Rocksteady Studios
 | |
Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | 13 December 2004 (2004-12-13) |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Kentish Town, London England |
Key people |
|
| Products |
|
| Owner | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment[1] |
Number of employees |  182[2] (2019) |
| Website | rocksteadyltd.com |
Rocksteady Studios Limited is a British video game developer based in Kentish Town, London. Founded on 13 December 2004, they are best known for their work in the Batman: Arkham series. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Contents
1 History
2 Games developed and in development
3 References
4 External links
History
Rocksteady was founded on 13 December 2004, by Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker.[3][4] The team hired many employees from Argonaut Games, a London-based studio which had closed in October 2004.[5]
Rocksteady's first release was the 2006 first-person shooter Urban Chaos: Riot Response, developed using the Havok engine and published by Eidos Interactive for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. After Eidos obtained the rights to make a Batman game in spring 2007, they approached Rocksteady who presented their take to the Batman license, and by May 2007, they had begun developing the concept of Batman: Arkham Asylum, with full production beginning in September 2007.[6][7] The game was released in August 2009 to critical acclaim and huge commercial success and Time Warner went on to acquiring a 74.1 percent stake in February 2010, although Square Enix Europe (formerly Eidos Interactive) still held 25.1 percent share of Rocksteady.[8][9]
Rocksteady Studios have thus become one of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in-house studios, renowned for their acclaimed games in the Batman: Arkham franchise, as Arkham Asylum was followed by Batman: Arkham City in 2011, and Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015. Although a prequel Arkham game was also developed (Batman: Arkham Origins), Rocksteady did not act as developer for the game; instead, development was handled by WB Games Montréal.
In December 2016, Sefton Hill confirmed through his official Reddit account that a new project is currently in development at Rocksteady Studios.[10]
After Square Enix sold their stake in Rocksteady to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., it became a wholly owned studio.
Games developed and in development
| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Urban Chaos: Riot Response | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| 2009 | Batman: Arkham Asylum | PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, macOS |
| 2011 | Batman: Arkham City | PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Wii U |
| 2015 | Batman: Arkham Knight | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows |
| 2016 | Batman: Arkham VR | PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows |
References
^ https://www.warnerbros.com/studio/divisions/home-entertainment/warner-bros-interactive-entertainment
^ "Rocksteady - Welcome to Rocksteady Studios". rocksteadyltd.com..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background: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 a{background: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 a{background: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-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background: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-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news170105rollcall
^ Prell, Sam (November 22, 2014). "Three years later, Calendar Man reveals Arkham City easter egg". GamesRadar. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
^ Fahey, Rob (2005-01-17). "SCi funds new development studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
^ Snider, Mike (August 24, 2009). "The rest of the story: 'Batman: Arkham Asylum'". USA Today. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
^ Graft, Kris (October 19, 2009). "Rocksteady's Sefton Hill Unmasks Batman: Arkham Asylum". Gamasutra. Think Services. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
^ Plunkett, Luke (2010-02-23). "Warner Buys Batman: Arkham Asylum Devs". Kotaku. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
^ "Warner acquires majority stake in Rocksteady Studios". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
^ "I'm Sefton Hill, Creative Director at Rocksteady Studios, the creators of the Batman: Arkham series of video games. Ask me almost anything! • r/IAmA". reddit.
External links
- Official website
