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Bossa Studios

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bossa Studios Limited
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedOctober 2010; 14 years ago (2010-10)
Founders
Headquarters
London
,
England
Key people
Daniel Clough (studio general manager)[1]
ProductsSurgeon Simulator, I Am Bread
Number of employees
40[2] (2024)
Parent
Websitebossastudios.com

Bossa Studios Limited is a British video game developer based in London. It is known for its comedic, physics-based games Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread.

History

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Co-founder Henrique Olifiers in 2018

Bossa was founded in October 2010 by Henrique Olifiers (gamer-in-chief), Roberta Lucca (marketer-in-chief), Ric Moore (technologist-in-chief), and Imre Jele (creator-in-chief).[3][4][5] The establishment was formally announced in June 2011, when it had opened its office at the Silicon Roundabout in London, England.[5] Bossa was acquired by the television production company Shine Group in 2011, with the deal announced on 16 September, without disclosing terms.[3][6] At the time, Bossa had 20 employees, and its first game, Monstermind, launched that same month for the Facebook Platform.[3][6] Monstermind won the BAFTA award in the "Online – Browser" category in February 2012.[7]

Subsequent games by Bossa were Toy Run and Merlin: The Game, the latter based on the Shine-produced TV series Merlin.[8][9] Following the commercial success of Surgeon Simulator, Bossa underwent a management buyout process in July 2015 that returned Shine's stake (transferred to Endemol Shine UK after Shine merged with Endemol in December 2014) to the studio's founders.[10][11]

The company received a US$10 million investment in a series A round in September 2017.[12] Shortly thereafter, they hired former Valve writer Chet Faliszek to lead a new Seattle-based studio for them, working on an unannounced cooperative title.[13][14]

According to CNBC, Bossa acquired between US$10 and 30 million in another investment round in 2019, with NetEase as one of the largest investors in this series, gaining a minority stake in Bossa.[15]

In August 2022 some of Bossa Studios IPs including Surgeon Simulator, I Am Bread, and I Am Fish was sold to TinyBuild for a reported $3 million.[16]

Amid complaints against management, Bossa announced it would lay off 10 employees in November 2020.[17][18] and in January 2024, Bossa laid off 19 employees, or a third of its total staff.[2]

Games

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Games developed

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Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes
2011 Monstermind Facebook Platform Bossa Studios
2012 Toy Run Facebook Platform
Merlin: The Game Facebook Platform
2013 Surgeon Simulator Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 Originally titled Surgeon Simulator 2013
2014 Surgeon Simulator Touch Android, iOS Port of Surgeon Simulator
Twelve a Dozen iOS
Deep Dungeons of Doom Android, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows
2015 I Am Bread Android, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Spy_Watch iOS
Outlaw Poker Android
2016 Surgeon Simulator VR: Meet The Medic Microsoft Windows Virtual reality spin-off of Surgeon Simulator
Emily: Displaced macOS, Microsoft Windows Sega Part of Help: The Game
Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 Bossa Studios Virtual reality version of Surgeon Simulator
Worlds Adrift Island Creator[19] Microsoft Windows Free creation and playtest tool released alongside Worlds Adrift
2018 Surgeon Simulator CPR Nintendo Switch Port of Surgeon Simulator
2019 Hogwash iOS, macOS, tvOS Apple Arcade exclusive
2020 Surgeon Simulator 2 Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2021 I Am Fish[20] Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Curve Digital

Games published

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Year Title Platform(s) Developer(s)
2014 Thomas Was Alone Android, iOS Mike Bithell
2017 Purrfect Date iOS, Microsoft Windows Team Bae
2019 The Bradwell Conspiracy iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One A Brave Plan

Cancelled

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References

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  1. ^ GamesIndustry Staff (24 September 2019). "Jobs roundup: Daniel Clough appointed general studio manager at Bossa". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b Batchelor, James (5 January 2024). "Bossa Studios lays off one third of its staff". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Cohen, David (16 September 2011). "Bossa Stomps Into Facebook Games With Monstermind". Adweek. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. ^ Hoggins, Tom (24 September 2015). "We are bread: Bossa Studios' unique recipe for game development". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b MCV Staff (23 June 2011). "London-based Bossa comes out of hiding". MCV. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b Lee, Edmund (16 September 2011). "News Corp.'s Shine Buys U.K. Gaming Company Bossa Studios". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Video Games Awards Winners & Nominees in 2012". BAFTA. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  8. ^ MCV Staff (4 July 2014). "Develop Awards 2014 – The Finalists: Creative Contribution: Audio". MCV. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  9. ^ Karmali, Luke (18 June 2012). "Merlin to Bewitch Facebook Users in New Game". IGN. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  10. ^ Farber, Alex (31 July 2015). "Endemol Shine gaming arm completes MBO". Broadcast. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (16 August 2016). "Bossa returns to multiplayer roots". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  12. ^ Dring, Christopher (12 September 2017). "Bossa Studios secures $10m in Series A investment". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  13. ^ Batchelor, James (18 September 2017). "Bossa hires Half-Life, Portal writer Chet Faliszek". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  14. ^ Byrne, Katherine (19 September 2017). "Bossa Studios to open new Seattle studio headed by Valve's Chet Faliszek". MCV. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  15. ^ Browne, Ryan (26 November 2019). "The game developer behind 'Surgeon Simulator' just raised up to $30 million to take on China". CNBC. Archived from the original on 26 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  16. ^ "TinyBuild acquires Bossa Studios IPs for $3m". GamesIndustry.biz. 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  17. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (24 November 2020). "After crunch and amid layoffs, Surgeon Simulator dev Bossa hopes for a fresh start in 2021". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  18. ^ Batchelor, James (24 November 2020). "Bossa Studios confirms layoffs amid complaints against management". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  19. ^ Morrison, Angus (28 April 2016). "Bossa releases free Worlds Adrift Island Creator". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  20. ^ Wales, Matt (9 March 2020). "Surgeon Simulator dev's I Am Fish prototype being turned into a full game". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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