Archive:JAW Ltd. Licenses Bitsquid Engine for Future Oddworld Titles

From Oddworld Library

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About

The Press Release


West Yorkshire, England – Feb. 23, 2012 – Just Add Water, developer of the recently released Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD for the PlayStation®3, today announced a licensing deal with Bitsquid, a game engine and technology developer, based in Stockholm. The arrangement sees JAW utilizing the Bitsquid technology and engine for future Oddworld games, including the much-anticipated Abe’s Oddysee HD.

The team at Bitsquid is best known for developing the Diesel engine, used by GRIN (Bionic Commando, Bionic Commando Rearmed 1 & 2, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, etc.). The Bitsquid engine is designed to have some of the same core functionality and attributes, while being more lightweight and functional for digital download game development.

“The ability to scale and iterate quickly without sacrificing quality is a key component to creating quality games that live up to the Oddworld name and reputation,” said Stewart Gilray, CEO of Just Add Water. “After a good deal of shopping around, we found the Bitsquid engine to have the perfect combination of power and flexibility for our needs.”

Martin Wahlund, CEO of Bitsquid said, “Bitsquid is happy that Just Add Water has chosen to use our technology for future sequels in the acclaimed Oddworld series. We really look forward to work closely together with the experienced team at Just Add Water to produce great games.”

About Just Add Water

Based in West Yorkshire countryside, Just Add Water (Developments) Ltd. is a collective of veteran game developers specialising in download-only games, since 2006. With over 100 years collective game development experience spread among the core team, JAW’s key personnel have worked on over 50 game titles over the past 20 years, including: Power Monger, Pinball Fantasies, Spec Ops: Ranger Elite, Soldier of Fortune, Dune 2000, and Gravity Crash to name but a few. Stewart Gilray heads the company, having worked in the business since the 1980s. Stewart’s drive for creating JAW was and still is to facilitate building the games he and his team want to play. Recently JAW became the exclusive developers for titles based upon the Oddworld brand.

About Bitsquid

Bitsquid is a game engine developer, based in Stockholm. Bitsquid was founded in 2009 by the owners of Fatshark and the former lead engineers of Grin with the aim to build a fast, flexible and lightweight engine for the current and next generation of gaming hardware. Currently a large number of game studios use the technology for different titles spanning most major platforms. The company employs an experienced mix of people having years of experience shipping games, its principal members include: Lead Engineers Niklas Frykholm and Tobias Persson as well as CEO Martin Wahlund.