Q-Games

Q-Games, Limited is a video game developer based in Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan[2] which works closely with both Nintendo and Sony.[1]

Not to be confused with Q Entertainment.
Q-Games, Limited
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded9 August 2001 (2001-08-09)[1]
FounderDylan Cuthbert
HeadquartersNakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Key people
Dylan Cuthbert (President/Managing Director)
Kenkichi Shimooka (Vice-President/Director)[1]
ProductsPixelJunk series
The Tomorrow Children
OwnerDylan Cuthbert
Websitehttps://www.q-games.com/en/

Foundation

Q-Games was founded by Dylan Cuthbert,[3] who previously worked at Argonaut Software and helped create Starglider and Starglider 2 for Argonaut Software, then gave programming assistance to X and the first Star Fox for Nintendo. He also developed Star Fox 2 to completion before heading off to work at Sony America to make Blasto on the PlayStation. After this, Cuthbert moved back to Japan to work at Sony Japan, where, in early 1999, he developed the Duck in a Bath technical demo (Ducks demo) that showcased the PlayStation 2's power to early developers and publishers.[4] Following that, he developed Pipo Saru 2001 and then left Sony to start Q-Games Ltd. in Kyoto in September 2001.

History

The studio's first few years were spent accumulating staff and developing behind-doors technology projects for a number of clients including Sony and Microsoft. At E3 2004, they showed two graphic technology demos[5][6] for the PlayStation Portable and then internally began development on two games, one for the Game Boy Advance and one for the Nintendo DS. These titles were announced as Digidrive (part of the bit Generations series of puzzle games for the Game Boy Advance) and Star Fox Command respectively. Both were later released.

Following these projects, Q-Games began to collaborate with Sony Computer Entertainment, becoming a second-party studio partner, by developing the PixelJunk series of downloadable games for the PlayStation 3. They are available for download and purchase on the PlayStation Network Store worldwide. PixelJunk games are presented in 1080p full HD. PixelJunk made its worldwide debut on 11 July 2007 at E3 2007, held in Santa Monica, CA. At TGS 2009, Q-Games confirmed that it is extremely unlikely these games will ever appear on the Xbox 360.[7]

Throughout its existence, Q-Games has continued to partner with multiple platform holders directly including Nintendo, Sony, and Google.

Q-Games have also worked with Nintendo again, releasing several games for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare digital distribution service from 2009 to 2010. The studio would co-develop Star Fox 64 3D for the Nintendo 3DS with Nintendo EAD in releasing in 2011.[8]

At Gamescom 2014, Q-Games announced The Tomorrow Children, an online adventure game that featured asynchronous multiplayer. The title was co-developed by Japan Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[9] The game launched in 2016 as a free to play title for the PlayStation 4, but was shut down by Sony after a year of operation.[10]

Q-Games has also developed a number of titles exclusive for Apple Arcade including a new Frogger.[11]

In 2021, it was announced that PixelJunk Raiders would be launching on Google Stadia. The title made use of the State Share feature to allow players to jump into other players game via a screenshot or video capture.[12]

Q-Games negotiated with Sony to secure the rights to The Tomorrow Children in November 2021, and stated their intent to revive the game in the future.[10] It was re-released by Q-Games in September 2022 as The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition.[13]

