Snapshot Games
Snapshot Games is an independent video game developer headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria.[1][2] Snapshot Games was founded in 2013 by Julian Gollop and David Kaye.[1][3] Gollop is recognized for creating the X-COM video game franchise in the 1990s with UFO: Enemy Unknown and X-COM: Apocalypse.[4][1][5][6][7][8] Gollop also is the CEO of Snapshot Games.[8] In addition to Gollop, the company includes about eight developers who are industry veterans with years of previous experience working for Ubisoft Sofia, Crytek Black Sea, and other Bulgaria studios.[1]
Private | |
Industry | Video game developer |
Founded | 2013 |
Founders | Julian Gollop David Kaye |
Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 55 |
Website | snapshotgames |
History
On November 12, 2013, Snapshot Games was founded as a privately held corporation in the state of California of the United States.[3] However, it is based in Bulgaria where its CEO, Julian Gollop, lives and where video game development costs are about one-third of what they would be for a similar studio in the United States.[1][2][8]
In April 2014, Snapshot Games launched a Kickstarter to crowdfund the development of its first video game, Chaos Reborn.[9] The effort was successful, generating over $210,000.[9] The game was made available through the Early Access program of Steam on December 9, 2014 before it was released officially on October 26, 2015.[10] The game received a score of 86/100 on review aggregation website Metacritic.[11] PC Gamer awarded it a score of 87%, saying "A true wizard’s wheeze, and a fine return for one of gaming’s oldest tactical classics."[12] The game also was nominated for a Golden Joystick Award in the 2015 Best Indie Game category but lost to Kerbal Space Program.[13][14]
Julian Gollop teased the development of a new video game, Phoenix Point, on Twitter on March 18, 2016.[15][16] For the next year, Snapshot Games worked on designing and producing the game.[17] After investing $450,000 into this first year of development, the company launched a Fig crowdfunding campaign in April 2017 to obtain the $500,000 they budgeted to complete the game.[2][18] The future of Snapshot relied on the success of the campaign.[17] "There is no Plan B," Gollop said to the press at the time.[17] The campaign was successful, raising more than $765,000 from over 10,300 different contributors.[18] Snapshot Games has committed to release Phoenix Point in 2019.[19][20]
Video games
Year | Title | Genre(s) | Platforms |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Chaos Reborn | Tactical role-playing game | OS X Linux Microsoft Windows |
2019 | Phoenix Point | Turn-based tactics, Strategy | OS X Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One |
References
- "Inspired by X-COM, Snapshot Games is creating Phoenix Point for fall 2018". VentureBeat. 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "Phoenix Point's Fig campaign promises new take on classic X-COM formula". Polygon. 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- "Business Search - Business Entities - Business Programs | California Secretary of State". businesssearch.sos.ca.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- Hall, Charlie (2017-05-02). "X-COM spiritual successor Phoenix Point hits $500K crowdfunding goal". Polygon. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "Gamereactor UK". www.gamereactor.eu. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "Phoenix Point, the Spiritual Successor to X-Com, Can Be Backed on Fig". geekreply.com. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- Williams, Mike. "X-COM Designer Returns To the Genre With Phoenix Point". USgamer. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- Osborn, Alex (2017-06-05). "Phoenix Point Boss Battle Gameplay Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "Chaos Reborn - From the Creator of the Original X-COM". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- Meer, Alec (2015-10-09). "X-COM Creator's Chaos Reborn Is Born This Month". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "Chaos Reborn". Metacritic. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "Chaos Reborn review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "The Golden Joystick Awards 2015 - Voting Now Open - Geek Syndicate". Geek Syndicate. 2015-09-04. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "Golden Joysticks 2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins five gaming awards - BBC Newsbeat". BBC Newsbeat. 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "X-COM creator Julian Gollop teases new game Phoenix Point". VG 247. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- "Julian Gollop announces new game, Phoenix Point". PC Gamer. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- "There is no Plan B". Gameindustry.biz. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- "Phoenix Point Crowdfunding Campaign". Fig. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "X-COM spiritual successor Phoenix Point hits $500K crowdfunding goal". Polygon. 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- "Phoenix Point by X-COM Creator Seeks Funding on Fig". wcctech.com. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2017-06-13.