Capcom Vancouver
 | |
Formerly | Blue Castle Games (2005-2010) |
|---|---|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | July 4, 2005 |
| Defunct | September 18, 2018 |
| Headquarters | Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada |
Key people |
|
| Products | Dead Rising series |
Number of employees | 200[1] |
| Parent | Capcom |
| Website |
www |
Capcom Game Studio Vancouver, Inc.[2] (formerly Blue Castle Games), more commonly known as Capcom Vancouver, was a video game developer owned by Capcom in partnership with Microsoft Studios. As Blue Castle Games, the company was the creator of several successful baseball sports video games, including The Bigs, MLB Front Office Manager and The Bigs 2. They have also developed the Dead Rising series.[3][4][5] Blue Castle Games was acquired by Capcom after the release of Dead Rising 2, and renamed Capcom Vancouver, where they continued to work on the Dead Rising series.[6][7] Capcom announced the closure of the studio in September 2018, cancelling Dead Rising titles in the works and moving other development to their Japan-based studios.
History
The company was formed on July 4, 2005 in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada by three core founders with thirty five years of combined video game experience. Starting with only twelve staff and one game (The Bigs[8]), the company has grown to 200 people with 3 shipped titles.[1] In February 2008, Blue Castle Games won the award for Best New Video Game Company at the 2008 Elan Awards for The Bigs, in a tie with another local Vancouver company.[9] A wide number of developers in Capcom Vancouver were formerly of EA Canada, located only a couple blocks away from their studio.
In February 2018, Capcom had laid off about 30% of the studio, but had continued to use Capcom Vancouver to support Puzzle Fighter on mobile and ongoing work for Dead Rising games. On September 18, 2018, Capcom announced the closure of the studio on reviewing the state of development of current projects. While a skeleton crew will remain through January 2019 to complete certain projects, remaining development work was either cancelled or transitions to Capcom's Japan studios.[10] Capcom estimated the cost of the cancelled projects equated to about ¥4.5 billion (approximately US$40 million).[11]
Games developed
Blue Castle Games
| Year | Game | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Bigs | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 |
| 2009 | MLB Front Office Manager | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| The Bigs 2 | Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 | |
| 2010 | Dead Rising 2 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Dead Rising 2: Case Zero | Xbox 360 | |
| Dead Rising 2: Case West | Xbox 360 |
Capcom Vancouver
| Year | Game | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dead Rising 2: Off the Record | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| 2013 | Dead Rising 3 | Microsoft Windows, Xbox One |
| 2016 | Dead Rising 4 | Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 |
| 2017 | Puzzle Fighter | iOS, Android |
See also
References
- 1 2 "Company Homepage". Capcom Vancouver. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- ↑ "Capcom Group". CAPCOM Investor Relations. CAPCOM CO., LTD.
- ↑ Johnny Minkley (2008-11-07). "Blue Castle making Dead Rising 2".
- ↑ Brian Crecente (2008-07-09). "Dead Rising 2: Dead Rising 2 Set in Vegas?". Kotaku.
- ↑ "Blue Castle Games - Games under development". Blue Castle Games. Archived from the original on 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ↑ "Capcom buys Blue Castle Games".
- ↑ "Capcom Buys Dead Rising 2 Dev Blue Castle Games".
- ↑ "2K Sports - The BIGS". 2K Sports. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ↑ "2nd Annual ELANS Winners". ELAN Awards. 2008-02-15.
- ↑ Tolito, Stephan (September 18, 2018). "Dead Rising Studio Capcom Vancouver Shuts Down". Kotaku. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
- ↑ Arif, Shabana (September 18, 2018). "Capcom Expects To Lose $40 Million After Cancelling Dead Rising Studio's Games". IGN. Retrieved September 18, 2018.