "Guerilla co-founder Brussee leaves for mystery EA/Visceral project". Edge Online. GamesRadar+. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ↑ Goldfarb, Andrew (14 August 2012). "Killzone Mercenary announced for Vita". IGN. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (15 June 2015). "Killzone Creators Announce Horizon: Zero Dawn". Game Informer. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ↑ Carter, Chris (15 June 2015). "Guerilla Games announces new franchise, Horizon Zero Dawn". Destructoid. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
