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Just Add Water (company)

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Just Add Water (Development) Limited
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded24 October 2006; 18 years ago (2006-10-24)
FounderStewert Gilray
Headquarters
Leeds
,
England
Key people
  • Rebecca Gilray (Director)
  • Viktorya Hollings (COO)
  • Les Ellis (Studio Head)
  • Phil Jones (Technical Director)
Products
Number of employees
25
Websitejustaddwaterdevelopment.com

Just Add Water (Development) Limited is a British independent video game developer based in Leeds, England.[1] Founded by Stewart Gilray in 2006, Just Add Water has worked on titles for the PlayStation 3 and Windows, notably the Oddworld series. They have teamed up with Oddworld Inhabitants to recreate the series in high definition as well as working on new installments in the series.

History

[edit]

Just Add Water was founded in 2006 by British career developer Stewart Gilray. The studio worked as a sub-contractor on a number of titles before moving onto its first unique project, Sony-published retro shooter Gravity Crash,[2] in 2008. PS3 and PSP versions released in 2009–2010.[3]

On 16 July 2010, Just Add Water announced they would start work on multiple Oddworld projects after signing a far-reaching contract with Lorne Lanning's Oddworld Inhabitants to develop properties in the Oddworld franchise, a move Gilray describes as a "turning point" for the studio. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, a conversion of the 2005 original, was released on 3 September 2010, updating Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath in HD with enhanced 720p visuals, more detailed character models, remastered dialogue, PlayStation Move Support and "additional bonus material."[4]

A collection containing all four original games called the Oddbox was released for Steam service on 20 December 2010. Both Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath made their debut on Windows PC with updates including Steamworks, which integrated new features including stats and Steam Achievements. It was released in 2010 for PC, then a year later for PS3, and then PlayStation VITA in 2012.

Just Add Water released Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD for the PlayStation Network on 21 December in Europe and 28 December in North America. Another HD remake titled Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD was released for the PlayStation Network on 19 December in Europe and on 24 December 2012 in North America.[5]

Towards the end of development on Stranger’s Wrath HD, the team moved over to start development on what would become Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Vita, PC, Mac and Linux.

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty launched in July 2014 on PS4 to critical acclaim, with other platforms arriving in the months following. The title did well to beat its own 12 month sales prediction within 2 months of release. It had a public showing of pre-alpha footage at Eurogamer Expo 2012.[6] They announced that they were planning to complete Oddworld: Hand of Odd, which is a real-time strategy online game which was halted in the early 2000s, and that it would be released as a free-to-play title. Oddworld Inhabitants have also stated that 'Squeek's Oddysee' is in pre-production phases, with Just Add Water as the developer. In April 2015, Oddworld Inhabitants announced that an all-new remake of Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus is in the planning stages and more information about the project will be announced later.[7]

During this time the company also revisited their title Gravity Crash, by creating a PlayStation Vita version titled Gravity Crash Ultra,[8] which was released in August 2014.

From 2014 through to 2017, Just Add Water worked with new partners and clients, such as Paradox Interactive, Rising Star Games, Bossa Studios[9] & Mike Bithell. This work was focused on porting various projects from PC to console, and assisting development of titles.

In 2017, Just Add Water completed work on Micro Machines World Series for Codemasters[10] and moved into their new office in Leeds city centre, and sought to expand their team to begin work on several new projects.[11]

In 2018, the team grew to 25 strong and began work on titles for Outright Games and Rebellion.

In March 2019, it was announced that Just Add Water would be partnering with Rebellion to release Sniper Elite VR,[12] a standalone VR title for the Sniper Elite series that would be released for PlayStation VR, Oculus VR and Steam VR.[13] Later that year, in October, Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure was released, published by Outright Games for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC.[14]

A teaser trailer for Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality was released in October 2020[15] by Maze Theory, with a release date for 2021.[16]

Sniper Elite VR was released in July 2021,[17] followed by the release of Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality in October of that same year, after a two week delay for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.[18] The Nintendo Switch version was further delayed to November.[19]

By the end of 2021, Sniper Elite VR won a TIGA award for best VR/AR game.[20] It was also nominated for the Game Awards in the Best VR/AR category.[21]

On 6 January 2022, founder and CEO Stewart Gilray died from COVID-19, at the age of 51.[22][23]

With a new management team in place, Just Add Water moved into new offices at Platform in Leeds in June where they are currently working on multiple projects on PC, consoles and VR.

