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Budcat Creations, LLC was an American video game developer based in Iowa City, Iowa, United States and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, though they formerly had partnerships with Electronic Arts and Majesco Entertainment. They were largely responsible for porting titles to non-target consoles. They had worked on a number of blockbuster gaming franchises, among them Guitar Hero, Madden NFL, and Medal of Honor. They also produced a few original titles, including Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy and The New York Times Crosswords.
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | September 1, 2000 |
| Defunct | November 16, 2010 |
| Headquarters | Iowa City, Iowa, US |
Number of employees | 80 |
| Parent | Activision |
| Website | www |
History
editBudcat was founded by Jason Andersen and Jonah Stich, who met on the precursor to AOL, via a shared interest in the Apple IIGS. A few months into the company's initial year, Isaac Burns joined as a partner. Isaac and Jason met in high school, in their hometown of Iowa City, Iowa.[1]
The company went on to produce a string of sports titles for EA over the next five years, including entries in the NASCAR Thunder, NHL Hockey, and FIFA Manager series, as well as the PlayStation 2 version of Psychonauts for Majesco Entertainment.
In 2005, Budcat moved to its ultimate location in Iowa City in order to facilitate expanding their offices. Budcat worked in partnership with Majesco Entertainment, Electronic Arts, and Activision[2] on multiple titles before being purchased by Activision Blizzard on November 10, 2008, where they mostly worked on the Guitar Hero brand.[3]
Budcat Creations was shuttered by Activision Blizzard on November 16, 2010.[4][5][6]
Games
editReferences
edit- ^ Yanes, Nicholas (2023-01-12). "The birth and death of Budcat Creations, Iowa's only triple-A studio". Game Developer. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "Activision Blizzard Buys Budcat". DFC Intelligence. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "Activision Buys Budcat, Assigns Them New Guitar Hero Title" from 1up.com
- ^ "Activision shuts down Bizarre and Budcat studios"
- ^ "Guitar Hero creator Budcat Studios shuts down". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "Bizarre Creations, Budcat to be axed by Activision?". Destructoid. 2010-11-16. Retrieved 2023-01-17.