Pivotal Games

Pivotal Games Limited

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Predecessor	Pumpkin Studios
Founded	March 2000; 24 years ago (2000-03)
Founders	Jim Bambra Nick Cook Alex McLean
Defunct	13 August 2008; 16 years ago (2008-08-13)
Fate	Closed by the parent company
Headquarters	Corston , England, UK
Key people	Jim Bambra (managing director) Alex McLean (technical director) Louise Anderson (studio manager)
Products	Conflict series The Great Escape
Number of employees	109–111 (2008 (as of))
Parent	Kaboom Studios (2000–2003) SCi Games (2003–2005) Eidos Interactive (2005–2008)

Pivotal Games Limited was a British video game developer based in Corston, England.

History

Pivotal Games was founded in March 2000, by fifteen employees formerly of Pumpkin Studios (the developer of Warzone 2100), led by Jim Bambra, Nick Cook and Alex McLean.[1] Pumpkin Studios, founded by Bambra and Cook in August 1996, had previously been closed down by its parent company, Eidos Interactive, that same month.[1] In August 2000, the company was acquired by Kaboom Studios.[1] Between 2002 and 2008, Pivotal Games developed all five instalments in the Conflict series, as well as The Great Escape, based on the film of the same name.

In September 2003, after financial struggles of parent company Kaboom Studios, who had at that point had already closed down sister studios Attention to Detail and Silicon Dreams Studio, SCi Games showed interest in acquiring the company.[2] Kaboom Studios went into receivership on 9 September 2003,[3] with all remaining assets, including still-active Pivotal Games, being transferred to Ernst & Young for sale.[4] On 29 September 2003, SCi acquired Pivotal Games from Ernst & Young for a total of £2.36 million.[5] In May 2005, SCi Games finalised its acquisition and merger with Eidos Interactive, the parent of Eidos Interactive, which would become in charge of SCi Games' subsidiaries.[6] In March 2008, SCi Games closed down fourteen operating projects to counter an £81.4 million net loss from the preceding fiscal year, leading to rumours that Pivotal Games was also to be closed.[7] On 14 July 2008, it was officially announced that the studio was to shut its doors, and 99 staff had already been made redundant,[8] leaving only a team of 10–12 specialist personnel.[9] Pivotal Games was closed on 13 August 2008.[10]

Games developed

Year	Title	Platform(s)
		GCN	PS2	PS3	Win	Xbox	X360	Mobile
2002	Conflict: Desert Storm							data-sort-value="Yes" style="background: #DFD; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-yes2 skin-invert" |
2003	The Great Escape
	Conflict: Desert Storm II
2004	Conflict: Vietnam							data-sort-value="Yes" style="background: #DFD; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-yes2 skin-invert" |
2005	Conflict: Global Terror
2008	Conflict: Denied Ops

Conflict series

The Conflict franchise has sold more than 6 million units.[11] Each game in the series has received good to negative reviews. Most of the reviews were mixed or average.[12]

Games

• Conflict: Desert Storm (2002) is set during the Persian Gulf War. The player can play either as the British Armed Forces 22 SAS Regiment or the United States Army Delta Force.
• Conflict: Desert Storm II (2003), also known as Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad, is set during the Persian Gulf War too and sees the same characters returning to Baghdad.
• Conflict: Vietnam (2004) is set during the Vietnam War. The characters from the first two games do not return, with new characters being introduced instead.
• Conflict: Global Terror (2005), also known as Conflict: Global Storm, is set during modern times. The game reunites the characters from the first two games, while also adding a new character.
• Conflict: Denied Ops (2008) is also set during modern times. The game only sees the return of Paul Foley, last seen in the previous entry, with new characters being introduced as well.

References

1. "History". Pivotal Games. Archived from the original on 28 April 2001.
2. "SCi eyeing Pivotal purchase?". gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
3. "Kaboom goes into receivership; Pivotal for sale". gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
4. Calvert, Justin (19 February 2004). "SCi acquires Pivotal Games". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
5. Bramwell, Tom (29 September 2003). "SCi buys Pivotal". eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
6. "Square and Eidos: The History". gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
7. "Eidos parent SCi axing 14 projects – Pivotal too?". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
8. Purchese, Robert (14 July 2008). "Conflict developer Pivotal to close". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
9. "Conflict developer Pivotal Games to close". gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
10. "Pivotal Games shuts its doors". MCV. 14 July 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
11. "Brand Portfolio". SCi Entertainment Group. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010.
12. "Reviews and News Articles". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2019.