TT Games

TT Games Limited is a British holding company and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in 2005 through the merger of developer Traveller's Tales and publisher Giant Interactive (now TT Games Publishing). Its other branches include developer TT Fusion, animation studio TT Animation and mobile game studios Playdemic and TT Odyssey. The company is best known for its video games based on the Lego construction toy.

TT Games Limited
Subsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2005 (2005)
Headquarters
Maidenhead
,
England
Key people
  • Tom Stone
  • (managing director)
  • Jonathan Smith
  • (strategic manager)
ParentWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (2007–present)
Subsidiaries
Websitettgames.com

History

In 2003, The Lego Group's video game division, Lego Interactive, commenced plans to develop Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, based on the company's licensed Lego Star Wars toy sets.[1] They contracted Traveller's Tales to develop the game, though Lego soon stepped out of the video game industry.[1] Tom Stone and Jonathan Smith of Lego Interactive's senior management formed Giant Interactive, gaining the exclusive licence for Lego video games.[1] As work progressed, Traveller's Tales manager Jon Burton recognised the potential of the game and the Lego licence, and how effectively the two companies worked together.[1] Lego Star Wars was released in 2005 to positive reviews and strong sales, wherefore Traveller's Tales acquired Giant Interactive in April, forming TT Games.[1][2]

TT Games continued to produce Lego games to considerable success; Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy received several awards and nominations in 2006, including the Best Gameplay Award at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' 3rd British Academy Games Awards.[1] In 2007, under advise from Farleys Solicitors, TT Games acquired developer Embryonic Studios and motion capture studio Centroid, which became TT Fusion and TT Centroid, respectively.[3] On 8 November 2007, TT Games was acquired by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and became part of its video game division, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[4] For Burton's share, which amounted to an ownership of 80% in TT Games, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment paid roughly GB£100 million (US$210 million).[5]

TT Games expanded into mobile games with the acquisition of Playdemic in February 2017 and the opening of TT Odyssey (originally named TT Games Brighton) in January 2018.[6][7][8]

Subsidiaries

Traveller's Tales
Main article: Traveller's Tales

Traveller's Tales was founded in 1989 by Jon Burton and Andy Ingram.[1] Traveller's Tales is based in Knutsford, England.[9]

TT Games Publishing

TT Games Publishing was founded as Giant Interactive Entertainment in 2004 by managing director Tom Stone and head of production Jonathan Smith.[10] Both Stone and Smith were formerly in the senior management of Lego Interactive, the video game division of The Lego Group, before that company closed.[1] Giant Interactive took over the publishing duties for Traveller's Tales' Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, which were formerly handled by Lego Interactive, and became the exclusive licencee for Lego video games.[1] Giant Interactive was acquired by Traveller's Tales in April 2005, and the two companies created TT Games.[1][2] As a result, Giant Interactive became TT Games Publishing.[10] TT Games Publishing is based in Maidenhead, England.[9]

TT Fusion

TT Fusion was founded as Embryonic Studios by Nick Elms, the co-founder of Warthog and Digital Anvil, in 2005.[11] TT Games announced the acquisition of the studio on 4 January 2007, at which point Embryonic employed 20 people in its offices in Bollington.[11] The deal was overseen by Farleys Solicitors, and the studio was renamed TT Fusion.[3] TT Fusion is based in Wilmslow, England.[9]

TT Animation

TT Animation is TT Games' animation studio for film and television, run by Fraggle Rock co-creator Jocelyn Stevenson.[12] The studio produced the film Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite, which was released in May 2013.[13]

Playdemic

Playdemic was founded in 2010 by Paul Gouge as a developer of Facebook Platform games.[6][14] The company was acquired by RockYou in January 2011, and Gouge switched positions from chief executive officer to vice-president and general manager.[14] When RockYou faced financial instability later that year, Playdemic performed a management buyout.[6] In February 2013, Ian Livingstone was appointed as the company's chairman.[15] TT Games announced on 8 February 2017 that they had acquired Playdemic to bolster its mobile game development capabilities.[6] At the time, Playdemic had 33 employees in its Wilmslow offices.[6]

TT Odyssey

TT Games announced the formation of TT Games Brighton, a mobile game development studio based in Brighton, England, on 30 January 2018.[7] Jason Avent, who formerly headed Boss Alien, became the studio's head of studio.[7] In March that year, TT Games Brighton was rebranded TT Odyssey.[8]

Former

TT Centroid

Centroid Motion Capture Limited, a motion capture studio, was acquired by TT Games on 31 May 2007.[16] Its assets, including 10 employees in its England headquarters, plus another 12 employees in its subsidiary studio in Serbia, were absorbed by a new entity, TT Centroid Limited and the company moved to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England.[16] The deal was overseen by Farleys Solicitors.[3]

gollark: This is just a PR thing, and centralises power in their hands since they also control the most popular browser.
gollark: Yes, by me, in the jurisdiction I made up.
gollark: Oh.
gollark: Eliminate all intellectual property law?
gollark: I should probably have remembered this, but apparently an important part of GIF was patented for a while, and also bits of MP3, H.264 and H.265.

References
  1. Wallis, Alistair (9 November 2006). "Playing Catch Up: Traveller's Tales' Jon Burton". Gamasutra.
  2. Maragos, Nich (14 April 2005). "Traveller's Tales Acquires Giant Entertainment". Gamasutra.
  3. French, Michael (31 May 2007). "TT Games buys Centroid". MCV.
  4. Faylor, Chris (8 November 2007). "Warner Bros. Buys TT Games, Developer of LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones, and LEGO Batman". Shacknews.
  5. Kietzmann, Ludwig (21 November 2007). "Report: TT Games sold to Warner Bros. for approx. $210 million". Engadget.
  6. Sinclair, Brendan (8 February 2017). "TT Games acquires Playdemic". GamesIndustry.biz.
  7. Taylor, Haydn (30 January 2018). "TT Games opens new UK studio to develop LEGO titles for mobile". GamesIndustry.biz.
  8. White, Adam (22 March 2018). "New LEGO Mobile Studio Renamed TT Odyssey". BricksFanz.
  9. "Contact". TT Games.
  10. Boyes, Emma (9 February 2007). "Q&A: Lego Star Wars producer Jonathan Smith". GameSpot.
  11. Jenkins, David (4 January 2007). "Traveller's Tales Acquires Embryonic Studios". Gamasutra.
  12. MCV Editors (22 August 2008). "Batman and Beyond". MCV.
  13. IGN Movies (27 February 2013). "LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite Release Date". IGN.
  14. Caoili, Eric (13 January 2011). "RockYou Buys UK Social Game Dev Playdemic". Gamasutra.
  15. Chapple, Craig (27 February 2013). "Playdemic appoints Ian Livingstone as chairman". MCV.
  16. Boyer, Brandon (31 May 2007). "TT Games Acquires Motion Capture Studio Centroid". Gamasutra.
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