Frontier Developments

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Frontier Developments are a video game development company based on the Science Park in Cambridge, UK.

Founded by the co author of the 1984 Acornsoft classic Elite, David Braben in January 1994, they have been responsible for such games as Lost Winds on the Nintendo Wii, up to Elite Dangerous, a modern take on the famous space sand box series, released for PC and modern consoles.

The company holds all the rights to the Elite games, and lists them as Frontier products.

The Amiga CD32 version of Frontier Elite II, and the sequel First Encounters on PC are the copyright of David Braben, but are now also attributed to Frontier, all published by Konami/Gametek, Braben has stated his displeasure at First Encounters being released in an unfinished state, requiring heavy patching.

They were then responsible for the Sega 32X title Darxide, released in 1995, now extremely rare, and V2000 and Infestation developed for Windows and Playstation in 1998 and 2000 respectfully.

Other titles developed by Frontier include A Dog's Life, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, Thrillville, and a series of Wallace and Gromit titles.

Two highly acclaimed Lost Winds games were released on Nintendo's Wiiware service in 2008 and 2009.

In 2010, the company released two games for the Xbox 360 peripheral Kinect, entitled Kinectimals and Kinect Disney Adventures.

Between 2005 and 2011, Frontier were developing an ambitious title called The Outsider, a project eventually cancelled when a deal with publisher Code Masters fell through.

In 2011 the company concentrated on IOS versions of the Lost Winds games and Kinectimals for Windows phones.

2012 was a particularly busy year for the company, they developed Zoo Tycoon exclusively for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and Coaster Crazy. But the big news was after a very successful Kickstarter campaign that raised £1.7 million, the company were to begin work on Elite Dangerous, a modern take on the old classic.

The game took two years to complete and was released in 2014, it was released on PC first, then Xbox One a year later, then finally PS4 in mid 2017, the game earned them a BAFTA nomination.

While continuing to support Elite Dangerous with add on packs, the company also released new games, Screamride arrived in 2015 and was Published by Microsoft, and in 2016 Planet Coaster, a management simulation that was self published. This earned the company their second BAFTA nomination.

It was reported in 2017 that Frontier were to sue the publisher Atari for lack of royalty payments for Railroad Tycoon 3.

On July 17th 2017, Tencent, a Chinese investment company bought a 9% stake in the company. In October of that year The Frontier Expo was held at the Queen Elisabeth Olympic Park, where the company showcased Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster and Jurassic World Evolution.

Frontier announced at this time that all future games would be self published, the first being Jurassic World Evolution, released in June 2018.

Today key people at the company are David Braben (CEO) David Walsh (COO) and Jonny Watts (CCO)

The company entered the stock market in 2013.

 

Timeline for Frontier Developments :

Date Event
Jan 1994 Frontier Developments is founded
Apr 1995 Frontier Developments release Frontier: First Encounters
16 Dec 2014 Frontier Developments release Elite Dangerous
17 Nov 2016 Frontier Developments release Planet Coaster
5 Nov 2019 Frontier Developments release Planet Zoo


Software Products

V2000

V2000
1998
Coming from Frontier, this is the sequel to Virus or Zarch from David Braben in the 80s and 90s.

Manufacturer : Grolier Interactive
Type : Software - Game

Infestation

Infestation
2000
In Infestation you drive a transformable vehicle and defend your environment from aliens.

Manufacturer : Ubisoft
Type : Software - Game

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (Gold Edition)

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (Gold Edition)
3rd October 2002
Double Game Pack - Includes Expansion pack Wacky Worlds...

Manufacturer : Atari
Type : Software - Game

Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo

Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo
3rd October 2003
A 3D platformer, also released on Gamecube and Xbox.

Manufacturer : BAM! Entertainment
Type : Software - Game

Dog's Life

Dog's Life
31st October 2003
An action adventure starring Jake the dog, who is trying to rescue his girlfriend Daisy from the clutches of Dogcatchers.

Manufacturer : Sony
Type : Software - Game

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Deluxe Edition (Games for Laptop)

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Deluxe Edition (Games for Laptop)
2004
Contains: Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Soaked, and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Wild.

Manufacturer : Atari
Type : Software - Game

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
29th August 2005
Contains: Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Soaked, and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Wild.

Manufacturer : Konami
Type : Software - Game

Thrillville

Thrillville
1st December 2006
A theme park simulation game that was averagely received on release.

Manufacturer : Lucasarts
Type : Software - Game

Thrillville: Off The Rails

Thrillville: Off The Rails
2007
A theme park simulation game that was averagely received on release.

Manufacturer : Lucasarts
Type : Software - Game

Kinectimals

Kinectimals
4th November 2010
Interactive game for children...

Manufacturer : Microsoft
Type : Software - Game

Elite Dangerous Premium Backers Edition

Elite Dangerous Premium Backers Edition
December 2013
This is one of the first editions of the BAFTA nominated space sandbox game £1.

Manufacturer : Frontier Developments
Type : Software - Game

Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous
27th June 2017
After a successful Kickstarter campaign raised 1.

Manufacturer : Frontier Developments
Type : Software - Game


Promotional Items

Jurassic World Evolution Pin Badge Set

Jurassic World Evolution Pin Badge Set
2018
A sealed set of metallic pin badges promoting the release of Jurassic World Evolution, a real time business simulation game developed and published by Frontier Developments in 2018.

Manufacturer : Frontier Developments
Type : Promotional Item


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