Empire Interactive
 | |
Former type | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Industry | Interactive entertainment |
| Fate | Administration |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder | Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey[1] |
| Defunct | 2009 (2009) |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
| Parent | Silverstar Holdings (2006-2009) |
| Subsidiaries | Xplosiv Grabit |
| Website | www.empireinteractive.com  |
Empire Interactive is a defunct video game developer and publisher founded in 1987. It went out of business in 2009.
Contents
1 Company history
2 Xplosiv
3 Games
4 References
5 External links
Company history
Empire Interactive was a publisher of interactive entertainment software for 22 years. Headquartered in the UK, they also had offices in the U.S., Germany, France, Spain and Italy. The company developed and published a varied range of titles for all contemporary platforms in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Games such as Starsky & Hutch, Big Mutha Truckers, the Ford Racing series and FlatOut were some of their major successes.[2] They also operated the "Xplosiv" and "eJay" imprints, focusing on budget titles and music creation tools respectively.
After struggling financially for several years, they were purchased by Silverstar Holdings in 2006 and became a wholly owned subsidiary. On 4 May 2009 it was announced that the company had gone into administration and would be shutting down permanently. Their intellectual properties were sold to New World IP of the United States and all 49 staff were laid off.[3] New World IP then leased the rights to publish Empire's entire catalogue to Zoo Games.[4]
Xplosiv
Xplosiv, established in January 2000, was Empire Interactive's publishing label for budget or rerelease games by Empire themselves or contracted third parties. Empire positioned the published titles with price points of £9.99 and £4.99 in 2001, and in late 2002 added PlayStation 2 titles into the range, at £9.99 and £19.99.[5]
Xplosiv planned to enter the U.S. market in 2005.[6]
Games
Games published and/or developed by Empire include:
- 101st Airborne in Normandy
- 911: First Responders
- Animal Paradise
- Animal Paradise 2
- Antz Extreme Racing
- Big Mutha Truckers
- Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder
- Campaign
- Campaign II
- The Civil War
- Coala
- Combat Chess
Crazy Taxi (PC)
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (PC)
Dino Crisis 2 (PC)
Double Dragon (XBLA version)- Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
- DreamWeb
- Enemy Engaged: Apache Havoc
- Enemy Engaged: Comanche Hokum
Enemy Zero (PC)
FlatOut series- Flying Corps Gold
- Ford Racing
- Ford Racing 2
- Ford Racing 3
Ford Racing Full Blown (developed for SEGA Amusements Europe)- Ford Racing Off Road
- Ford Street Racing
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy
- Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
- Ghost Master
- Go Go Copter
- Hanna Barbera's Turbo Toons
- Harvest Moon Online
Heavy Gear II (PC)
Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams (DS)
Hot Wheels: Beat That! (unpublished)
The House of The Dead (PC)
The House of The Dead 2 (PC)- International Cricket Captain
Jackass: The Game (PS2, PSP and DS versions)- Jacked
- The Longest Journey
Mashed (aka Drive To Survive)
Midtown Madness 2 (PC)
Panzer Dragoon (PC)- Paraworld
Pepsi Max Extreme Sports (PC)- Pipe Mania
Pro Pinball series
SEGA Bass Fishing (PC)
SEGA Marine Fishing (PC)
SEGA Rally 2 (PC)
SEGA Rally Championship (PC)
SEGA Touring Car Championship (PC)- Sheep
- Sleeping Gods Lie
Solid Ice (PC)
Space Ace (SNES)
Spin Jam (PS1)- Starship Troopers
- Stars!
- Starsky & Hutch
- Speedball
- Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
- Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory
- Taito Legends 2
- Taito Legends
Team Yankee and its sequels Pacific Islands and War in the Gulf- Total Immersion Racing
Unsolved Crimes (DS)
Virtua Cop 2 (PC)
Virtua Tennis (PC)- Volfied
- War Along the Mohawk
- Warrior Kings: Battles
- Yogi Bear's Cartoon Capers
References
^ "Empire Interactive Europe Ltd". MobyGames. Retrieved 2013-10-29..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ Empire Interactive information Archived 19 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine from IGN
^ Empire IP Rights Sold As 49 Staff Made Redundant from GamesIndustry.biz
^ Graft, Kris (7 May 2009). "Zoo Publishing Picks Up Empire Slate". Gamasutra. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
^ XPLOSIV INVADES RETAIL WITH IT’S (sic) 250TH TITLE!
^ Xplosive - About Us
External links
- Archived company page
- Archived Xplosiv page
Empire Interactive company profile at MobyGames
