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Empire Interactive

British video game company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Empire Interactive
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"Xplosiv" redirects here. For the album by La Mafia, see Xplosiv (La Mafia album).

Empire Interactive was a British video game developer and publisher based in London. Founded in 1987 by Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey, it was acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2006 and collapsed in 2009.

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Empire Interactive was founded by Ian Higgins (chief executive officer) and Simon Jeffrey (managing director) in 1987.[1][2] In November 2000, the company acquired development studio Razorworks.[3]

As well as full priced titles, Empire also had a budget range of titles, Xplosiv, for PC and PS2.[4] Initially launched for PC in January 2000, Xplosiv also published titles in Europe from third parties such as Sega and Microsoft.[5][6] Later, in 2003, Empire began launching titles for PS2.[7]

In March 2002 Empire acquired music creation software eJay.[4][8] The company sold internal development studio Strangelite, responsible for Starship Troopers (2005) and various PC ports of Sega games, to Rebellion Developments on 1 June 2006.[9]

Silverstar Holdings, a U.S. public company listed on NASDAQ, offered a deal to acquire Empire Interactive in late October 2006.[10] The deal was accepted by 90% of Empire Interactive's shareholders by late November, and so Silverstar Holdings acquired 85% of Empire Interactive's shares. The deal was valued at approximately £4.5 million. Admissions of further Empire Interactive shares on the Alternative Investments Market of the London Stock Exchange, were expected to be cancelled, effective by 20 December.[1][11] Higgins stepped down from his position in May 2008.[2][12] In July, Empire Interactive reduced its staff count by 30%, with the intent to sell Razorworks.[13] Razorworks was sold to and absorbed by Rebellion Developments a few days later.[14] Two months after Silverstar Holdings was delisted from NASDAQ in March 2009, Empire Interactive was placed into administration on 1 May 2009, with KPMG Restructuring appointed as administrator. Subsequently, 49 out of 55 employees were laid off, with the remaining six staying to aiding KPMG Restructuring in the winding-down of the company. Empire Interactive's intellectual property was sold to U.S.-based company New World IP.[15][16] Shortly thereafter, U.S. publisher Zoo Publishing acquired an exclusive licence for the publishing and distribution of Empire Interactive from New World IP.[17][18]

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