Games developed
Game Title ReleasePlatformNotes
DigidriveJuly 27, 2006Game Boy AdvancePart of the Bit Generations series
Star Fox CommandAugust 28, 2006Nintendo DS
PixelJunk RacersSeptember 13, 2007PlayStation 3
PixelJunk MonstersJanuary 24, 2008PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
PixelJunk Monsters EncoreApril 24, 2008PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, LinuxExpansion pack/add-on to PixelJunk Monsters
PixelJunk EdenJuly 31, 2008PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows
PixelJunk Monsters DeluxeOctober 1, 2009PlayStation Portable
Art Style: DIGIDRIVEOctober 2, 2009DSiWarePort of Digidrive
TrajectileNovember 24, 2009DSiWareKnown as Reflect Missile in PAL regions
PixelJunk ShooterDecember 10, 2009PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
Starship DefenseDecember 18, 2009DSiWareKnown as Starship Patrol in PAL regions
X-ScapeMay 31, 2010DSiWareKnown as X Returns in Japan and as 3D Space Tank in PAL regions
PixelJunk Shooter 2March 1, 2011PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft WindowsSequel to PixelJunk Shooter
Star Fox 64 3DSeptember 9, 2011Nintendo 3DSRemaster of Star Fox 64, co-developed with Nintendo EAD
PixelJunk SideScrollerOctober 22, 2011PlayStation 3
PixelJunk 4amMay 15, 2012PlayStation 3
VisualizerAugust 13, 2013PlayStation 3Music visualization
Nom Nom GalaxyAugust 3, 2015Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4
PixelJunk Shooter UltimateOctober 21, 2015Microsoft Windows
The Tomorrow ChildrenSeptember 6, 2016PlayStation 4
Dead HungryDecember 6, 2016Microsoft Windows, PlayStation VRVR project for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
Eden ObscuraMay 18, 2018iOS, AndroidFollow-up to PixelJunk Eden
PixelJunk Monsters 2 May 25, 2018 Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Sequel to PixelJunk Monsters, published by Spike Chunsoft
Frogger in Toy TownSeptember 20, 2019 [14]Apple ArcadeBased on the 1981 arcade game Frogger
ScrappersApril 16, 2020 [15]Apple Arcade
PixelJunk Eden 2December 10, 2020 [16]Nintendo Switcha direct continuation of PixelJunk Eden and Eden Obscura[17]
PixelJunk Raiders March 1, 2021[18] Stadia
The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition September 6, 2022 PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Re-release of The Tomorrow Children

Other projects

As well as games development, Q-Games developed technology directly with Sony Japan for the PlayStation 3. The PS3's XMB (Xross Media Bar) interface, background and music visualizer were developed by Q-Games and they are credited with 3D Graphics Technology in the About PS3 section of the PS3's OS.[19]

PlayStation Home

On September 24, 2009, Q-Games released their own developer space for their series, PixelJunk in the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, PlayStation Home to the Japanese version and on October 9, 2009, to the North American version. The "PixelJunk Museum" (Japan), or "PixelJunk Exhibition" (North America), features the games PixelJunk Eden, PixelJunk Monsters, and PixelJunk Racers. For PixelJunk Eden there are glass wall art displays, for PixelJunk Monsters, there are displays of familiar characters from the game, and for PixelJunk Racers, there are displays of two different race cars. There is also a virtual shop in the space selling PixelJunk virtual items. In Japan's version from September 24, 2009, to October 9, 2009, near the shop, there was a panel that took users to a virtual version of Q-Games TGS 2009 Booth. Called the "Q-Games virtual public TGS Booth", it was a virtual recreation of the Q-Games TGS 2009 Booth that had a free T-shirt and a video screen.[20] On December 17, 2009, they released another exhibition room to the "PixelJunk Exhibition" space. This room is to display PixelJunk Shooter and is called the "PixelJunk Shooter Mother Ship Hangar."

References
  1. "Q-games Profile". Q-Games.com. Archived from the original on 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  2. "Q-Games Contact." Q-Games. Retrieved on September 17, 2010. "Arte Oike 3F Oshinisinotouin-cho 612 Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 604-0042."
  3. N-Sider.com: Dylan Cuthbert
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. スクリーンショット Archived March 5, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  6. スクリーンショット Archived September 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "PixelJunk Appearing On Xbox 360: Extremely Unlikely". Gaming Union. 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  8. "Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS : "I Want to Work in Kyoto"".
  9. Cuthbert, Dylan (August 12, 2014). "PS4 Exclusive The Tomorrow Children Announced at Gamescom 2014".
  10. LeBlanc, Wesley (November 9, 2021). "Free To Play PS4 Exclusive, The Tomorrow Children, Set To Return Four Years After Going Offline". Game Informer. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  11. Goslin, Austen (2019-09-10). "Apple announces a new, exclusive Frogger from indie darling Q-Games". Polygon.
  12. Stadia Team (2021-02-26). "Use State Share to give friends an advantage while saving the world in PixelJunk Raiders on March 1". Stadia.
  13. "The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition Launches September 6". PlayStation.Blog. 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  14. @PixelJunkNews (20 September 2019). "It is official! Frogger in Toy Town..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. "PixelJunk Scrappers is Coming Soon – Q-Games".
  16. "PixelJunk Eden 2 for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details".
  17. "PixelJunk Eden 2 is Announced! – Q-Games".
  18. "This Week on Stadia: New games this week, plus PixelJunk Raiders & more coming March 1 to Stadia Pro". community.stadia.com. 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  19. "2005 August –". Q-Games. 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  20. "PixelJunk Museum". SCE.

Sources
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