Relentless Software
Encyclopedia
Relentless Software is a British
video game company formed in 2003
that is based in Brighton. Following Relentless’ first title, DJ: Decks & FX it developed 12 games in the Buzz!
franchise with over 10 million units sold in more than 15 languages. Relentless released its first self-published title, Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mysteries of Little Riddle on PC and PSN in 2009 and Quiz Climber, a new social quiz for iPhone in 2011.
Relentless also developed Air Band, the latest innovation to come to Kinect Fun Labs, that continues the company's aim of "making social video games that appeal to everyone and are simple to play".
by David Amor & Andrew Eades, who had previously worked together at the Brighton office of Computer Artworks.
Computer Artworks had been in the process of creating a DJ
simulation game for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), but the company went into receivership in October 2003 before the title could be completed. Amor and Eades persuaded SCEE that they could set up a company and complete the DJ project for them. Much to their shock, SCEE agreed and Relentless was set up just 36 hours after their meeting with SCEE.
The company name arose from Amor & Eades ambition to develop video games in a different way to the perceived norms of the industry. They wanted development to be a steady flow of work rather than the more normal cycle of a slow start leading to a project ending with long "crunch" periods. They typed unstoppable into an online thesaurus and of the synonyms returned they chose Relentless as the company name.
Whilst Relentless were completing work on the DJ
simulator - that had by now been named DJ: Decks & FX - they also carried out the conversion of an SCEE published title, EyeToy: Groove
, for the Japanese market. DJ: Decks & FX was released in September 2004 and was nominated in the audio category of the 2004 BAFTA awards. More conversion work for SCEE followed, with the conversion of SingStar Popworld
for the Swedish and Norwegian markets.
In July 2011 Relentless launched Quiz Climber for the iPhone, Its first announcement following its restructuring to a digital release only, multi-platform developer. In May 2011 Relentless announced a deal with PlayJam
to create content for their TV based gaming network.
. The episodic game was released for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store in December 2009.
The game is for 1-4 players and leans towards TV murder mysteries with "witnesses, alibis [and] motives" rather than being a logic puzzle like Cluedo
. The game sees the player investigate murders and interrogate residents in the village of Little Riddle. Aspects of the game have been compared to the Professor Layton series of games, regarding its setting and puzzle solving game mechanic, but it differs from the Layton games in that the puzzles in Blue Toad are more closely linked to the game's story line. At various points the game questions the player about their investigation and key plot points to check that they were paying attention.
Relentless ditched the idea Sony had presented them with, a board game on a screen, and instead developed the game along the lines of the player being in a TV studio, actually taking part in a TV quiz show. Buzz!: The Music Quiz was released in the run-up to Christmas 2005. Initially the game sold poorly, so poorly that Sony considered cancelling further titles in the series, but over Christmas sales dramatically picked up, so much so that Buzz!: The Music Quiz eventually sold over 1 million copies.
A sequel, Buzz! The Big Quiz
quickly followed in March 2006 and its sales kept it in the PlayStation 2 UK top 20 for a whole year. In July 2006 Relentless and SCEE were joint winners of two Develop Industry awards. Winning Best New Intellectual Property for Buzz! and the Best Innovation category for the Buzz buzzers. Greater recognition arrived later in the year at the BAFTA Video Games awards, where Buzz! The Big Quiz, won the BAFTA award for Best Casual and Social Game.
Relentless' next Buzz! game was Buzz!: The Mega Quiz
in April 2007, The Mega Quiz was the fourth title in the Buzz! series - the third title, Buzz!: The Sports Quiz
, had been developed by Kuju Entertainment
and released in November 2006.
The next game in the series was the movie themed Buzz!: The Hollywood Quiz
.
During 2007 Relentless had been trialling an educational version of Buzz! in schools and after a successful trial a full version - Buzz!: The Schools Quiz
- was developed in association with the UK Government's Department for Education and Skills (DfES), with the game's 5,000 questions being based on the Key Stage 2 Curriculum that covers children between the ages of 7 and 11 years.
