Millennium Interactive: Difference between revisions

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|headquarters = Quern House, Mill Court, Great Shelford, United Kingdom (1993 - 1997)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/19970607010704fw_/http://www.cyberlife.co.uk/cyberlife_enquiries.htm|title=CyberLife Enquiries|published=June 7, 1997|site=CyberLife|retrieved=July 23, 2021}}</ref>
|headquarters = Quern House, Mill Court, Great Shelford, United Kingdom (1993 - 1997)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/19970607010704fw_/http://www.cyberlife.co.uk/cyberlife_enquiries.htm|title=CyberLife Enquiries|published=June 7, 1997|site=CyberLife|retrieved=July 23, 2021}}</ref>
|keypeople = Michael Hayward, Ian Saunter, Toby Simpson, Steve Grand, Chris Sorrell
|keypeople = Michael Hayward, Ian Saunter, Toby Simpson, Steve Grand, Chris Sorrell
|products = ''James Pond'', ''Creatures''}}'''Millennium Interactive''' was a video game publishing and development company based in the village of Great Shelford near Cambridge, England. It was responsible for titles such as ''Rome: Pathway to Power'', ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', ''James Pond'', ''Defcon 5'', ''Deadline'' and most notably, ''Creatures''. The first ''[[MediEvil]]'' began development in 1995, prior to Millennium's acquisition by Sony in 1997.
|products = ''James Pond'', ''Creatures''}}'''Millennium Interactive''' was a video game publishing and development company based in the village of Great Shelford near Cambridge, England. It was responsible for titles such as ''Rome: Pathway to Power'', ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', ''James Pond'', ''Defcon 5'', ''Deadline'' and most notably, ''Creatures''. The first ''[[MediEvil]]'' began development at the studio in 1995, prior to Millennium's acquisition by Sony in 1997.


==History==
==History==
The company that would eventually become Millennium Interactive was legally incorporated on July 27, 1989, under the name Starclear Software Ltd.<ref name="incorporation"/> Not long after, the company became Logotron Entertainment Ltd, a branch of Logotron focused on entertainment products.<ref name="incorporation"/> By 1992, it became Millennium Interactive due to a management buyout.<ref name="incorporation"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20000412063856fw_/http://www.biota.org/papers/sginterview.html|site=Biota.org|title=The Origins of CyberLife|published=April 12, 2000|retrieved=July 24, 2021}}</ref>
The company that would eventually become Millennium Interactive was legally incorporated on July 27, 1989, under the name Starclear Software Ltd.<ref name="incorporation"/> Not long after, the company became Logotron Entertainment Ltd, a branch of Logotron focused on entertainment products.<ref name="incorporation"/> By 1992, it became Millennium Interactive due to a management buyout.<ref name="incorporation"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20000412063856fw_/http://www.biota.org/papers/sginterview.html|site=Biota.org|title=The Origins of CyberLife|published=April 12, 2000|retrieved=July 24, 2021|quote=I published educational software myself, but only made peanuts on it. And then I started writing educational software for Logotron as a freelancer. They started getting interested in games, went to the States to look for new products, and came back with a boxful of games. This was nothing to do with me, I hated computer games. So then there was a management buyout. One side bought out the games and went its own way [and became Millennium] and Logotron was bought out by Longman. I ended up programming a version of a side scrolling platform game Millennium wanted porting to the PC - their expert said you couldn’t do fast background scrolls on the PC. I didn’t know it couldn’t be done, so I did it. A few weeks later the game was done and everyone was sufficiently impressed that I got more business. I found myself reluctantly a games programmer.|author=Grand, Steve}}</ref>
<!--In November 1994, CyberLife was set up to build products focused on artificial life. By November of 1996, there were 10 people in this department.{{citation needed}}-->


In November 1994, CyberLife was set up to build products focused on artificial life. By November of 1996, there were 10 people in this department.{{cite}}
On July 4th, 1997, the Millennium development studio, along with several of their projects in development, was sold to Sony Computer Entertainment for £6 million and renamed to [[SCEE Cambridge Studio]].<ref name="TheTimes"/>{{TwitterRef|Wilson|815646211344596992|January 1, 2017|quote=Probably the only time I'll ever make it onto the business pages of The Times. Sony bought our little MediEvil game studio for £6 million!}} This allowed Sony to acquire ''[[MediEvil]]''.


On July 4th, 1997, the Millennium development studio, along with several of their projects in development, was sold to Sony Computer Entertainment for £6 million and renamed to [[SCEE Cambridge Studio]].<ref name="TheTimes"/><ref>{{Icon|Twitter}} {{Cite web|title=Jason Wilson|site=Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/gunncomics/status/815646211344596992|published=January 1, 2017|retrieved=May 15, 2021}}</ref> This allowed Sony to acquire ''[[MediEvil]]''.
==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*Millennium shared its office building with Nichimen Graphics,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/19980204183008fw_/http://www.nichimen.com/PRESS/96-11-12office.html|published=November 12, 1996|site=Nichimen Graphics|title=FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE|retrieved=July 24, 2021}}</ref> whose software {{w|N-World}} was used in the creation of ''MediEvil''.<ref name = "atomic">{{cite web|title=jason wilson medievil design history|site=atomic-city concept art and design of Jason Wilson (archived at Wayback Machine Internet Archive)|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080303185334fw_/http://www.atomic-city.co.uk:80/pages/games/games_medievil.htm}}</ref>
*Millennium shared its office building with Nichimen Graphics,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/19980204183008fw_/http://www.nichimen.com/PRESS/96-11-12office.html|published=November 12, 1996|site=Nichimen Graphics|title=FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE|retrieved=July 24, 2021|quote=Nichimen Graphics Inc. announced today the opening of its European office in Cambridge, England in order to meet the specific needs of the growing 3D Interactive Market in Europe. The new office, located at Quern House, Mill Court, Great Shelford, Cambridge, UH, CB2 5LD, will be responsible for providing sales and technical support to prospects and current customers in the European market.}}</ref> whose software {{w|N-World}} was used in the creation of ''MediEvil''.<ref name = "atomic">{{cite web|title=jason wilson medievil design history|site=atomic-city concept art and design of Jason Wilson (archived at Wayback Machine Internet Archive)|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080303185334fw_/http://www.atomic-city.co.uk:80/pages/games/games_medievil.htm}}</ref>
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://web.archive.org/web/0if_/http://www.millennium.co.uk/ Official website] (archived version)
*{{Icon|Millennium}} [http://web.archive.org/web/0if_/http://www.millennium.co.uk/ Official website] (archived version).
*[[creatures:Millennium|Millennium at Creatures Wiki]]
*[[creatures:Millennium|Millennium]] at Creatures Wiki.
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