EA Bright Light (formerly known as EA UK) was a British

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

founded in 1995 by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

. The studio was primarily known for its work on licensed franchises such as the video game adaptation of the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series. As of 2019, a subsidiary known as EA UK exists, albeit being a publishing operation.

History

EA UK was founded in

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1995 by

. In 2001,

Bullfrog Productions Bullfrog Productions Limited was a British video game developer based in Guildford, England. Founded in 1987 by Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar, the company gained recognition in 1989 for their third release, ''Populous (video game), Populous'', ...

was merged into EA UK, making it to inherit franchises such as '' Populous'', ''

Dungeon Keeper ''Dungeon Keeper'' is a strategy video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and released by Electronic Arts in June 1997 for MS-DOS and Windows 95. In ''Dungeon Keeper'', the player builds and manages a dungeon, protecting it from invading ' ...

'', ''

Syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...

,'' and ''

Theme Park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

''. Originally focusing on developing original IPs, the studio released several well-received titles such as '' Zubo'', the first EA title exclusive to

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

, in 2008. However, the title was a commercial failure, forcing the company to amend its policy and shift to develop casual games and games that were aiming for younger audience. In later years, they also worked on licensed franchises, such as the video game adaptation of the ''

'' series, which generally received mixed reviews from critics. The company also worked on few

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

-related board game adaptations, such as ''

Hasbro Family Game Night ''Hasbro Family Game Night'' is a series of video games that adapt board games manufactured by Hasbro. Games ''Hasbro Family Game Night'' (2008) ''Hasbro Family Game Night'' is the first installment of its eponymous game series, published by Ele ...

'', which was released in 2008. EA UK was renamed to EA Bright Light in 2008, with its headquarter moved to

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. In 2011, after both the movie and the video game franchise of ''

'' were ended, Electronic Arts began a consultation process to shut down EA Bright Light so as to "help centralise development on future projects, reduce development costs and will allow for better knowledge and talent sharing within the organization". After their last title, ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' is a 2011 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the second of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hal ...

'' was released, Electronic Arts silently shut down EA Bright Light by the end of 2011. Most employees from Bright Light joined

Criterion Games Criterion Games is a British video game developer based in Guildford. Founded in January 1996 as a division of Criterion Software, it was owned by Canon Inc. until Criterion Software was sold to Electronic Arts in October 2004. Many of Criter ...

and

Playfish Playfish was a developer of free-to-play social network games. Playfish was founded in 2007 by Kristian Segerstråle, Sebastien de Halleux, Sami Lababidi, and Shukri Shammas. It closed in 2013. Playfish in the past had attracted up to 55 million ...

, the remaining 2 subsidiaries of Electronic Arts in UK, while others joined

Jagex Jagex Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. It is best known for ''RuneScape'' and ''Old School RuneScape'', both free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playi ...

and

Supermassive Games Supermassive Games Ltd is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey. The studio is best known for developing horror games such as ''Until Dawn'' for the PlayStation 4, ''The Dark Pictures Anthology'' for Bandai Namco Entertainmen ...

. Despite EA declaring that Bright Light would revive several IPs from Bullfrog, none of the titles were developed before the company's closure. Before the company's closure, it is known that they were developing a

Maxis Maxis is an American video game developer and a Division (business), division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by Electronic Arts, EA in 1997. Maxi ...

-related title.

Games developed

References

External links

* {{Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Defunct companies based in Surrey Video game companies established in 1995 Video game companies disestablished in 2011 British subsidiaries of foreign companies Video game development companies Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Guildford 1995 establishments in England 2011 disestablishments in England