Rebellion buys Strangelite

By Games Industry.biz Published 7 June, 2006

As in, Starship Troopers dev.

UK developer Rebellion has officially confirmed its acquisition of Strangelight Studios, which completed late last year as embattled software publisher Empire Interactive struggled to maintain its market presence.

Responsible for PC conversions of Sega's Virtua Tennis and Crazy Taxi titles in addition to the more recent film-licensed Starship Troopers, the Strangelight team are currently working on development of two as yet undisclosed titles, which are likely to appear on both PC and next-gen consoles.

A former internal studio of troubled publisher Empire Interactive, Strangelight's sale formed part of a much wider restructuring plan for Empire, the company entering into lengthy take-over negotiations with an undisclosed potential suitor. At the end of May, Empire confirmed that it has so far failed to secure a deal, ending those negotiations and leaving the future of the publisher once again cloaked in uncertainty.

Empire's loss appears to be very much Rebellion's gain however, and the Strangelight acquisition marks the latest move in a broader expansion strategy for the firm, having recently secured the assets of Core Design from SCi/Eidos. The company is expected to make further announcements shortly regarding new titles currently in development, as well as providing more information on the company's strategy for continued and accelerated growth within the industry.

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Comments (7) Latest comment 6 years ago

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  • #1 6 years ago

    Good stuff.
    I see real potential from Rebellion - and am currently really enjoying "Rogue Trooper" from them. I hope they can come good and deliver something special.

  • afray #2 6 years ago

    Anyone wondering where they're getting all this cash from?

    They've got Core and now Strangelite. They own the 200AD publishers. And their biggest game was AvP, which they would have made some money out of but not /that/ much.

    What's going on at Rebellion?

  • Triggerhappytel #3 6 years ago

    Wow. I never knew Rebellion were such a significant player. Didn't they used to publish their own games? Well, good luck to them, I really hope they've got some good titles up their sleeve for next-gen. I'd love to see a new Sniper Elite. That was a solid game which is screaming for a big-budget update.

    I don't remember reading that Rebellion aquired Core Design!! When was this?! I guess Eidos don't really need them now that Crystal Dynamics are developing the Tomb Raider games.

  • Wrestlevania #4 6 years ago

    Triggerhapptel: I don't remember reading that Rebellion aquired Core Design!! When was this?!

    They didn't; Core were bought about a year ago by SCi. SCi are owned by Eidos, so that's how Crystal Dynamics (also owned by Eidos) were handed the Tomb Raider franchise.

    What Rebellion have done is "secure assets" from Core, which presumably means they'll be able to develop new games based on previous Core properties that Eidos weren't interested in retaining. This might also include unfinished products that Rebellion could now - theoretically - take to completion and release themselves if they so wished.

    I think Core are now basically focussing on developing new properties for Eidos, like Smart Bomb on PSP. It'll be interesting to see where Core go from here actually--I suspect they'll be a dedicated 'portables' shop for Eidos for the foreseeable future, which is no bad thing if you ask me.
    Edited by 1 at 07/06/06 @ 11:44

  • Sko #5 6 years ago

    "What Rebellion have done is "secure assets" from Core, which presumably means they'll be able to develop new games based on previous Core properties that Eidos weren't interested in retaining."

    Eagerly awaits new Chuck Rock...

  • #6 6 years ago

    My guess is they're leveraged their buyouts somewhat, and used their non-gaming assets to gain favorable borrowing deals.
    /Wonders how much debt Rebellion has.

  • Triggerhappytel #7 6 years ago

    Wrestlevania - cheers dude, I mis-read the info. I wonder what 'assets' Rebellion acquired...? I'd quite like to see a decent sequel to Herdy Gerdy (with the *many* small issues ironed out please) and a sexy Project Eden update. No more Fighting Force though, please and thankyou.

    Just to clarify - Eidos were acquired by SCi. Their publishing division was renamed Eidos, but I think the company as a whole still operates under the SCi Entertainment Group. At least, that's what they were down as in the business pages of the newspaper a few weeks back.