Core Design

Beginnings (1988–1994)

Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was founded in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith, Kevin Norburn and Greg Holmes. Most were former employees of Gremlin Graphics.^[1] The studio was part of distribution company CentreGold when it was acquired by Eidos Interactive in 1996.^[1] Eidos subsequently sold most of CentreGold, but retained U.S. Gold, the owners of Core Design. Core had a brief history of producing titles for the Sega consoles,^[1] such as Thunderhawk for Mega-CD and the original Tomb Raider game for the Saturn.

Acquisition by CentreGold, Tomb Raider (1994–2003)

The company is widely known for the Tomb Raider series. The first game was created by Toby Gard and Paul Howard Douglas, which was released in 1996 and followed by several sequels. The success of Tomb Raider and its subsequent sequels played a huge part in keeping Eidos Interactive financially solvent. After the successful^[2] Saturn debut of the original Tomb Raider a full month and a half ahead of the PlayStation version, Sony decided to use the brand to boost sales of its own console. In September 1997, Sony's U.S. arm, SCEA, signed an exclusivity deal with Eidos^[3][4] to keep the franchise on their consoles. The agreement was extended to include Tomb Raider III. The fourth and fifth games in the franchise, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider Chronicles respectively, were released for Sega Dreamcast.

Tomb Raider IP loss (2003–2006)

After the critical failure of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness in 2003, parent company Eidos put Crystal Dynamics, another Eidos-owned studio, in charge of Tomb Raider franchise development.^[5] This prompted three key members of the Core Design team and several others to leave the company and establish a development company of their own, Circle Studio.^[6]

Sale to Rebellion Developments and closure (2006–2010)

In May 2006, Eidos announced that independent developer Rebellion Developments had acquired Core Designs' assets and staff,^[7] while the Core brand and intellectual property, including Tomb Raider, remained in Eidos' possession.^[8][9]

In June 2006, Crystal Dynamics was confirmed to have a PSP anniversary edition of the original Tomb Raider in development.^[10] Remnants of the Core Design team (under the banner of Rebellion) went on to work on several titles in years since, including Shellshock 2: Blood Trails and Rogue Warrior.^[11] Starting in January 2010, due to an expiring lease on Rebellion Derby's offices, Rebellion Developments started seeking restructuring opportunities for the studio.^[12] As no other possibility than closure was found, Rebellion Derby was closed down effective on 17 March 2010.^[13]