European games designers are strangely oft ignored in games consumer's radar, instead overlooked in favour of their American or Japanese brethren. Well, so an article in Game Daily suggests. In fact, European games developers are consistently breaking new gameplay ground, expanding genres and shaking up the games development world. Heard of GTA? Heard of Tomb Raider? GoldenEye? Project Gotham? All UK, as we've said on this blog before. A pretty hefty chunk of the release games on the Xbox 360 were produced outside the US and Japan.
While the GameDaily article takes account of some of the great companies who are pushing interactive boundaries, most of the innovations that they cite are specific to first person shooters or action games. There are many others in the EU and beyond who are worth their mettle for other reasons. While we won't replicate those already listed by GameDaily, here are a few more that get gamesblog's vote:
Sony Europe (Team Soho) (UK) Sony Europe has done some remarkable things in the past few years. Breaking away of the controller-game interface with the SingStar and EyeToy families has opened up gaming beyond the traditional demographic. They also do some remarkable traditional titles, like The Getaway series, too.
Rare (UK) Rare not only has produced some phenomenal games like GoldenEye 64, Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country in the past, but they were also responsible for two of the must-have titles on the recently-released Xbox 360: Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero. I do recall being overwhelmed at the cooperative mode in the first Perfect Dark. That was seriously revolutionary.
IO Interactive (Denmark) The EIDOS-owned IO Interactive has produced the best-running stealth game of modern times, Hitman. The game has won countless awards, and is currently in pre-production for a Hollywood film. Just like its Japanese cousin, Metal Gear Solid.
Relentless Software (UK) The studio that originally released music making interactive software rocked the UK this year with Buzz! The Music Quiz and its handy peripherals. Not only that, but they're a model company: according to the bosses, their employees never work weekends or past 6pm on week nights. That kind of work-life balance is almost unheard of in the games industry and should be applauded.
Quantic Dream (France) While this French development outfit has only released a couple of games since it was founded in the late 1990s, both Fahrenheit and Omikron: The Nomad Soul push boundaries of interactivity.
Pinkfloor Interactive (Denmark) Sure, it's a "pink" game, but PowerBabes has most of Scandinavia's 14 year old girls in its thrall, with its mix of multiplayer interactivity and socialising. The development team clinched the important girl-appealing elements of negotiation, manipulation and conflict resolution, and weaved these elements into an appealing title. Indeed, as their slogan proudly shouts on their over-pink webpage, "It's possible to have a push-up bra and a brain at the same time".
Lionhead Studios (UK) While the games often don't quite live up to the hype, Peter Molyneux has some incredible visions about what interactivity can become. Cases in point: Populous, Black & White, Dungeon Keeper, The Movies.
Croteam (Croatia) You probably cannot have more guns-a-blazing, interactive fun than Serious Sam.
Bohemia Interactive (Czech Republic) Possibly one of the most successful tactical shooter series in the market, Operation Flashpoint is the winner of countless international awards for its seamless, comprehensive and immersive gameplay.
Sulake (Denmark) 40 million accounts for Habbo Hotel. That's unreal. This virtual world rivals MySpace for personal appearances, friendship and content creation. So simple - yet so effective. Very, dare I say it, European.
Please - nominate your favourite Euro development team, and tell us why they're great.
