Virgin Play

Virgin PLAY S.A. (Formerly Virgin Interactive España S.A.) was a Spanish video game distributor, and later a video game publisher.

Virgin PLAY S.A.
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FateLiquidation
Founded1995 (As Virgin Interactive España SA)
November 1, 2002 (2002-11-01) (As Virgin Play)
FounderTim Chaney and Paco Encinas
DefunctSeptember 2009
HeadquartersMadrid, Spain
SubsidiariesV.2 PLAY
V.2 PLAY Portugal
PlayV Ltd (50/50 Joint Venture with Playlogic Entertainment)

History

In 1995, Virgin Interactive Entertainment opened up a Spanish subsidiary known as Virgin Interactive España S.A., who would market and distribute the company's titles (later including Interplay Entertainment, Titus Software and The 3DO Company) in Spain.

On May 14, 2002, Virgin Interactive España SA was purchased from Titus Interactive by Tim Chaney along with former Spanish president and founder Paco Encinas. The branch was then separated from the main Virgin Interactive company, which Titus Software already owned, and due to this sale, the company could keep its own identity as a Virgin brand. On November 1, 2002 the division's name was changed to Virgin PLAY S.A.. Under the new name, Virgin Play signed deals with companies such as Midway Games, Ignition Entertainment and Koch Media which would allow Virgin Play to distribute their games in the Spanish market. Interplay and Titus' games continued to be distributed by the company.

In 2003, Virgin Play announced to release the Korean handheld console, GP32 to Spain, Italy and Portugal in place of Game Park, who went into trading difficulties.

In 2006, Virgin Play announced that they would start self-publishing games. The first title self-published by the company was a game based on the Spanish movie Torrente 3: El Protector, which was the first movie produced in Spain to have a game tie-in released for it.[1] The company would sign a publishing deal with I-Imagine Interactive for the release of Final Armada on the PlayStation 2 and PSP in April 2007.[2] and later published a tactical shooter for the Nintendo DS called Dead 'n' Furious.

In mid 2007, the company's publishing division was renamed to V.2 Play.

In May 2007, the company signed a deal with DTP Entertainment which would allow the publisher to distribute the company's products in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[3] The company would sign a similar deal with Koch Media a month later[4] which would allow them to distribute in the United Kingdom.

In June 2007, the company signed a deal with Real Madrid to publish a game based on the football team.[5]

In July 2007, Virgin Play announced they would be opening an office in Lisbon, Portugal in order to expand the market and offer a more personalized treatment to Portuguese companies.[6] The office would be branded under the V.2 Play name.

On March 11, 2008, the company announced they had acquired the rights to produce and distribute a video game based on the NDR's mascots Lola & Virginia.[7]

In May 2008, Playlogic Entertainment and Virgin Play founded a UK joint venture called PlayV, PlayV would bring PC, console and handheld products from both companies to the UK market while also offering PR, marketing and sales solutions to additional partners looking to penetrate the UK retail market.[8] In September 2008, Tim Chaney left Virgin Play and later setup his own gaming platform, called Zattikka in June 2009.[9]

In June 2009, Virgin Play asked a Spanish Court for a three-month period to seek a solution with its creditors due to a lack of liquidity. Exactly 3 months later in September 2009, Virgin Play entered liquidation and ceased all operations.[10]

List of published games

Release Title Developer Platform(s) Notes
2005 Torrente 3: El Protector Virtual Toys, S.L. PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows First self-published game by the company
2007 Final Armada I-Imagine PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
2007 Dead 'n' Furious Dream On Studio Nintendo DS
2007 Snow X Racing Coldwood Interactive PlayStation 2 European publishing rights only. Published by Valcon Games in North America
2008 Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come NeocoreGames Microsoft Windows Physical European PC release only, published by NeocoreGames elsewhere
2008 War Leaders: Clash of Nations Enigma Software Productions Microsoft Windows Physical European PC release only, published by DreamCatcher Interactive in North America
2008 Donkey Xote Revistronic PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PSP
2008 Super Hind Mountain Sheep PSP
2008 Hello Pocoyo! Zinkia Entertainment Nintendo DS
2008 Warriors of the Lost Empire Platinum Egg PSP European publishing rights only, published by UFO Interactive Games in North America and Ertain in Asian countries including Japan
2009 B Team: Metal Cartoon Squad Most Wanted Entertainment Nintendo DS
2009 Lola & Virginia Frima Studio Nintendo DS
2009 Mind Your Language Spiral House Nintendo DS Available in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese versions
2009 Real Madrid: The Game Atomic Planet Entertainment PlayStation 2, Wii, Microsoft Windows, PSP, Nintendo DS
2009 Away: Shuffle Dungeon Artoon Nintendo DS European publishing rights only, published by Majesco Entertainment in North America and AQ Interactive in Japan
2009 El Internado Artefacts Studio [11] Nintendo DS Only released in Spain. Was to be released in other countries as The Boarding School: Black Lagoon in late 2009, but was scrapped after Virgin Play's liquidation

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.