Buzz!:The Schools Quiz was released in January 2008 just prior to the March 2008 release of the sixth game in the main series, Buzz!: The Pop Quiz
, after which Relentless switched its attention towards the PlayStation 3.
Buzz!: Quiz TV
for the PlayStation 3 was released in July 2008 and was the first Buzz! game to feature online play via the internet. The game also features the ability for users to expand the game via the purchase of question packs from the PlayStation Store
. Users can also expand the game with questions from the MyBuzz website. The website allows users to create their own quizzes and then to play them, or other people's quizzes, in the Quiz TV game itself.
July 2008 also saw the release of the first Buzz! game on a handheld console. Buzz!: Master Quiz
for the PlayStation Portable
was developed jointly by Relentless and Curve Studios.
The Buzz! series has accumulated total sales of over 8 million.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
video game company formed in 2003
2003 in video gaming
-Events:*February 27 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Yu Suzuki of Sega to the AIAS Hall of Fame....
that is based in Brighton. Following Relentless’ first title, DJ: Decks & FX it developed 12 games in the Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz! is a series of video games originated by Sleepydog Ltd., developed by Relentless Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles. They are quiz games that see the players answering trivia questions while...
franchise with over 10 million units sold in more than 15 languages. Relentless released its first self-published title, Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mysteries of Little Riddle on PC and PSN in 2009 and Quiz Climber, a new social quiz for iPhone in 2011.
Relentless also developed Air Band, the latest innovation to come to Kinect Fun Labs, that continues the company's aim of "making social video games that appeal to everyone and are simple to play".
History
Relentless Software was founded in 20032003 in video gaming
-Events:*February 27 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Yu Suzuki of Sega to the AIAS Hall of Fame....
by David Amor & Andrew Eades, who had previously worked together at the Brighton office of Computer Artworks.
Computer Artworks had been in the process of creating a DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
simulation game for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), but the company went into receivership in October 2003 before the title could be completed. Amor and Eades persuaded SCEE that they could set up a company and complete the DJ project for them. Much to their shock, SCEE agreed and Relentless was set up just 36 hours after their meeting with SCEE.
The company name arose from Amor & Eades ambition to develop video games in a different way to the perceived norms of the industry. They wanted development to be a steady flow of work rather than the more normal cycle of a slow start leading to a project ending with long "crunch" periods. They typed unstoppable into an online thesaurus and of the synonyms returned they chose Relentless as the company name.
Whilst Relentless were completing work on the DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
simulator - that had by now been named DJ: Decks & FX - they also carried out the conversion of an SCEE published title, EyeToy: Groove
EyeToy: Groove
Eye Toy: Groove is a dancing game developed by SCE London Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released November 14, 2003 in Europe and April 20, 2004 in The United States...
, for the Japanese market. DJ: Decks & FX was released in September 2004 and was nominated in the audio category of the 2004 BAFTA awards. More conversion work for SCEE followed, with the conversion of SingStar Popworld
SingStar
SingStar is a competitive music video game series for PlayStation consoles, developed by London Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. 23 English-language instalments of the series have been released for the PlayStation 2, and six versions for the PlayStation 3 have been released...
for the Swedish and Norwegian markets.
In July 2011 Relentless launched Quiz Climber for the iPhone, Its first announcement following its restructuring to a digital release only, multi-platform developer. In May 2011 Relentless announced a deal with PlayJam
PlayJam
PlayJam is the world’s largest interactive casual games network, available across digital TV, mobile and online platforms.PlayJam emerged during dawn of the digital TV era as a side project of London-based visual media company Static 2358...
to create content for their TV based gaming network.
Quiz Climber
Quiz Climber is an iPhone game that was released in July 2011. It pits players against friends in a test of knowledge. Correctly answering as many consecutive questions as possible to climb the quiz tree, however the questions grow progressively more difficult the further players progress.Air Band
Air Band (formally known as Music in Motion) is a ground-breaking project which is part of Kinect Fun Labs. It is an augmented reality gadget that places musical instruments into players' hands. It turns you into a musical superstar regardless of your musical talent. Air Band is Relentless Software's first Kinect title.Blue Toad Murder Files
July 2009 saw Relentless announce their first self -published game, Blue Toad Murder FilesBlue Toad Murder Files
Blue Toad Murder Files is a murder mystery puzzle video game developed and published by the British game company Relentless Software. The game is episodic and the first instalment was released for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store in December 2009. The entire "season" of the game, Blue...
