Playtonic Games

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Playtonic Games
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded2014
Founders
  • Steve Hurst
  • Steve Mayles
  • Gavin Price
  • Jens Restemeier
  • Mark Stevenson
  • Chris Sutherland
Headquarters
Derby
,
England
Key people
Gavin Price (studio head)
Websiteplaytonicgames.com

Playtonic Games is a British independent video game developer. It was founded in 2014 and it consists almost entirely of former members of Rare.

History[]

Playtonic Games was founded in late 2014 by Steve Hurst, Steve Mayles, Gavin Price, Jens Restemeier, Mark Stevenson, and Chris Sutherland, all of whom previously worked at Rare.[1][2] Of the founders, Price assumed the role of studio head.[2] They were later joined by Grant Kirkhope and Steven Hurst. The first game the company worked on was codenamed "Project Ukelele", which was described as a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie.[2] The team launched a Kickstarter campaign for the project, and it managed to reach the stretch goal of US$1 million within 24 hours.[3] In part due to the campaign's success, the team's attention was often diverted to other aspects such as making merchandise items instead of focusing on game's development, and some choices related to game development were forced as well due to them being promised in the campaign.[4]

Project Ukelele was eventually unveiled as the 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee, which was released in 2017 to mixed critical reviews.[5] Playtonic followed up on Yooka-Laylee with their second game, a 2.5D spinoff named Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. While bearing similarities with the Donkey Kong Country series, the team opted not to use the moniker "spiritual successor" to market the game, unlike with Yooka-Laylee.[6] Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair was released in 2019 to a more positive reception than Yooka-Laylee.

Playtonic Games announced not only the rebranding of their company name now titled "Playtonic" but also the launch of a publishing division, Playtonic Friends, in February 2021, with three titles currently under development from partner studios Awe Interactive, Fabraz, and Okidokico.[7] On 26 March 2021, Playtonic Friends' revealed their first game, Demon Turf, developed by Fabarz.[8] On 29 April 2021, Playtonic Friends's announced their next game, BPM: Bullets Per Minute, would be released in 2021 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[9] On 19 May 2021, Playtonic announced A Little Golf Journey, to be released on PCs and Nintendo Switch and developed by Okidokico.[10]

Tencent acquired a minority stake in Playtonic in November 2021.[11]

Games developed[]

Year Game Platform(s) Publisher
2017 Yooka-Laylee Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Team17
2019 Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Games published as Playtonic Friends[]

Year Game Platform(s) Developer
2021 Demon Turf Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One Fabraz
BPM: Bullets Per Minute Microsoft Windows, PS4, Xbox One Awe Interactive
A Little Golf Journey Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch Okidokico
2022 Lil Gator Game Megawobble
Blossom Tales 2: The Minotaur Prince Castle Pixel
Victory Heat Rally Skydevilplam

References[]

  1. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (February 11, 2015). "Rare veterans form Playtonic Games". Gameindustry.biz. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Rare talent: inside the studio building Banjo-Kazooie's spiritual successor". The Guardian. 2015-04-12. Archived from the original on 2015-05-01. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  3. ^ Phillips, Tom (May 1, 2015). "Playtonic launches £175k Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter campaign". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  4. ^ Dealessandri, Marie (July 14, 2019). "When We Made… Yooka-Laylee". Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  5. ^ Garst, Aron (July 17, 2019). ""I guess things have moved on so much since then" - Playtonic recounts the setbacks they ran into when launching Yooka-Laylee". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  6. ^ Dring, Christopher (June 14, 2019). "Playtonic: "We are never using the term spiritual successor again"". Gameindustry.biz. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  7. ^ Dring, Christopher (February 12, 2021). "Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic launches publishing division". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  8. ^ "Playtonic Friends Presents: Demon Turf". 26 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Playtonic Friends Presents: BPM: Bullets per Minute". 29 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Playtonic Friends Presents: A Little Golf Journey". 19 May 2021.
  11. ^ Phillips, Tom (November 18, 2021). "https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-11-18-tencent-buys-stake-in-yooka-laylee-studio-playtonic". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 18, 2021. External link in |title= (help)

External links[]

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