Monday 18th May 2009. Cambridge, UK. Independent game developer Frontier is the latest company to join ELSPA, the UK’s leading trade body for the games industry.
The Cambridge-based company, with a staff of more than 200, has notched up a string of gaming hits including BAFTA-nominated ‘Dog’s Life’ and ‘Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo’. The company also made best-sellers ‘RollerCoaster Tycoon 3’, which was nominated for an award from the Academy of Interactive Arts Institute in North America, and ‘Thrillville’, as well as its equally popular sequel ‘Thrillville: Off the Rails’. Its chart-topping launch title for Nintendo’s WiiWare digital game download service, LostWinds, scooped the 2008 Develop Industry Excellence Award ‘Best New IP’ crown.
David Braben, the founder and chairman of Frontier, said: “From our point of view ELSPA addresses what we as game creators feel are the key strategic issues now facing us, including piracy, ratings and the pre-owned situation. We think it is vital that these issues are addressed swiftly and efficiently by the industry as a whole, and ELSPA is the representative body through which we will try to achieve this.”
Michael Rawlinson, Director General of ELSPA, said: “We are of course delighted that Frontier has joined our ranks and will be adding its impetus to that of our existing membership. Frontier not only develops games but also publishes some of these titles so it makes sense that it becomes an integral part of an organisation with the broad perspective of having almost two decades of representing publishers.”
Frontier is one of the world’s leading independent game developers, having built upon the innovative creations of its founder David Braben. One of the industry’s most respected games developers, Braben co-authored the seminal ‘Elite’ game with Ian Bell and he has just topped the Times Online list of the ‘Ten Brits Who Changed Games Forever’. In 2005 Braben was awarded the Development Legend Award at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards.
Frontier is currently working on several projects, including The Outsider, an action thriller to be released on Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and PC.
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