. The episodic game was released for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store in December 2009.
The game is for 1-4 players and leans towards TV murder mysteries with "witnesses, alibis [and] motives" rather than being a logic puzzle like Cluedo
Cluedo
Cluedo is a popular murder/mystery-themed deduction board game originally published by Waddingtons in Leeds, England in 1949. It was devised by Anthony E. Pratt, a solicitor's clerk from Birmingham, England. It is now published by the United States game and toy company Hasbro, which acquired its U.S...
. The game sees the player investigate murders and interrogate residents in the village of Little Riddle. Aspects of the game have been compared to the Professor Layton series of games, regarding its setting and puzzle solving game mechanic, but it differs from the Layton games in that the puzzles in Blue Toad are more closely linked to the game's story line. At various points the game questions the player about their investigation and key plot points to check that they were paying attention.
Buzz!
In 2004 SCEE were approached by a company called SleepyDog who had secured the rights to a large number of music tracks and wanted Sony to use them as the basis of a quiz game. SCEE approached Relentless and asked them to design a quiz game using the music that Sleepydog had the rights for.Relentless ditched the idea Sony had presented them with, a board game on a screen, and instead developed the game along the lines of the player being in a TV studio, actually taking part in a TV quiz show. Buzz!: The Music Quiz was released in the run-up to Christmas 2005. Initially the game sold poorly, so poorly that Sony considered cancelling further titles in the series, but over Christmas sales dramatically picked up, so much so that Buzz!: The Music Quiz eventually sold over 1 million copies.
A sequel, Buzz! The Big Quiz
Buzz! The Big Quiz
Buzz!: The Big Quiz is the second in the Buzz! series of PlayStation 2 games developed by Relentless Software.Initial promotional material had it named Buzz! The Uber Quiz, however SCEE announced the change upon the game's launch. The format is essentially that of the original: Buzz!: The Music Quiz...
quickly followed in March 2006 and its sales kept it in the PlayStation 2 UK top 20 for a whole year. In July 2006 Relentless and SCEE were joint winners of two Develop Industry awards. Winning Best New Intellectual Property for Buzz! and the Best Innovation category for the Buzz buzzers. Greater recognition arrived later in the year at the BAFTA Video Games awards, where Buzz! The Big Quiz, won the BAFTA award for Best Casual and Social Game.
Relentless' next Buzz! game was Buzz!: The Mega Quiz
Buzz!: The Mega Quiz
Buzz!: The Mega Quiz was developed by Relentless Software and is the fourth game in the Buzz! series for the PlayStation 2, alongside Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam. Buzz! The Mega Quiz has over 5,000 questions...
in April 2007, The Mega Quiz was the fourth title in the Buzz! series - the third title, Buzz!: The Sports Quiz
Buzz!: The Sports Quiz
Buzz!: The Sports Quiz for the PlayStation 2, is the third game in the Buzz! series and was developed by Kuju Entertainment. Players answer questions asked by the Quizmaster using their Buzz! buzzers.-Gameplay:...
, had been developed by Kuju Entertainment
Kuju Entertainment
Kuju Entertainment is an English computer and video game corporation consisting of three studios, two of which are located in the UK: Zoë Mode , Headstrong Games , and one in the Czech Republic: Vatra games...
and released in November 2006.
The next game in the series was the movie themed Buzz!: The Hollywood Quiz
Buzz!: The Hollywood Quiz
Buzz!: The Hollywood Quiz is the fifth installment in the Buzz! series of video games developed for the PlayStation 2 by Relentless Software. Players have to answer questions asked by the quiz master using the four Buzz! remote controls...
.
During 2007 Relentless had been trialling an educational version of Buzz! in schools and after a successful trial a full version - Buzz!: The Schools Quiz
Buzz!: The Schools Quiz
Buzz!: The Schools Quiz is an educational game based on the popular Buzz! series of games. The game was developed by Relentless Software in association with the UK Government's Department for Education and Skills...
