United Kingdom

United Kingdom
Location of the United Kingdom (shown in dark green)
"Union Jack", the de facto National Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Basic Information
Full Name	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Type	Nation
IOC Code	GBR
Video gaming in United Kingdom in video gaming

The United Kingdom (officially known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, often abbreviated to UK, formerly known as The Kingdom of Great Britain and The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) is a country in Europe, and was previously part of the European Union until January 31, 2020. The United Kingdom is composed of four nations in political and monetary union: England, Scotland, Wales (these three together are on the landmass referred to as Great Britain, which is how the UK is represented in many sporting competitions, sometimes under the umbrella of Team GB) and Northern Ireland, plus other assorted islands, such as the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Anglesey. The de facto capital is London; contained therein is the City of London, which is quasi-autonomous and run by the City of London Corporation.

The United Kingdom uses the PEGI rating system for video games. The United Kingdom previously used a combination of BBFC and ELSPA video game ratings.

The United Kingdom is the largest gaming market in Europe. Association football teams and leagues from the United Kingdom feature prominently in many video games.

Current UK-based Publishers, Developers & Studios

• 4J Studios (Star Trek: Encounters, AMF Bowling Pinbusters!.)
• The Bitmap Brothers (The Chaos Engine, Z series.)
• Climax Studios (By February 2008, had become the sole development division of the former Climax Group.)
• Codemasters (Colin McRae Rally & Micro Machines series, currently owned by Electronic Arts.)
• The Creative Assembly (Total War series.)
• Criterion Games (Burnout & Need for Speed series.)
• Dambuster Studios (Homefront: The Revolution.)
• Rareware (GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country.)
• Rebellion Developments (Alien vs. Predator series, Sniper Elite series.)
• Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt, Max Payne, Midnight Club, and Red Dead series.)
• Rockstar Leeds (Grand Theft Auto series.)
• Rockstar Lincoln (Grand Theft Auto series Game Boy Color ports.)
• Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto series.)
• Team17 (Worms series.)
• Traveller's Tales (LEGO franchise.)
• EA UK (Publishing arm of EA.)

Defunct UK-based Publishers, Developers & Studios

• 21st Century Entertainment (publisher, defunct as of 1998)
• Argonaut Games (Star Fox, I-Ninja, became defunct on October 1, 2004, finally dissolving in 2007.)
• Bizarre Creations (Project: Gotham Racing series, became defunct on February 18, 2011 when closed by Activision.)
• Black Rock Studio (defunct as of 2011, shuttered by Disney Interactive Studios.)
• BMG Interactive (became Rockstar Games when Take-Two Interactive acquired its assets in May 1998.)
• Bullfrog Productions (Syndicate, Populous series & Theme franchise, merged into EA UK in 2001.)
• Climax Group (MotoGP 3: Ultimate Racing Technology, operated under the name Climax before the merger of four studios in 1999; Climax Studios, Syrox Developments, Pixel Planet and Climax Nottingham, and would use the name Climax Fareham. Climax LA would be opened later on. Group became defunct in 2006.)
  • Climax Action (virtual rebranding of the Climax London, Climax Solent and Climax Handheld Games studios, became Climax Studios in 2009.)
  • Climax Brighton (renamed to Climax Racing.)
  • Climax Fareham (business relocated to Portsmouth, became Climax Solent.)
  • Climax Handheld Games (became Climax Action.)
  • Climax Nottingham (key staff went on to found Monumental Games, including using assets from Climax Nottingham.)
  • Climax London (defunct, merged with Climax Studios, became Climax Action.)
  • Climax Racing (acquired by Disney Interactive Studios in 1996 and rebranded Black Rock Studio.)
  • Climax Solent (became Climax Action in January 2008.)
• Core Design (Tomb Raider series. In May 2006, the assets were acquired by Rebellion Developments to form Rebellion Derby.)
• Crytek UK (defunct as of July 30, 2014, when all assets and personnel were sold to Koch Media (owner of Deep Silver, with a rebranding of the studio to Dambuster Studios.)
• DMA Design (Grand Theft Auto & Grand Theft Auto 2, bought by Gremlin Interactive in 1997. When Gremlin Interactive was bought by Infogrames in 1999, the DMA Design assets were sold to Take-Two Interactive, which rebranded the studio as Rockstar North.)
• EA Bright Light (became defunct in 2011.)
• EA UK (Development studio, became EA Bright Light in 2008.)
• Eidos Interactive (Hitman, Thief & Tomb Raider series, merged into Square Enix Europe on November 9, 2009.)
• Free Radical Design (TimeSplitters series; became Crytek UK on February 4, 2009 after acquisition by Crytek.)
• Gremlin Interactive (bought by Infogrames in 1999, rebranded Infogrames Studios in 2000.)
• Gremlin Graphics Software (became Gremlin Interactive in 1994.)
• Imagine Software (became defunct on July 9, 1984, rights to video games sold to Beau Jolly, Imagine Software title bought by Ocean Software.)
• Infogrames Studios (became defunct in 2003.)
• Lionhead Studios (Black & White & Fable series, acquired by Microsoft Studios in April 2006, defunct as of April 26, 2016.)
• Möbius Entertainment (became Rockstar Leeds when acquired by Take-Two Interactive on April 8, 2004.)
• Monumental Games (became defunct in 2012.)
• Pivotal Games (Conflict series, defunct as of August 13, 2008.)
• Pixel Planet (was renamed to Climax Brighton.)
• Psygnosis (Wipeout series, became Studio Liverpool in 2000.)
• Raising Hell Software (became Bizzare Creations in 1994.)
• Rebellion Derby (shut down on March 17, 2010.)
• Reflections Interactive (Driver series, became Ubisoft Reflections in 2006.)
• Sensible Software (Cannon Fodder & Sensible Soccer series, defunct as of 1999 when it was sold to Codemasters.)
• Spidersoft Limited (Acquired from 21st Century Entertainment in 1998 by Take-Two Interactive, renamed to Tarantula Studios.)
• Studio Liverpool (became defunct on August 22, 2012.)
• Tarantula Studios (became Rockstar Lincoln when acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2002.)
• Team Soho (The Getaway, defunct as of 2002 when it was merged with SIE London Studios.)

External Links

• United Kingdom on Wikipedia