In November 2023, Rebellion announced a new Sniper Elite VR title in collaboration with Just Add Water.[24] Titled Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior, it released later that same month on 30 November 2023.[25]

On 23 April 2024, Wired Productions hosted a virtual showcase for upcoming releases.[26] During this event it was revealed that Wired Productions have been working in partnership with Just Add Water on a new title for VR called DIG VR. [27]

Games

[edit]
Release date Titles Genre Platform(s)
2009 Gravity Crash Multidirectional shooter PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
2011 Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD First-person/Third-person action-adventure PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Windows
2012 Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD Platform PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
2014 Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! Side-scrolling, Platform PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox One
2014 Gravity Crash Ultra[28] Multidirectional shooter PlayStation Vita
2015 I Am Bread[29] Action-adventure, Simulation PlayStation 4, Windows, OS X, Xbox One,[30] iOS, Android
2015 Volume[31] Stealth game PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
2015 Poncho[32] Platform PlayStation 4
2016 Lumo[33] PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One
2016 Volume: Coda[34] Stealth game PlayStation 4
2017 Micro Machines World Series Racing PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2019 Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure Platform PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows
2021 Sniper Elite VR[35] Virtual Reality First-Person Shooter Oculus Quest, PSVR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index
2021 Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality[36] Adventure PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows
2021 BPM: Bullets Per Minute[37] First-person shooter PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
2023 Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior[38] Virtual Reality First-person shooter Oculus Quest 2, Oculus Quest 3, Oculus Quest Pro
2024 DIG VR[39] Virtual Reality Simulation Oculus Quest 2, Oculus Quest 3, Oculus Quest Pro
[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Location". Just Add Water (Dev) Ltd.
  2. ^ Gravity Crash – IGN, retrieved 10 December 2021
  3. ^ "Gravity Crash announced for PlayStation Network". Videogamesblogger.com. 13 June 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  4. ^ Kietzmann, Ludwig (3 September 2010). "Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath remake coming to PS3 in 2011". Joystiq. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ^ - By Stephen Johnson (16 July 2010). "Just Add Water Working on Multiple Oddworld Projects". G4tv.com. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New N' Tasty! Revealed at Eurogamer Expo". Eurogamer. 30 September 2012.
  7. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oddworld-abe-s-exoddus-remake-is-brewing/1100-6426606/ Gamespot Abe's Exxodus Remake Announced
  8. ^ "Gravity Crash Ultra Coming to PS Vita". 6 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Be a Piece of Bread in I Am Bread on the PS4". 4 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Micro Machines World Series review". Eurogamer. 30 June 2017.
  11. ^ "New Offices New Projects Bigger Team!". 23 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Four New Sniper Elite Projects in Development". 14 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Sniper Elite VR unveiled at E3 2019". 11 June 2019.
  14. ^ "Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure Releases October 18th". 18 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Doctor Who: The Edge Of Reality Console Game Coming In 2021". 12 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality Video Game". The Doctor Who Site. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Sniper Elite VR Releases July 8 For Quest, PSVR & SteamVR". 3 June 2021.
  18. ^ "'Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality' launches today". NME. 14 October 2021.
  19. ^ "Doctor Who: The Edge Of Reality Dev Cuts Deluxe Edition Cost And Apologises For Delays". 16 November 2021.
  20. ^ "2021 Winners". TIGA. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  21. ^ "VR Nominees at The Game Awards Include Lone Echo II, Sniper Elite VR & Hitman 3". VRFocus. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  22. ^ "Tributes paid after Just Add Water founder Stewart Gilray dies aged 51". Eurogamer. 6 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Just Add Water founder Stewart Gilray dies at 51". GamesIndustry.biz. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  24. ^ "'Sniper Elite' is Getting a New VR Game on Quest Soon, $15 Price Suggests Lower Ambitions". Road to VR. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior review: Breathe deep, aim true". ShackNews. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  26. ^ "ANNOUNCING WIRED DIRECT '24!". Wired Productions. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  27. ^ "DIG VR announced for Quest 2, Quest 3". Gematsu. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  28. ^ ""Gravity Crash Ultra" Coming To PlayStation VITA". Just Add Water. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  29. ^ "I am Bread Delivers Fresh-Baked Gaming Goodness on PlayStation 4 This Summer". Just Add Water. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  30. ^ "I am Bread lands on Xbox One today". Just Add Water. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  31. ^ "Oddworld developer handling PS4 and Vita versions of Mike Bithell's Volume". 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  32. ^ "Poncho".
  33. ^ "Console versions of Lumo developed by JAW!". 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  34. ^ "Volume: Coda – JAW Ltd". Just Add Water. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  35. ^ Burke, Ron (8 July 2021). "Virtual DOPE Book -- Sniper Elite VR review". GAMING TREND. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  36. ^ O'Connor, James (11 October 2020). "Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality Is Coming Next Year, But It's Not An Entirely New Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  37. ^ "BPM: Bullets Per Minute". store.playstation.com. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  38. ^ "Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior". meta.com. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  39. ^ "DIG VR". meta.com. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
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