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Eutechnyx

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Eutechnyx Limited
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded30 September 1987; 37 years ago (1987-09-30)[1]
Headquarters
Newcastle upon Tyne
,
England
Key people
Darren Jobling (CEO)[2]

Eutechnyx Limited (formerly Zeppelin Games Limited, until 1994, and Merit Studios (Europe) Limited, until 1997) is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They are known for their largely panned video game Ride to Hell: Retribution, work with the NASCAR The Game franchise, and as a developer on various other racing titles and games.[3][4]

History

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Zeppelin Games (1987–1994)

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The company founder, Brian Jobling, started creating games for the Atari 8-bit computers, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 at home in the early 1980s as a 14-year-old.[5] With the money that he made, he started the company, Zeppelin Games, in November 1987 when he was 17.[6][5] Zeppelin Games produced a large number of games for various home computer systems including Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Amiga and by the early 90s were also making games for IBM PC compatibles and consoles such as the Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES. Popular games included Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge, International Tennis, Universal Warrior and Sink or Swim. They also worked with publisher Codemasters to produce the first two Micro Machines games and Pete Sampras Tennis.

The company, being primarily a budget publisher, operated several labels for different price ranges; among them were Cognito[7][8] and Impulze[9] for full-price releases, Zeppelin Premier and Zeppelin Platinum.

Merit Studios Europe (1994–1996)

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The company was acquired by American company Merit Studios, Inc. in 1994 and became known as Merit Studios Europe.[10] As well as developing their own games, the company was also responsible for the marketing and distribution of Merit's US games in Europe.

Eutechnyx (1996–present)

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The company became Eutechnyx in 1996. After gaining registered developer and publisher status for the Sony PlayStation, the directors bought back the company from Merit with help from French publishers Infogrames. This started a 3-year agreement with Eutechnyx developing exclusively for Infogrames on the PlayStation and PC platforms. The end of this agreement meant that as of 2000, the company became a fully independent developer and currently releases games across many formats for publishing companies such as Electronic Arts and Namco.[11][12] Since 1996, the company has specialised in driving and racing games of many types, including licensed titles such as James Bond 007, Max Power, Cartoon Network and The Fast and the Furious.

As of 2009, Eutechnyx had studios in Gateshead, England; Hong Kong; Chengdu; and the United States.[5] It employed almost 200 people.[5]

After the failure of Ride to Hell: Retribution, the London studio was closed in June 2013. In June 2013, several employees were loaned to Ubisoft Reflections and in February 2014, a restructuring was announced, with the loss of 12 jobs, taking the headcount to 130.[13]

In 2012, sister company ZeroLight was formed at the Gateshead offices, to apply the realtime rendering technology developed for racing games to showroom and online configurators for car manufacturers.

In October 2013, Darren Jobling replaced his brother Brian as CEO, to take on a more active role in development, with Brian becoming Executive Chairman.[14]

In July 2014, again after the failure of Warhammer 40k: Storm of Vengeance, following another re-structuring an additional 19 members of staff were lost.[15]

In January 2015, their NASCAR license were given to Dusenberry Martin Racing, while Eutechnyx continued to develop their final NASCAR title, NASCAR '15, for DMR; subsequent NASCAR titles by them (since renamed 704Games and purchased by Motorsport Network) were developed by Monster Games (until the 2019 title NASCAR Heat 4) instead.[16] In July 2015, following commercially disappointing results from ambitious multiplayer online racing game ACR, a further 8 redundancies were made, with some of the 22 people announced as being added to sister firm ZeroLight, being relocated from Eutechnyx.[17]

In September 2016, Zerolight moved across the river from Eutechnyx' Gateshead office to LiveWorks, on the Quayside at Newcastle upon Tyne.[18]

