Beenox
Beenox Inc. is a Canadian video game developer established in 2000 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The studio became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision on May 25, 2005.[2]
Type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Video games |
Founded | May 2000 |
Founder | Dominique Brown |
Headquarters | Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
Key people | Nour Polloni[1] (Studio Head) |
Number of employees | ~300 |
Parent | Activision (2005–present) |
Subsidiaries | Beenox Montréal |
Website | beenox |
History
Between 2003 and 2006, the developer was essentially a porting house. They completed approximately 30 projects for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems, based on popular franchises such as X-Men, Spider-Man and Shrek.
In 2006, they returned to original game development with the console versions of Bee Movie Game,[3] inspired by the feature film from DreamWorks Animation. As part of Activision's E3 2007 media blitz, it was announced that Beenox was the developer behind the Windows version of Activision's Spider-Man game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, which was released in October 2007.[4] They released the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Windows versions of Monsters vs. Aliens and the console versions of Guitar Hero Smash Hits. Beenox later developed the Spider-Man games Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
After founder Dominique Brown's departure in December 2012,[5] the studio's focus shifted from leading original game development to doing a number of support tasks on Activision's superbrands Skylanders and Call of Duty. In 2015, Beenox worked in conjunction with Mercenary Technology on bringing Call of Duty: Black Ops III to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[6]
In March 2022, Beenox announced that it would open a second office in Montréal, Quebec, led by Nour Polloni, increasing its staff count by 20%.[7]
Games developed
Year | Game | Platform(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Pillars of Garendall | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | — |
2007 | Bee Movie Game | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 | |
2009 | Monsters vs. Aliens | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | |
Guitar Hero Smash Hits | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | ||
2010 | Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | |
2011 | Spider-Man: Edge of Time | Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | |
2012 | The Amazing Spider-Man | Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 | |
2013 | Skylanders: Swap Force | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Co-developed with Vicarious Visions |
2014 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | — |
Skylanders: Trap Team | Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Co-developed with Toys for Bob | |
2015 | Skylanders: SuperChargers | iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Co-developed with Vicarious Visions |
Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing | Nintendo 3DS, Wii | — | |
Call of Duty: Black Ops III | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Co-developed with Mercenary Technology | |
2016 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Additional work |
2018 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 | ||
2019 | Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | — |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Additional work | |
2020 | Call of Duty: Warzone | ||
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered | — | ||
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 | Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | Additional work[8][9][10][11] | |
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time | |||
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | ||
2021 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | ||
2022 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II | ||
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 | |||
2023 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III |
Ports
References
- Mattone, Mattone (October 27, 2020). "Beenox Celebrates 20th Anniversary". Activision Games Blog. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- "Activision Establishes Development Foothold in Quebec With Acquisition of Beenox". Activision Blizzard. May 25, 2005. Archived from the original on October 7, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- Hayward, Andrew (November 6, 2007). "Bee Movie Game review". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- "'Spider-Man: Friend or Foe' Coming To PCs". TotalGaming.net. July 12, 2007. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
- Tach, Dave (December 14, 2012). "Beenox founder leaves studio, two employees rise in the ranks". Polygon. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- Sarkar, Samit (September 25, 2015). "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 won't have a campaign on PS3 and Xbox 360". Polygon. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- Partis, Danielle (March 29, 2022). "Beenox to open new studio in Montreal". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- Beenox [@BeenoxTeam] (May 12, 2020). "#THPS is finally back! Congratulations to Vicarious Visions for announcing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, happy to be a part of the supporting team on the game. Star-struckSparkles" (Tweet). Retrieved May 12, 2020 – via Twitter.
- Beenox [@BeenoxTeam] (June 22, 2020). "Congratulations to @ToysForBob for announcing Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, happy to be part of the supporting team!" (Tweet). Retrieved June 22, 2020 – via Twitter.
- Bhat, Keshav (August 26, 2020). "Black Ops Cold War development team includes multiple Activision studios". Charlie INTEL. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- CharlieIntel [@charlieINTEL] (August 12, 2023). "MW3's Battle net page confirms that along with Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Beenox, Raven, High Moon, and demonware are also working on the game" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- Cohen, Peter (October 23, 2002). "Aspyr announces Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3". Macworld. Retrieved October 23, 2002.
- Cohen, Peter (July 29, 2003). "Aspyr: Tony Hawk 4 now in duplication". Macworld. Retrieved July 29, 2003.
- Cohen, Peter (May 15, 2003). "E3: Beenox talks Mac game ports, original development". Macworld. Retrieved May 15, 2003.
- Cohen, Peter (December 22, 2003). "Aspyr ships Wakeboarding Unleashed for Mac, PC". Macworld. Retrieved December 22, 2003.
- Cohen, Peter (December 18, 2003). "Aspyr releases new Tomb Raider game". Macworld. Retrieved December 18, 2003.
- Cohen, Peter (December 17, 2003). "Aspyr: Return of the King is Mac-bound". Macworld. Retrieved December 17, 2003.
- Cohen, Peter (April 25, 2004). "Aspyr to make Homeworld 2 for Mac". Macworld. Retrieved April 25, 2004.
- Cohen, Peter (September 1, 2004). "MacSoft: Railroad Tycoon 3 ships Sept. 13". Macworld. Retrieved September 1, 2004.
- Cohen, Peter (November 1, 2004). "'The Incredibles' games ship". Macworld. Retrieved November 1, 2004.
- Cohen, Peter (July 27, 2004). "Aspyr to publish MTX: Mototrax for Mac and PC". Macworld. Retrieved July 27, 2004.
- "Aspyr Media, Inc. Ships Star Wars Battlefront(TM) For Macintosh". Business Wire. July 19, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2005.
- "Marvel and Activision's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Ships for the Psp(TM) (Playstation(R) Portable) System". Activision Blizzard. October 19, 2005. Retrieved October 19, 2005.
- Cohen, Peter (February 24, 2005). "Myst V Mac conversion heading from Beenox". Macworld. Retrieved February 24, 2005.