Runecraft
Encyclopedia
Runecraft Ltd was a software design and development studio
, specializing in brand-led video games. Runecraft's clients included US publishers such as Hasbro, Mattel, Interplay, Activision, Crave and Ripcord. The company was initially based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. The company was formed in April 1997 by Martin and Rodney Hooley. In the years following Runecraft rapidly expanded on the back of a number of successful projects including Spec Ops, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
, Caesar's Palace, Scrabble
and Barbie
. Runecraft also developed the cancelled PlayStation
port of Baldur's Gate
.
At its high point Runecraft had approximately 150 employees and satellite offices in Glasgow, Nottingham, Taunton and Leeds. It also had a small presence in the USA and Japan.
The company eventually ran into financial trouble which many speculate was caused by a combination of over expansion and slipping management standards. The company was sold in 2001 in a transaction which saw Martin Hooley receiving ownership of Blue Monkey Studios in exchange all his shares of Runecraft. Poor management practices became rife after the sale and many of the staff who were responsible for their successful titles left in the period mid-2001 to mid-2002. By the time of the collapse in 2003 the company was a shadow of its former self with most of the staff having written warnings for petty misdemeanours so they could effectively be fired at will if the need arose.
BBC Multimedia picked up some of the pieces to release the failed FightBox TV game in 2003.
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
, specializing in brand-led video games. Runecraft's clients included US publishers such as Hasbro, Mattel, Interplay, Activision, Crave and Ripcord. The company was initially based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. The company was formed in April 1997 by Martin and Rodney Hooley. In the years following Runecraft rapidly expanded on the back of a number of successful projects including Spec Ops, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX is a BMX video game developed by Runecraft and published by Activision. It was released in 2001 for various systems, including the Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Advance. It was also released for Windows. The game was followed by Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2...
, Caesar's Palace, Scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
and Barbie
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
. Runecraft also developed the cancelled PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
port of Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate is a computer role-playing game developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. The game takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a high fantasy campaign setting, using modified Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition rules...
.
At its high point Runecraft had approximately 150 employees and satellite offices in Glasgow, Nottingham, Taunton and Leeds. It also had a small presence in the USA and Japan.
The company eventually ran into financial trouble which many speculate was caused by a combination of over expansion and slipping management standards. The company was sold in 2001 in a transaction which saw Martin Hooley receiving ownership of Blue Monkey Studios in exchange all his shares of Runecraft. Poor management practices became rife after the sale and many of the staff who were responsible for their successful titles left in the period mid-2001 to mid-2002. By the time of the collapse in 2003 the company was a shadow of its former self with most of the staff having written warnings for petty misdemeanours so they could effectively be fired at will if the need arose.
BBC Multimedia picked up some of the pieces to release the failed FightBox TV game in 2003.