- was developed in association with the UK Government's Department for Education and Skills (DfES), with the game's 5,000 questions being based on the Key Stage 2 Curriculum that covers children between the ages of 7 and 11 years.
Buzz!:The Schools Quiz was released in January 2008 just prior to the March 2008 release of the sixth game in the main series, Buzz!: The Pop Quiz
Buzz!: The Pop Quiz
Buzz!: The Pop Quiz developed by Relentless Software and Sleepydog, is the sixth game in the Buzz! series of quiz games for the PlayStation 2 console. The game features music from the 1990s to the present day...
, after which Relentless switched its attention towards the PlayStation 3.
Buzz!: Quiz TV
Buzz!: Quiz TV
Buzz!: Quiz TV , developed by Relentless Software and Sleepydog, is the seventh game in the Buzz! series of quiz games and the first to appear on the PlayStation 3 console. It debuts new wireless Buzz! controllers, as well as new game rounds. It is the first Buzz! game to feature user created...
for the PlayStation 3 was released in July 2008 and was the first Buzz! game to feature online play via the internet. The game also features the ability for users to expand the game via the purchase of question packs from the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
. Users can also expand the game with questions from the MyBuzz website. The website allows users to create their own quizzes and then to play them, or other people's quizzes, in the Quiz TV game itself.
July 2008 also saw the release of the first Buzz! game on a handheld console. Buzz!: Master Quiz
Buzz!: Master Quiz
Buzz!: Master Quiz, is a 2008 video game developed by Relentless Software and Curve Studios for the PlayStation Portable, is the first game in the Buzz! series of quiz games to be made for a hand-held console....
for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
was developed jointly by Relentless and Curve Studios.
The Buzz! series has accumulated total sales of over 8 million.
No crunch
Relentless is notable amongst video game developers in that it never has a crunch period during the development of its games. The company also operates on a 9 to 5 basis with no overtime or weekend working.Awards
- 2006 BAFTA for Buzz!: The Big Quiz. Casual and Social Game category
- 2006 Develop Award in conjunction with SCEE in the category Best New Intellectual Property for Buzz!
- 2006 Develop Award in conjunction with SCEE in the category Best Innovation for Buzz buzzers
Nominations
- 2004 BAFTA Nomination in Audio category forDJ Decks & FX: House Edition
- 2007 Develop Award Nomination for Business Development
- 2007 Develop Award Nomination for Independent Developer
Notable games
- Buzz!: The Music Quiz
- Buzz!: The Big Quiz
- Buzz!: The Mega QuizBuzz!: The Mega QuizBuzz!: The Mega Quiz was developed by Relentless Software and is the fourth game in the Buzz! series for the PlayStation 2, alongside Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam. Buzz! The Mega Quiz has over 5,000 questions...
- Buzz!: The Hollywood QuizBuzz!: The Hollywood QuizBuzz!: The Hollywood Quiz is the fifth installment in the Buzz! series of video games developed for the PlayStation 2 by Relentless Software. Players have to answer questions asked by the quiz master using the four Buzz! remote controls...
- Buzz!: Quiz TVBuzz!: Quiz TVBuzz!: Quiz TV , developed by Relentless Software and Sleepydog, is the seventh game in the Buzz! series of quiz games and the first to appear on the PlayStation 3 console. It debuts new wireless Buzz! controllers, as well as new game rounds. It is the first Buzz! game to feature user created...
- Buzz!: Master QuizBuzz!: Master QuizBuzz!: Master Quiz, is a 2008 video game developed by Relentless Software and Curve Studios for the PlayStation Portable, is the first game in the Buzz! series of quiz games to be made for a hand-held console....
- Buzz!: Brain of the World
- Buzz!: Quiz WorldBuzz!: Quiz WorldBuzz!: Quiz World, developed by Relentless Software, is the ninth game in the Buzz! series of quiz games. The game is available for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles. It allows users to use question packs purchased for previous Buzz! games as well as supporting user created content...