Bullfrog Productions

Bullfrog Productions
legal form	Electronic Arts subsidiary
founding	1987
resolution	2004
Reason for dissolution	Merger with EA UK
Seat	Guildford , UK
management	Peter Molyneux , Les Edgar
Branch	Software development

Bullfrog Productions was a British computer game developer company founded in 1987 by Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar. Her innovative early work Populous was a very early exponent of real-time strategy games and the first exponent of god simulation . Bullfrog was also able to celebrate great success with the following games and secure a reputation as an innovative developer. His most famous games of that time include: a. Syndicate , Theme Hospital , Magic Carpet , Dungeon Keeper and Theme Park .

history

The first work Populous from 1989 had its origin in the Hammurabi , one of the earliest computer games, described in Chris Crawford's classification system as an educational game.

In 1995 Bullfrog was bought by Electronic Arts . In the opinion of many employees, this led to a considerable restriction on the freedom of developers at Bullfrog. Due to this fact, founder Peter Molyneux left the company in 1997 and founded Lionhead Studios . Bullfrog developed fewer and fewer games in the following years and was merged with EA UK in 2004 after numerous other employees left .

Years after the end of Bullfrog Productions, Electronic Arts boss John Riccitiello stated at the DICE 2008 computer game conference that the merger of Electronic Arts with Bullfrog - but also Origin Systems and Westwood Studios - had simply been screwed up. Bullfrog founder Peter Molyneux later agreed with the Electronic Arts boss and stated that he himself had a part in the downfall of Bullfrog. So he was not able to cope with the rapid increase in staff and the huge changes.

Developed games

Fusion (1988)
Populous (1989)
- Populous - The Promised Lands (1989)
Powermonger (1990)
Flood (1990)
Populous II - Trials of the Olympian Gods (1991)
- Populous II - The Challenge Games (1992)
Syndicate (1993)
Theme Park (1994)
Tube (1994)
Magic Carpet (1994)
Magic Carpet 2 (1995)
Hi-Octane (1995)
Syndicate Wars (1996)
Gene Wars (1996)
Theme Hospital (1997)
Dungeon Keeper (1997)
- Dungeon Keeper: The Deeper Dungeons (1997)
- Dungeon Keeper Gold (1998) (Dungeon Keeper + The Deeper Dungeons)
Populous: The Beginning (1998)
- Populous: The Beginning - Undiscovered Worlds (1999)
Dungeon Keeper II (1999)
Theme Park World (1999)
Theme Park Manager (2001)
Quake III Revolution (Quake 3 port for PlayStation 2 , 2001)
Aquarium (2001)

Announced / canceled projects

Dungeon Keeper 3
Creation

Web links

Bullfrog Productions at MobyGames (English)
www.bullfrog.com ( Memento from March 29, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) former homepage.

Individual evidence

↑ Ron Dulin: Legends of Game Design: Peter Molyneux ( English ) GameSpot . 1999. Archived from the original on August 30, 2005. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
↑ Edge editorial team: The Making of: Populous ( English ) In: Edge magazine . May 8, 2009. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved on April 8, 2011.
↑ GameStar : EA boss John Riccitiello: "We at EA screwed it up" . February 11, 2008.
^ Christian Nutt: Moving The Industry Forward: Peter Molyneux Speaks ( en ) gamasutra.com . S. April 5, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2011.

[gamespot-1] Ron Dulin: Legends of Game Design: Peter Molyneux ( English ) GameSpot . 1999. Archived from the original on August 30, 2005. Retrieved February 21, 2012.

[edge-2] Edge editorial team: The Making of: Populous ( English ) In: Edge magazine . May 8, 2009. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved on April 8, 2011.

[3] GameStar : EA boss John Riccitiello: "We at EA screwed it up" . February 11, 2008.

[4] Christian Nutt: Moving The Industry Forward: Peter Molyneux Speaks ( en ) gamasutra.com . S. April 5, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2011.