Splash Damage

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For the in-game concept, see Splash damage.

Splash Damage Ltd.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2001; 20 years ago (2001)[1]
FoundersPaul Wedgwood, Richard Jolly, Arnout van Meer
HeadquartersLondon, England
ProductsWolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
OwnerIndependent (2001–2016)
Leyou (2016–2020)
Tencent (2020–present)
Number of employees
300[2]
ParentRadius Maxima (2016–2020)
Splash Damage Group Limited (2021-present)
Websitesplashdamage.com

Splash Damage Ltd. is a British video game developer that specializes in multiplayer first-person shooter video games. The studio is best known as the creator of the Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

History[]

Splash Damage was formed in May[3] or June 2001[1] by the creators of mods such as Quake 3 Fortress. The studio began life working with Now TV and Gamer.tv, providing both custom maps and an in-game television production solution. Splash Damage staff also worked to produce and present over 150 TV shows based on Quake III Arena Capture the Flag.

In March 2002, Splash Damage partnered with Games Domain to produce a number of multiplayer maps for their online gaming service. One of these was a map for id Software's Return to Castle Wolfenstein based on Operation Market Garden; this map was hugely successful online and instantly became the most played third-party map for the game.

Following Market Garden's success, Activision and id Software asked Splash Damage to produce three additional multiplayer maps for the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Game of the Year Edition. The same year, Splash Damage partnered with the two companies to develop Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, a stand-alone expansion based on Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The Windows version of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was released online for free on 29 May 2003, with Linux and Mac versions following later. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory won several Game of the Year and Editor's Choice awards[4] and remained one of the most popular online first-person shooter titles even in 2008.[5]

In June 2003 and once again working with id Software, Splash Damage created all the maps for Doom 3's multiplayer mode and at the same time began pre-production on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, a follow-up to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory using a heavily modified version of the id Tech 4 engine and set in the Quake universe. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars shipped on 28 September 2007, and has won dozens of awards to date, including several Game of the Year awards and over 25 Editor's Choice awards.[6]

In 2008, Splash Damage announced they would be partnering with Bethesda Softworks on an unannounced title.[7] In 2009, Splash Damage and Bethesda announced Brink,[8] which would eventually be released in May 2011.[9] In August 2011 Splash Damage and Bethesda released the Agents of Change DLC for Brink.[10]

In 2012, Splash Damage launched a publishing division called Warchest and a back-end technology business called Fireteam. [11] Warchest initially acted as publisher of various Splash Damage projects such as RAD Soldiers and Tempo. Later that year Splash Damage announced that they were developing a new multiplayer FPS game called Dirty Bomb.[12]

In 2013 Splash Damage announced that Nexon would be publishing Dirty Bomb, under the name Extraction, but later the name was changed back to Dirty Bomb.[13]

In July 2016, Splash Damage, alongside its sister companies Warchest and Fireteam, were acquired by Leyou, a Chinese holding company, via its Radius Maxima subsidiary.[14]

In February 2017, Splash Damage announced it had reacquired the publishing rights of Dirty Bomb from Nexon, after which Splash Damage's publishing arm Warchest would become the new publisher.[15]

After the acquisition of Leyou by Tencent by the end of 2020, Splash Damage will continue to operate as an "independent entity within the Tencent family".[16] In the same year Splash Damage and Google released Outcasters, an exclusive game for Google Stadia.

In May 2021 it was announced that Warchest will be taking over the publishing of Outcasters.[17]

Games developed[]

Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s)
2002 Return to Castle Wolfenstein (multiplayer) Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac Activision
2003 Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
2004 Doom 3 (multiplayer)
2007 Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2011 Brink Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Bethesda Softworks
2012 RAD Soldiers[18] iOS, Web Warchest
2013 Batman: Arkham Origins (multiplayer) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
2014 Dirty Bomb[19] Microsoft Windows Nexon (until 2017), Warchest (from 2017)
2015 Tempo[20] iOS Warchest
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition[21] Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series Consoles Xbox Game Studios
2016 Gears of War 4 (multiplayer)[22]
2019 Gears 5 (multiplayer)[23]
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (PC version)[24]
2020 Gears Tactics[25]
Outcasters[26] Google Stadia Stadia Games and Entertainment (until May 2021), Warchest (from May 2021)

