DreamCatcher Interactive
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Richard Wah Kan |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Fate | Dissolved with parent, assets acquired by Nordic Games |
| Successor | THQ Nordic |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Products | See products listing |
| Parent | JoWooD Entertainment (2006–2011) |
| Divisions | The Adventure Company |
DreamCatcher Interactive Inc. (also known as DreamCatcher Games) was a Canadian video game publisher founded in 1996 by Richard Wah Kan. It was best known for its adventure games. In 2006, the company became a subsidiary of JoWooD Entertainment. In 2011, the company went into administration along with its parent JoWooD and all assets were purchased by Nordic Games Holding. The DreamCatcher Interactive brand is currently being used as a publishing label for THQ Nordic.[1]
History
[edit]DreamCatcher Interactive was founded in 1996 at Toronto, Canada. Its first published title was Jewels of the Oracle.[2] The company gradually drifted into becoming a publisher focused on the adventure genre after finding that "customers really were hungry for" these titles, according to DreamCatcher's Marshall Zwicker. Beyond Time was among the releases whose reception drew the publisher to this field.[3] Profit reported that DreamCatcher located such projects via "networking at tradeshows and reviewing unsolicited game proposals."[2] In 1999, DreamCatcher pushed its corporate strategy by launching Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy, The Forgotten: It Begins and The Crystal Key.[3] The latter went on to a major hit.[2] DreamCatcher's top four titles for 2000 were Dracula: Resurrection, Traitors Gate, Beyond Atlantis and The Crystal Key. These games respectively made up 9%, 14%, 15% and 32% of DreamCatcher's sales that year.[4] In March 2000, DreamCatcher was purchased by Cryo Interactive.[5] Continuing the company's growth, in November 2000, DreamCatcher signed with Her Interactive to publish the Nancy Drew franchise.[6]
In late 2002, most of the assets and development teams of French-based publisher, Cryo Interactive were absorbed by DreamCatcher Interactive, forming the base for DreamCatcher Europe including key offices and a large internal studio.[7] By early 2003, DreamCatcher was the United States' tenth-biggest publisher of games.[8] After the acquisition of Cryo Interactive, Dreamcatcher created a publishing division called The Adventure Company in early 2003. The company also partnered with both Wanadoo Edition and Microïds, as well as other studios in the development and distribution of games including Syberia, Still Life and ObsCure.[9] In 2005, the main Microïds studio was acquired by Ubisoft with Dreamcatcher retaining publishing rights to the games being created.[10]
The Adventure Company brand label under DreamCatcher has released many adventure game series' including series' based on Agatha Christie novels. They also recently signed to release a series of titles based on The Hardy Boys.[11] Outside of adventure gaming, DreamCatcher is best known for publishing the first-person shooter Painkiller developed with People Can Fly. Painkiller became a commercial success and was signed with the CPL World Tour 2005.[12] Dreamcatcher would also create another label, Silverline Software, around 2004 for the distribution of some non-core games and the publishing of utility software. Silverline Software would release the "Time to Ride" series of girl's horse games starting in 2004, which would later be acquired by Ubisoft.[citation needed]
In 2006, JoWooD Entertainment announced the purchase of DreamCatcher Games as a way of increasing their presence into the North American gaming market in addition to acquiring the company's key titles and licenses.[13] Since the acquisition, DreamCatcher Games has continued to launch titles both under The Adventure Company and DreamCatcher labels including new games created by JoWooD like the SpellForce series. In 2011, JoWooD went into administration causing DreamCatcher to file for bankruptcy. In November 2011, Nordic Games Holding announced that they had acquired all DreamCatcher assets and would be turning it into a publishing label of their subsidiary Nordic Games.[14] Nordic Games Holding had previously acquired JoWooD and The Adventure Company in August also turning both brands into publishing labels of Nordic Games.[15][16] All business operations of this brand are being conducted out of THQ Nordic in Vienna, Austria.[14]
Games
[edit]Note: This list is for titles which DreamCatcher Interactive published. Releases of games under The Adventure Company banner are not included.
References
[edit]- ^ "DREAMCATCHER INTERACTIVE INC. Trademark of THQ Nordic AB Serial Number: 75212375 :: Trademarkia Trademarks". Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
- ^ a b c Baillie, Susanne. "PROFIT 100 2002 Company #5: DreamCatcher Interactive Inc". Profit. Archived from the original on June 19, 2002.
- ^ a b Fournier, Heidi (January 14, 2000). "An exclusive interview with... Marshall Zwicker and Richard Wah Kan of DreamCatcher Interactive". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Document de référence 2000 (PDF) (Report) (in French). Cryo Interactive. July 11, 2001. pp. 27, 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2003.
- ^ Hong, Quang (March 3, 2000). "Cryo Acquires Dreamcatcher". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017.
- ^ "DreamCatcher Publishes Nancy Drew". Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ Absorbed Cyro Interactive Archived 2010-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Bronstring, Marek (March 7, 2003). "The Adventure Company Europe". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on October 23, 2005. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
- ^ Dreamcatcher Publishes ObsCure Archived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Thorsen, Tor. "Ubisoft subsumes Microids Canada". GameSpot.
- ^ The Hardy Boys License Archived September 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Painkiller Added to Summer CPL Championship Archived July 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Euro Adhoc JoWooD Acquisitions Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Nordic Games Holding AB Group acquires DreamCatcher". Nordic Games. November 17, 2011. Archived from the original on December 21, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ "Nordic Games Holding AB Group Acquires JoWood & The Adventure Company". Nordic Games. August 16, 2011. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
- ^ "Nordic games acquires Jowood and The Adventure Company". AFJV (in French). August 21, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
External links
[edit]- Official website (archived)
- DreamCatcher Interactive at MobyGames
- 1996 establishments in Ontario
- 2011 disestablishments in Ontario
- Canadian companies established in 1996
- Canadian companies disestablished in 2011
- Companies based in Toronto
- Defunct companies of Ontario
- Defunct video game companies of Canada
- THQ Nordic
- Video game companies established in 1996
- Video game companies disestablished in 2011
- Video game publishers