Wales Interactive

Wales Interactive Limited is a Welsh independent video game developer and publisher established in 2011 and based in Penarth, Wales. The studio, best known for Maid of Sker, The Bunker, Five Dates and The Complex, have published over 30 video game titles for PC, mobile and video game consoles. They are a multi award winning studio with accolades including BAFTA Cymru Games Award 2012 and 2018, Appster's Award for Best Indie Game Developer 2014, GREAT Face of British Business Winner 2015, South Wales Business of the Year 2014 and 2016, and Wales Technology Award Winner 2017 and 2018. The studio supports a variety of gaming platforms including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows as well as virtual reality devices including HTC Vive, Oculus Quest 2 and PlayStation VR. Wales Interactive develop and publish their own original intellectual property as well as third-party titles.[2][3][4] Wales Interactive is noted for being part of the mid-2010s revival of the genre of FMV games, i.e. their titles The Bunker, Late Shift and others all substitute traditional game mechanics with live action footage.

Wales Interactive Limited
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedOctober 24, 2011 (2011-10-24)
HeadquartersPenarth, Wales
Key people
David Banner MBE
Richard Pring
Number of employees
10[1]
Websitewalesinteractive.com

History

The company was formed in 2012 by co-founders Dr David Banner MBE and Richard Pring. Both founders previously co-managed GamesLab Wales together under University of Glamorgan (now University of South Wales).[5] Banner, a former employee of Pivotal Games and Eidos Interactive, also founded the Wales Games Development Show.[6] Wales Interactive was formed with an aim to create original games that entertain the world as well as put Wales on the video games map.[7] The studio began and remains as a tenant of the Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed, Bridgend.[8][9]

Most of Wales Interactive's early work consisted of mobile apps and games as well as a series of Welsh e-books which were supported by S4C's digital fund.[10] In 2013, they shifted development to focus on PC and consoles with their title, Gravity Badgers, and the psychological horror Master Reboot.[11][12][13] The development team released Infinity Runner with Oculus Rift support, a first for the company. Infinity Runner went on to being the first PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game to be made entirely in Wales.[14][15] The studio gained a major publication feature in a studio profile for Edge, which coincided with the early access development stages of their science fiction adventure game Soul Axiom.[16][17]

In 2015, Wales Interactive established its third-party publishing label. They partnered with UK independent developers Milky Tea to bring their title Coffin Dodgers to Xbox One and PlayStation 4.[18] The studio continues to develop their label by co-developing and publishing the FMV survival horror video game The Bunker.[19][20]

In July 2020, Wales Interactive announced an FMV title called Gamer Girl scheduled to be released on PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One in September 2020. In the game, the player is a moderator for Alexandra "Abicake99" Burton, a popular female streamer, and must help control her chat and stream content as well as make personal decisions for her. The game was being touted as the first "improvised" FMV game.[21] The game's trailer received ridicule from the wider community,[22] with many people calling it Simp Simulator.[23] In response, Wales Interactive took down the trailer and removed all references to the game from their website.[24]

Games

Published games
Title Year Developers Platform(s)
Jack Vs Ninjas 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Windows Mobile,
Stride Files: The Square Murder 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, PC, Mac OS, Linux
Gravity Badgers 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, PlayStation Vita, PC, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 3
Master Reboot 2013 Wales Interactive PC, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 3, Wii U
Infinity Runner 2014 Wales Interactive PC, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U
Soul Axiom 2016 Wales Interactive PC, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U
Coffin Dodgers 2016 Milky Tea Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The Bunker 2016 Splendy Games, Wales Interactive PC, Mac OS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android
Knee Deep 2017 Prologue Games PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Late Shift 2017 CtrlMovie Android, iOS, PC, Mac OS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Don't Knock Twice 2017 Wales Interactive PC, Mac OS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Typoman 2018 Brainseed Factory Nintendo Switch
The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2018 D'Avekki Studios PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The Shapeshifting Detective 2018 Wales Interactive, D'Avekki Studios PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
Time Carnage 2018 Wales Interactive PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Attack of the Earthlings 2019 Team Junkfish PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Headspun 2019 Superstring PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Maid of Sker 2020 Wales Interactive PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Mac OS
The Complex 2020 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS, Android
Five Dates 2020 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS, Android
I Saw Black Clouds 2021 Wales Interactive, Ghost Dog Films PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
Night Book 2021 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
Bloodshore 2021 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? 2022 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
Deathtrap Dungeon: The Golden Room 2022 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
Ten Dates 2023 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
Mia and the Dragon Princess 2023 Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media, Dead Pixel Productions PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS
The Isle Tide Hotel 2023 Wales Interactive, Interflix Media PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS, iOS

Entertainment and interactive books
Title Year Developers Platform(s)
Mr Frog the Neighbours Dog 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
Mrs Sprat Next Doors Cat 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
Miss Giraffe the Farmers Calf 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
Mrs Doe the Local Crow 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
Mr Tiger the House Spider 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
Jibs Jump Fruit Frenzy 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
Kitten Calculator 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
World Torch Challenge 2012 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
Jibs Arcade 2012 Wales Interactive Microsoft Windows
Super Combombo 2013 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore
DJ Space 2013 Wales Interactive Android, iOS, Amazon Appstore, Microsoft Windows

References
  1. "Meet the team". Wales Interactive. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  2. "Companies | GamesWales". gameswales.org. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  3. "About". Wales Interactive. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  4. "About". Wales Interactive. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  5. "Gameslab Wales launched to boost computer games design". 2011-07-05. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  6. "CEMAS : 2014 edition of the Wales Games Development Show at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff". www.cemas.mobi. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  7. Smith, Mark (2013-08-07). "It's game on for Bridgend firm as PlayStation goes Welsh". Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  8. "Wales' First PlayStation 4 Game Launched | Sony UK TEC". www.sonypencoed.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  9. Ltd, Insider Media. "First PS4 game developed in Wales released". Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  10. "S4C Press release". www.s4c.cymru. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  11. Wichtowski, Leo (30 October 2013). "A Freakishly Cool Game Where You Invade The Memories Of Dead People". Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  12. Johnson, Leif (18 March 2014). "Master Reboot Review". IGN. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  13. "Video games guru to launch first Welsh PlayStation 3 game". Wales. 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  14. Barry, Sion (2015-04-21). "First Welsh designed game". Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  15. "Infinity Runner review: Become a space werewolf and run for your life on Xbox One and Windows". 19 May 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  16. "Edge 280: In the studio with Guitar Hero Live, the next generation of music games". 8 May 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  17. "Wales Interactive Video Games Developer & Publisher". Wales Interactive Video Games Developer & Publisher. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  18. Porter, Matt (26 October 2015). "Kart Racer Coffin Dodgers Coming to Console". IGN. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  19. Morrison, Angus (4 April 2016). "'Completely live action' horror game The Bunker coming this year". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  20. "Play Through a Film Set in an Underground Bunker at the End of the World". Kotaku UK. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  21. O'Connor, James (2020-07-17). "Gamer Girl, The First Ever Improvised FMV Game, Casts You As A Streamer Chat Moderator". MSN. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  22. "Gamer Girl, A Horror FMV Game About A Streamer, Has Pulled Its Trailer Following Backlash". GameSpot. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  23. "Gamer Girl Trailer: A 'Simp simulator' that is dark, cringe and nope-worthy". IPS News. 19 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  24. Chalk, Andy (17 July 2020). "This FMV game trailer was so poorly received the publisher took the whole announcement back". PC Gamer. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
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