Creative Assembly Sofia

Creative Assembly Sofia (formerly Black Sea Studios and Crytek Black Sea) is a Bulgarian video game developer based in Sofia. It was founded in May 2001 by Vesselin Handjiev. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Crytek, which then sold it to Creative Assembly (a studio of Sega) in March 2017.

Creative Assembly Sofia
Formerly
  • Black Sea Studios
  • (2001–2008)
  • Crytek Black Sea
  • (2008–2017)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded7 May 2001 (2001-05-07)
FounderVesselin Handjiev
Headquarters
Sofia
,
Bulgaria
Key people
Georgi Dinchev (studio head)
Products
Number of employees
60 (2017)
Parent

History

Black Sea Studios (2001–2008)

Black Sea Studios was founded by Vesselin Handjiev, the lead designer of Tzar: The Burden of the Crown, on 7 May 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria.[1][2] At the time, the company began developing three separate games: two real-time strategy games and one arcade-style action game.[2] The company became known for its 2004 title Knights of Honor, a historical real-time strategy game released for Microsoft Windows, and for the 2008 science fiction real-time strategy title WorldShift.[3][4]

In 2016, some of former developers from Black Sea Studios founded Black Sea Games, which in 2022 released Knights of Honor II: Sovereign, a sequel to Knights of Honor.[5]

Crytek Black Sea (2008–2017)

In July 2008, German developer and publisher Crytek announced their acquisition of the studio, and renamed it Crytek Black Sea. At the time, Black Sea Studios was based in Sofia, Bulgaria, with Vesselin Handijev was managing director.[3] In May 2014, Crytek announced the development of their own multiplayer online battle arena game using the CryEngine, titled Arena of Fate and under development at the Sofia studio. The game was shown at E3 2014.[6] In November 2016, founder Handjiev, together with Michael Peykov, formed a new video game company, Black Sea Games.[7]

In December 2016, Crytek announced that it would shut down five of its international studios, due to financial troubles, of which Crytek Black Sea was put up for sale.[8][9]

Creative Assembly Sofia (2017–present)

In March 2017, it was announced that the studio was acquired by British developer Creative Assembly (itself owned by Sega), and was renamed Creative Assembly Sofia.[10][11] At the time, Crytek Black Sea had 60 employees.[10][12] Under Creative Assembly, Creative Assembly Sofia developed downloadable content for Total War: Rome II, including Empire Divided[13] and Rise of the Republic.[14] It also developed a new game in the Total War Saga series, Total War Saga: Troy.[15]

On 23 May 2023, Total War: Pharaoh, focused on the New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt, was announced, with Creative Assembly Sofia's Todor Nikolov as Game Director. The game is slated for release in October 2023.[16][17]

Games developed
Year Title Platform(s) Developed as
2004 Knights of Honor Microsoft Windows Black Sea Studios
2008 WorldShift
2017 Total War: Rome II – Empire Divided Creative Assembly Sofia
2018 Total War: Rome II – Rise of the Republic
2020 Total War Saga: Troy
2023 Total War: Pharaoh

Cancelled

See also
  • Haemimont Games, another Bulgarian game developer with a focus on strategy games

References
  1. "What's New in Black Sea Studios". Black Sea Studios. 7 May 2001. Archived from the original on 6 May 2001. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. Walker, Trey (7 May 2001). "Black Sea Studios founded". GameSpot.
  3. Lee, James (22 July 2008). "Crytek acquires Black Sea Studios". GamesIndustry.biz.
  4. Chalk, Andy (29 December 2016). "Former Crytek Sofia leads launch a new studio called Black Sea Games [Updated]". PC Gamer.
  5. "Black Sea Games® Ltd – The modern game studio, devoted to the good old hardcore PC gaming". Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  6. Karmali, Luke (22 May 2014). "Crytek Announces Arena of Fate For PC and Consoles". IGN.
  7. Dring, Christopher (24 December 2016). "Crytek Sofia developers re-form Black Sea Games". GamesIndustry.biz.
  8. Dayus, Oscar (20 December 2016). "Crytek Shuts Down Five Studios Amid Financial Difficulties". GameSpot.
  9. Caldwell, Brendan (20 December 2016). "Crytek closes five studios after reportedly failing to pay workers". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  10. Donnelly, Joe (7 March 2017). "Creative Assembly acquires Arena of Fate developer Crytek Black Sea". PC Gamer.
  11. McWhertor, Michael (7 March 2017). "Crytek sells off Black Sea studio to Sega, Total War creators". Polygon.
  12. Takahashi, Dean (7 March 2017). "Crytek sells Black Sea studio in Bulgaria to Sega and The Creative Assembly". VentureBeat.
  13. "Creative Assembly Sofia се включва в Game Dev Summit Monthly с представянето на играта Total War" [Creative Assembly Sofia joins Game Dev Summit Monthly with the launch of Total War]. OffNews (in Bulgarian). 14 November 2017.
  14. Tarason, Dominic (9 August 2018). "Total War: Rome 2 gets prettied up, expanded and sprouts some family trees today". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  15. Brown, Fraser (20 September 2019). "A Total War Saga: Troy sets sail for a 2020 launch". PC Gamer.
  16. Dinsdale, Ryan (23 May 2023). "Total War: Pharaoh Announced, Arrives October This Year". IGN Nordic. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  17. "Total War: Pharaoh Announced". 23 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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