Revealed: The most successful UK game developers
Based on boxed UK sales
UKIE's Best Selling Games Awards took place this evening, which revealed the most successful video games released in the UK to-date.
The event is part of the trade body's 30 Years Of Play campaign.
And UKIE and GfK have shared with GamesIndustry.biz the list of the 40 most successful UK game developers, based on UK boxed game sales (1995 - 2018), too.
GfK's database features over 22,000 games by individual boxed SKU, featuring country details, developer name and whether the titles are indie or publisher-owned.
Of course, there are a bunch of caveats that need to be included here. As the list is based purely on boxed sales, there are no mobile game developers in here. And Jagex, one of the UK's biggest game developers, is entirely absent as RuneScape is a free-to-play PC title.
The absence of digital also does a disservice to primarily PC-orientated game developers, such as Creative Assembly and Frontier, both of which have enjoyed huge sales via Steam in recent years.
Nevertheless, it's a fun list that highlights some of the great UK game developers from years gone by (indeed 18 of the Top 40 are no-longer operational), and reminds us of the significance of the boxed market historically.
Here is the Top 40. Thanks to UKIE, GfK and 30 Years Of Play for the list.
1. Rockstar North
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: GTA V (PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One)
Also Famous For: Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption II
2. Traveller's Tales
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: LEGO Batman (PS2, PS3, 360, Wii, DS, PSP, PC)
Also Famous For: LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Lord of the Rings, Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex
3. Codemasters
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Colin McRae Rally (PS1, PC)
Also Famous For: TOCA, Micro Machines, Brian Lara, F1, Dirt
4. Sony Studios (PlayStation London)
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: The Getaway (PS2)
Also Famous For: EyeToy, SingStar, F1, Wipeout
5. Sports Interactive
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Football Manager 2007 (PC, 360, PSP)
Also Famous For: Championship Manager
6. Core Design
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Tomb Raider 2 (PS1, PC)
Also Famous For: Tomb Raider, Fighting Force
7. Eurocom Entertainment
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: James Bond 007: Nightfire (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
Also Famous For: GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, Spyro: A Hero's Tale, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 007: The World Is Not Enough, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Vancouver 2010, Beijing 2008, Dead Space: Extraction, Athens 2004
8. Criterion Games
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
Also Famous For: Burnout, Black
9. Rare
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: GoldenEye (N64) and Kinect Sports (360)
Also Famous For: Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Viva Piñata, Donkey Kong Country
10. Team17
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Worms
Also Famous For: Overcooked, The Escapists
11. Ubisoft Reflections
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Driver (PS1, PC)
Also Famous For: Stuntman, Destruction Derby
12. 4J Studios
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Minecraft (Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox versions)
13. Creative Assembly
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Rome: Total War (PC)
Also Famous For: Total War series, Alien Isolation, Rugby
14. Sumo Digital
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Sega Superstars Tennis (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
Also Famous For: Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing, Crackdown 3, LittleBigPlanet 3
15. EA Bright Light
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
Also Famous For: Monopoly, Harry Potter, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
16. Rebellion
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: The Simpsons Game (PS2, Wii, PSP)
Also Famous For: Sniper Elite, Alien vs Predator
17. Bullfrog
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Theme Hospital (PS1, PC)
Also Famous For: Dungeon Keeper, Theme Park, Populous, Syndicate
18. Bizarre Creations
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Project Gotham Racing 4 (360)
Also Famous For: F1, Blur, Metropolitan Street Racer, The Club, Geometry Wars
19. Climax
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Theme Park World (PS1)
Also Famous For: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Robot Wars: Arena of Destruction
20. Rocksteady
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Batman Arkham City (PS3, 360, PC)
Also Famous For: Batman Arkham Knight, Batman Arkham Asylum
21: Hothouse Creations
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (PS1, PC, Dreamcast, GBA)
Also Famous For: Pop Idol, Gangsters
22: Lionhead Studios
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Fable II (360)
Also Famous For: Fable, Black & White, The Movies
23: Argonaut
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stones (PS1)
Also Famous For: Croc, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Alien Resurrection
24. Evolution Studios
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: DriveClub (PS4)
Also Famous For: Motorstorm, WRC
25. Blitz Games
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Bad Boys II
Also Famous For: Bratz, Spongebob Squarepants, Glover
26. Playground Games
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox One)
Also Famous For: Forza Horizon, Forza Horizon 2, Forza Horizon 4
27. Frontier Developments
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 (PC)
Also Famous For: Elite, Kinectimals, Kinect Disney Land, Planet Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution
28. Exient
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Need for Speed: Undercover (PS2, Wii)
Also Famous For: FIFA (DS/GBA), Various Need For Speed Games (Wii, PS2 and DS)
29. Pivotal Games
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Conflict: Desert Storm (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
Also Famous For: Conflict: Vietnam, Conflict: Global Terror, The Great Escape, Conflict: Denied Ops
30. Relentless Software
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Buzz! The Music Quiz (PS2)
Also Famous For: Various Buzz Games, Murder Files
31. Gremlin Interactive
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Premier Manager 98 (PS1, PC)
Also Famous For: Actua Soccer
32. Media Molecule
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
Also Famous For: LittleBigPlanet 2, Tearaway
33. Kuju Entertainment
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Microsoft Train Simulator (PC)
Also Famous For: Battalion Wars, Buzz: The Sports Quiz, Crescent Suzuki Racing, Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior
34. Asylum Entertainment
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Peppa Pig: The Game (DS, Wii)
Also Famous For: Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth/Return To Earth, Horrid Henry's Horrid Adventure,
35. Dark Energy Digital
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: World Championship Snooker (PS1)
Also Famous For: Hydrophobia, G-Sufers, Pool Shark 2
36. Slightly Mad Studios
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Need for Speed: Shift (PS3, 360, PC)
Also Famous For: Project CARS
37. Free Radical Design
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: TimeSplitters 2 (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
Also Famous For: TimeSplitters, TimeSplitters 2, Second Sight, Haze
38. Probe
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Die Hard Trilogy
Also Famous For: Alien Trilogy, XG3, Forsaken
39. Rage Software
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: David Beckham Soccer (PS1, PS2, Xbox, GBA)
Also Famous For: Jonah Lomu Rugby, Rocky, Striker, Wild Wild Racing
40. Psygnosis
Most Successful UK Boxed Game: Lemmings
Also Famous For: Wipeout, G Police, Colony Wars,
Thanks to GfK and UKIE for the market data. All data is from 1995 - 2018. The list is based on unit sales of boxed games (so not revenue) and does not include digital. The reveal is part of UKIE's 30th anniversary celebrations and the list of the most successful UK boxed games were revealed on-stage at a special awards ceremony in London. For more details on those titles, click here.