Digital Jesters
Encyclopedia
Digital Jesters was a British
video game publisher
, based in Welwyn Garden City
, Hertfordshire
. The company was founded in 2003 by veterans from CDV
UK (after the UK office was shut by CDV
), and their first UK-releases were TrackMania
and Virtual Skipper 3, both by Nadeo
.
In the beginning, they concentrated on the UK market only, but began publishing games in other regions as well. Notable releases included TrackMania Sunrise (UK & Scandinavia), Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
(UK & Scandinavia), the Pro Rugby Manager-series (UK) and Chaos League
(UK).
Despite a well publicised investment, on 22 December 2005 a winding-up order was made against the company in the Birmingham District Registry of the UK High Court on the petition of Kaoscontrol Limited. This followed a period where the company was accused of withholding payments to various developers they had worked with, resulting in some developers terminating contracts with the publisher. Their website disappeared soon after.
The last game the company released was a racing game based on the Crazy Frog
-license in November 2005.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
video game publisher
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
, based in Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City
-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. The company was founded in 2003 by veterans from CDV
CDV
cdv Software Entertainment AG is a German publisher of computer games, specializing in strategy titles for the PC. cdv was founded in 1989 in Karlsruhe, Germany by Wolfgang Gäbler and Christina Oppermann. In April 2000 cdv became listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange...
UK (after the UK office was shut by CDV
CDV
cdv Software Entertainment AG is a German publisher of computer games, specializing in strategy titles for the PC. cdv was founded in 1989 in Karlsruhe, Germany by Wolfgang Gäbler and Christina Oppermann. In April 2000 cdv became listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange...
), and their first UK-releases were TrackMania
TrackMania
TrackMania is a series of racing games for the Windows PC, Nintendo DS and Wii platforms, originally developed by the French team Nadéo for the PC...
and Virtual Skipper 3, both by Nadeo
Nadeo
Nadeo is a French video game developer, based in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris. They are the developers of the TrackMania, QuestMania, ShootMania and Virtual Skipper series of video games....
.
In the beginning, they concentrated on the UK market only, but began publishing games in other regions as well. Notable releases included TrackMania Sunrise (UK & Scandinavia), Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
Freedom Force vs. the 3rd Reich is a real-time tactical role-playing game developed and published by Irrational Games. In this sequel to Freedom Force, the player guides a team of superheroes as they travel back in time and help overthrow Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II...
(UK & Scandinavia), the Pro Rugby Manager-series (UK) and Chaos League
Chaos League
Chaos League is a fantasy-based sports management game developed by Cyanide and published by Digital Jesters in 2004. The game is a fantasy satire of American Football, loosely based on Games Workshop's Blood Bowl franchise...
(UK).
Despite a well publicised investment, on 22 December 2005 a winding-up order was made against the company in the Birmingham District Registry of the UK High Court on the petition of Kaoscontrol Limited. This followed a period where the company was accused of withholding payments to various developers they had worked with, resulting in some developers terminating contracts with the publisher. Their website disappeared soon after.
The last game the company released was a racing game based on the Crazy Frog
Crazy Frog
Crazy Frog, originally known as Adam King, is a computer-animated character created in 2003 by Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba!, the animation was originally created to accompany a sound effect produced by Daniel Malmedahl in 1997 while attempting to imitate the sound of a...
-license in November 2005.
External links
- Digital Jesters' web site — official notice of appointment of liquidator
- UK companies registry
- Unofficial forum for all PRM discussion