Sidhe (game developer)

Sidhe
Private
Industry Entertainment industry
Computer and video game industry
Founded May 1997[1]
Founder Mario Wynands
Tyrone McAuley
Stuart Middleton
Headquarters Wellington, New Zealand
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Mario Wynands
(Managing Director)
Tyrone McAuley
(Technical Director)
Andy Satterthwaite
(Producer)
Products Rugby Challenge series
Rugby League series
Website sidhe.co.nz

Sidhe (formerly Sidhe Interactive) is a developer of video games, founded and incorporated in May 1997. The company is a licensed developer for Microsoft, Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo of America, and Apple Inc.. It is also a co-founding member of the New Zealand Game Developers Association and the New Zealand Institute of Screen Innovation.[2] The largest game production studio in New Zealand, Sidhe has produced more than 20 titles, including Shatter, GripShift, Madagascar Kartz, Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, and Speed Racer. It has also developed multiple games based on the National Rugby League (NRL) franchise.

Sidhe provides services to and has products published by partners and clients such as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment, Activision, and Ubisoft. Sidhe has also collaborated with Weta Digital to achieve the first motion capture of a horse at full gallop for the horse racing game Melbourne Cup Challenge.

The company was formerly named Sidhe Interactive, but dropped the word "Interactive" in 2009 prior to the launch of the company's PlayStation 3 game Shatter. In 2011, Shatter went on to be listed by IGN as one of their top 25 PS3 games[3] and was their number one PSN game.[4]

PikPok

The Sidhe brand was superseded in 2012 by what was a subsidiary brand, PikPok, which was an iOS and Android development team. Notable PikPok titles include Bird Strike and the Flick Kick sports arcade series of games. In September 2010, a publishing partnership between PikPok and Lexaloffle Games was announced,[5] and the first title from that collaboration, Zen Puzzle Garden, was released in December 2010. PikPok is now the primary brand of the studio.

Both the Sidhe and PikPok brand is collected under the Prodigy Design Limited holding company.[6][7]

Industry awards

PikPok received an honorable mention in the 2011 Independent Games Festival awards for Flick Kick Football, under Best Mobile Game,[8] and Bird Strike was a finalist in the 7th annual IMG Awards (2011).[9]

Sidhe Scholarship

Sidhe offers a scholarship[10][11] for students who wish to study game development at a graduate level at the Media Design School in Auckland. At the end of 2010, Sidhe announced the Sidhe Elite financial scholarship for 2011 aiming to support young aspiring game developers. Many Media Design School graduates have gone on to work for Sidhe.[12]

Games developed by Sidhe

Other games contributed to by Sidhe

  • Aladdin Chess Adventures (Windows, 2004)
  • Hoyle Majestic Chess (Windows, 2003)
  • SpyHunter (Windows, 2003)
  • Barbie Sparkling Ice Show (Windows, 2002)

References

  1. ↑ IGN: Sidhe Interactive
  2. ↑ http://www.sidhe.co.nz/company.htm
  3. ↑ IGN - Top 25 PS3 Games
  4. ↑ IGN - Top 25 PSN Games
  5. ↑ PikPok/Lexaloffle partnership announced Archived 2011-01-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "New Zealand Company Office - Prodigy Design Limited". www.business.govt.nz. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  7. ↑ "PRODIGY DESIGN LIMITED - NZLBusiness.com". Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  8. ↑ IGF 2011 Awards Archived 2012-05-01 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ IMGA 2011 Archived 2011-01-18 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Sidhe Offers Scholarships For Media Design School Game Development Diploma - PC News Archived November 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ tsumea - Sidhe continues scholarship support for Game Dev students
  12. ↑ Elite Scholarship For Aspiring Game Developers Announced
  13. ↑ "RUGBY CHALLENGE 2: THE LIONS TOUR EDITION ANNOUNCED FOR PS3, 360 AND PC". Gamasutra. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
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