Games developed

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as Zeppelin Games

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  • 1988 Zybex (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit)
  • 1988 Draconus (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit)
  • 1988 Las Vegas Casino (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit)
  • 1988 Speed Ace (Atari 8-bit)
  • 1989 Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga)
  • 1989 Kenny Dalglish Soccer Manager (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1989 The Living Daylights (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Domark)
  • 1989 Mirax Force (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Tynesoft)
  • 1989 Mountain Bike Racer (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit, MSX)
  • 1989 Ninja Commando (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit)
  • 1989 Phantom (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Tynesoft/Micro Value)
  • 1989 Sidewinder (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Futureware)
  • 1990 Fantastic Soccer (C64, Atari 8-bit)
  • 1990 Fantastic American Football (ZX)
  • 1990 Edd The Duck! (C64, ZX, CPC, Amig], Atari ST)
  • 1990 World Soccer (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga)
  • 1990 Arcade Fruit Machine (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST, PC)
  • 1990 Blinky's Scary School (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1990 Cavernia (Atari 8-bit)
  • 1990 Santa's Xmas Caper (C64, ZX, CPC, Amiga)
  • 1991 Jocky Wilson's Compendium of Darts (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1991 Stack Up (ZX, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST, PC)
  • 1991 Tai-Chi Tortoise (C64, ZX)
  • 1991 Titanic Blinky (C64, ZX, CPC, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1991 Sharkey's Moll (ZX, CPC, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1991 Mission Shark (Atari 8-bit - import from Polish developer LK Avalon Misja)
  • 1991 Fred (Atari 8-bit - import from LK Avalon)
  • 1991 F1 Tornado (C64, ZX, CPC, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1992 Arnie (C64, Amiga)
  • 1992 Edd The Duck 2: Back with a Quack (Amiga)
  • 1992 American Tag-Team Wrestling (ZX, CPC, Amiga)
  • 1992 International 5-A-Side (C64, ZX)
  • 1992 International Truck Racing (C64, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1992 International Tennis (C64, ZX, Amiga, MS-DOS)
  • 1992 International Athletics (MS-DOS)
  • 1992 Match Of The Day (C64, ZX, Amiga, Atari ST)
  • 1992 Graeme Souness Soccer Manager (C64, ZX, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS)
  • 1992 Carnage (C64, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS)
  • 1993 Fist Fighter (C64,Amiga)
  • 1993 Arnie 2 (C64, Amiga, MS-DOS)
  • 1993 World Rugby (C64, ZX)
  • 1993 Universal Warrior (Amiga)
  • 1993 Sink or Swim a.k.a. S.S. Lucifer: Man Overboard (Amiga, MS-DOS, SNES, Mega Drive)
  • 1994 International Soccer (Amiga, MS-DOS)

as Merit Studios Europe

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  • 1994 The Machines (PC) A revised port of Universal Warrior
  • 1994 Micro Machines (SNES, GB)
  • 1995 Frankenstein: Life or Death (PC) Developed by Junkyard
  • 1995 Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament (SNES)
  • 1996 CyberJudas (DOS) Published by Merit Studios, developed by D.C. True. Successor to Shadow President.
  • 1996 Bud Tucker in Double Trouble (PC)

as Eutechnyx

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References

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  1. ^ "Eutechnyx Limited - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Eutechnyx reveals new leadership structure". MCV. 24 October 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Gateshead game developer Eutechnyx sells NASCAR computer game in multi-mullion pound game". The Journal. The Journal. Retrieved 12 June 2015.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Eutechnyx's overhaul of free-to-play Auto Club Revolution adds VR support for Oculus Rift". Venturebeat. Venturebeat. 14 May 2014. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d Wray, Richard (13 November 2009). "Video games developer Eutechnyx shows the value of self-help". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  6. ^ "Company History". Eutechnyx. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  7. ^ Rixon, Paul (26 January 1989). "Draconus". Software reviews. New Atari User (36): 47. ISSN 0952-4967. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Ad for Kenny Dalglish Soccer Manager". New Atari User (40): 23. 28 September 1989. ISSN 0952-4967. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  9. ^ "In Pole Position - Zeppelin Games". Retro Gamer (119): 62. August 2013. ISSN 1742-3155. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  10. ^ "MERIT SOFTWARE INC. FINALIZES ACQUISITION OF ZEPPELIN GAMES LIMITED". The Free Library. 6 July 1994. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Eutechnyx Company Profile 2009" (PDF). Eutechnyx - Press and Marketing Portal. Eutechnyx. 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2011.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Eutechnyx at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  13. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (19 February 2014). "Layoffs hit NASCAR, Auto Club Revolution developer Eutechnyx". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  14. ^ "Eutechnyx announces new leadership structure". Eutechnyx. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  15. ^ "19 jobs in doubt as racing experts Eutechnyx re-structures". MCV UK. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  16. ^ Good, Owen S. (20 May 2016). "NASCAR makes current-gen console debut this fall with NASCAR Heat Evolution". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  17. ^ "22 new jobs at ZeroLight as sister firm Eutechnyx downsizes". GamesIndustryBiz. 23 July 2015. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  18. ^ "zerolight-moves-headquarters". Zerolight. 17 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
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