Blackbird Interactive is a Canadian

video game development studio 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 ...

based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

History

Blackbird was founded in 2007 by former members of

Relic Entertainment Relic Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as THQ Canada Inc.) is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver, founded in 1997. The studio specializes in real-time strategy games and is known for series such as ''Homeworld'', '' Warhammer 40 ...

and

EA Canada EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Burnaby, then EA Canada) is a Canadian video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened as Distinctive Software in January 1983, and is also Electronic Arts's largest and ...

. CEO Rob Cunningham and chief creative officer Jon Aaron Kambeitz had also been founding members of Relic, and had been on the development team for the 1999

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

Homeworld ''Homeworld'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Studios on September 28, 1999, for Microsoft Windows. Set in space, the science fiction game follows the Kushan exil ...

'' and its 2003 sequel, ''

Homeworld 2 ''Homeworld 2'' is a real-time strategy video game sequel to ''Homeworld'', developed by Relic Entertainment and released in 2003 by now defunct publisher Sierra Entertainment. Its story concerns Hiigara's response to a new enemy called the Vaygr. ...

''. In 2010, after beginning operations, Blackbird began working on a game they considered a "spiritual successor" to ''Homeworld'', entitled ''Hardware: Shipbreakers''. The studio entered into negotiations with

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

, which controlled Relic, for adapting their original game into a ''Homeworld'' game, but were unable to secure access to the

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

. THQ went bankrupt in April 2013, and sold off its assets at auction. Blackbird and

Gearbox Software Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, se ...

were among the bidders for the IP rights to ''Homeworld''; Gearbox won the auction at $1.35 million. Gearbox allowed Blackbird to use the ''Homeworld'' IP and invested in the ''Hardware: Shipbreakers'' project, which was renamed ''Homeworld: Shipbreakers'' in September 2013. In December 2015, it was officially announced for release as '' Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak''; it was released on January 20, 2016.Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Announced - IGN
/ref> In February 2017, Blackbird announced a collaboration with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

to create

Project Eagle ''Project Eagle'' is an interactive art demo of a colony on Mars, developed by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was released on Steam on 27 November 2018, in honor of the successful ''InSight'' land ...

, an interactive art model of a base on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

to be demonstrated live on stage at the 2017

D.I.C.E. Summit The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

. In August 2019, Blackbird announced that it had begun development of a new Homeworld title, ''

Homeworld 3 ''Homeworld 3'' is an upcoming real-time strategy video game being developed by Blackbird Interactive and published by Gearbox Software. The game is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2023. Gameplay ''Homeworld 3'' is a 3D real-time ...

'', as a direct sequel to

released in 2003. As of the announcement date, the game was still in pre-production stages, and a tentative release date of late 2022 was given. Many key developers of the first two ''Homeworld'' games will return to lead the development of ''Homeworld 3'', including Blackbird CEO Rob Cunningham and ''Homeworld'' soundtrack composer

Paul Ruskay Paul Ruskay is a sound designer and composer of several video games and films. He currently runs his own sound studio, Studio X Labs. He is most noted as being the composer (with the exception of two tracks) of the game ''Homeworld''. His style f ...

. In November 2019, Blackbird announced that it had been involved in the development of ''

Minecraft Earth ''Minecraft Earth'' was an augmented reality and geolocation-based sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. A spin-off of the video game ''Minecraft'', it was first announced in May 2019, and was available on ...

''. Blackbird revived the ''Shipbreaker'' name and concept with the space salvage simulator '' Hardspace: Shipbreaker'', which was released in early access on June 16, 2020. From September to December 2021, Blackbird trialed the

four-day work week A four-day workweek is an arrangement where a workplace or place of education has its employees or students work or attend school, college or university over the course of four days per week rather than the more customary five. This arrangement ...

with two of its teams, one of which was the team behind ''Shipbreaker''. The trial was a success, with the majority of developers surveyed stating that it improved their work-life balance, wellness, and ability to complete work. The studio intends to implement the four-day work week across all of its teams, beginning in April 2022.

Games developed

References

External links

*{{officialsite, http://blackbirdinteractive.com Canadian companies established in 2007 Companies based in Vancouver Video game companies established in 2007 Video game companies of Canada Video game development companies 2007 establishments in British Columbia