Awards[]

Date Award Result
2008 Develop Industry Excellence Award for Best Independent Studio[27] Won
2008 Ultraweb Level 4 Award[28] Won
2008 Golden Joystick award for UK Developer of the Year[29] Nominated
2009 Guardian Top 100 UK Tech & Media Companies[30] Won
2015 Best Companies Ones to Watch[31] Won
2016 Best Companies 2 Star Accreditation[32] Won
2016 Amazon Growing Business Awards[33] Nominated
2018 Best Companies[34]
47th
2021 Best Companies - Best Large Companies[35]
58th
2021 Best Companies - London's Best Large Companies[36]
29th
2021 Best Companies 3 Star Accreditation [37]
Won

The full list of awards can be found on their web site.[38]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b https://web.archive.org/web/20040603072901/http://splashdamage.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=28&page=1
  2. ^ "Official Splash Damage Careers Page". Splash Damage. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Studio". Archived from the original on 27 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory awards". Splash Damage. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  5. ^ "GameSpy Statistics". GameSpy. 7 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars awards". Splash Damage. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  7. ^ "Bethesda and Splash Damage announce partnership". GamesIndustry.biz. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Bethesda And Splash Damage Announce Brink". Gamasutra. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Bethesda Softworks details 2011 schedule". New Game Network. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  10. ^ "Brink: Agents of Change DLC arrives on Steam, free for a fortnight". PC Gamer. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Brink developer's next moves: Free-to-play publishing, backend support". Gamasutra. 19 August 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Splash Damage announces new FPS, Dirty Bomb". Shacknews. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Dirty Bomb was renamed Extraction and now it's called Dirty Bomb again". VG24/7. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Splash Damage sold to Chinese poultry firm". Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  15. ^ "Splash Damage acquires Dirty Bomb publishing rights from Nexon". Gamasutra. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Splash Damage joins the Tencent family". Splash Damage. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Stadia-exclusive Outcasters is changing publishers following SG&E shutdown". 9to5Google. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  18. ^ "RAD Soldiers is Now Available Worldwide! - Splash Damage". www.splashdamage.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Splash Damage's Newest Shooter is Dirty Bomb! - Splash Damage". www.splashdamage.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  20. ^ "The wait is over, Tempo has officially launched on the iOS App Store! - Splash Damage". www.splashdamage.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Gears of War: Ultimate Edition". Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  22. ^ "UK-based Splash Damage is working on Gears of War 4 multiplayer". Videogamer.com. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  23. ^ "Gears 5". Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  24. ^ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection Announced". Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Gears Tactics". Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  26. ^ "Google Stadia exclusive Outcasters is a unique multiplayer combat game coming this fall". 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Develop Awards 08 crown best UK development talent". Intent Media. 31 July 2008.
  28. ^ "Ultraweb Level 4 Award 2008". Ultraweb. 25 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  29. ^ "Golden Joystick Awards 2008 Short List Voting Page". Future Publishing Ltd. 4 August 2008.
  30. ^ "The top 100 tech media companies". The Guardian. 8 October 2009.
  31. ^ "Ones to Watch". Best Companies.
  32. ^ "2 Star". Best Companies.
  33. ^ "Inspirational British companies feature in Amazon Growing Business Awards shortlist". Real Business. 3 October 2016.
  34. ^ "Splash Damage makes the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For". Splash Damage. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  35. ^ "Splash Damage makes the 100 Best Companies to Work For list". Splash Damage. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  36. ^ "Splash Damage makes the 100 Best Companies to Work For list". Splash Damage. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  37. ^ "Splash Damage makes the 100 Best Companies to Work For list". Splash Damage. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  38. ^ "The Awards - Splash Damage". www.splashdamage.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.

External links[]

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