wraggster
September 20th, 2018, 20:39
The BBC's history with the video games industry is long, and not especially successful.
It began making its own games in 1983, primarily for BBC Micro (the first Doctor Who game was printed on the front of an early edition of Computer & Video Games magazine). It scrapped that in favour of licensing out its IP from 1986, and then come 1995 decided to get back into games properly with the launch of BBC Multimedia - creating software based around the likes of Robot Wars and Teletubbies.
A decline in sales saw that department shut in 2006 and a return to licensing, before the BBC decided to recommit to games once again and set up a dedicated office in Los Angeles in 2010.
That office was responsible for a number of projects including Supermassive Games' ill-fated Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, a number of Wonderbook products for PS3, plus a series of mobile apps and online titles. But success was mixed, and by the end of 2013 the BBC moved games back to the UK and focused once again on licensing.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-09-20-why-the-bbc-is-investing-in-video-games-again
It began making its own games in 1983, primarily for BBC Micro (the first Doctor Who game was printed on the front of an early edition of Computer & Video Games magazine). It scrapped that in favour of licensing out its IP from 1986, and then come 1995 decided to get back into games properly with the launch of BBC Multimedia - creating software based around the likes of Robot Wars and Teletubbies.
A decline in sales saw that department shut in 2006 and a return to licensing, before the BBC decided to recommit to games once again and set up a dedicated office in Los Angeles in 2010.
That office was responsible for a number of projects including Supermassive Games' ill-fated Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, a number of Wonderbook products for PS3, plus a series of mobile apps and online titles. But success was mixed, and by the end of 2013 the BBC moved games back to the UK and focused once again on licensing.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-09-20-why-the-bbc-is-investing-in-video-games-again