Blackbird Interactive

Blackbird Interactive

Company type	Private
Industry	Video games
Founded	2007
Headquarters	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Key people	Rob Cunningham, CEO Yossarian King, CTO Jon Aaron Kambeitz, CCO Eric Torin, COO
Products	Homeworld series
Number of employees	330[1]
Website	blackbirdinteractive.com

Blackbird Interactive is a Canadian video game development studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

History

Blackbird was founded in 2007 by former members of Relic Entertainment and EA Canada. CEO Rob Cunningham and chief creative officer Jon Aaron Kambeitz had also been founding members of Relic, and had been on the development team for the 1999 RTS Homeworld and its 2003 sequel, Homeworld 2.^[2] In 2010, after beginning operations, Blackbird began working on a game they considered a "spiritual successor" to Homeworld, entitled Hardware: Shipbreakers. The studio entered into negotiations with THQ, which controlled Relic, for adapting their original game into a Homeworld game, but were unable to secure access to the intellectual property.^[3]

THQ went bankrupt in April 2013, and sold off its assets at auction. Blackbird and Gearbox Software were among the bidders for the IP rights to Homeworld; Gearbox won the auction at $1.35 million.^[4] Gearbox allowed Blackbird to use the Homeworld IP and invested in the Hardware: Shipbreakers project, which was renamed Homeworld: Shipbreakers in September 2013.^[3][5] In December 2015, it was officially announced for release as Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak; it was released on January 20, 2016.^[6]

In February 2017, Blackbird announced a collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory^[7] to create Project Eagle, an interactive art model of a base on Mars to be demonstrated live on stage at the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit.^[8]

In August 2019, Blackbird announced that it had begun development of a new Homeworld title, Homeworld 3, as a direct sequel to Homeworld 2 released in 2003.^[9] As of the announcement date, the game was still in pre-production stages, and a tentative release date of late 2022 was given. Many key developers of the first two Homeworld games will return to lead the development of Homeworld 3, including Blackbird CEO Rob Cunningham and Homeworld soundtrack composer Paul Ruskay.^[10]

In November 2019, Blackbird announced that it had been involved in the development of Minecraft Earth.^[11]

Blackbird revived the Shipbreaker name and concept with the space salvage simulator Hardspace: Shipbreaker, which was released in early access on June 16, 2020.^[12]

From September to December 2021, Blackbird trialed the four-day work week with two of its teams, one of which was the team behind Shipbreaker. The trial was a success, with the majority of developers surveyed stating that it improved their work-life balance, wellness, and ability to complete work.^[13] The studio intends to implement the four-day work week across all of its teams, beginning in April 2022.^[14]

Citing the cancellation of several unannounced projects, Blackbird Interactive laid off 41 employees in August 2023.^[15] In February 2024, Homeworld 3 was delayed from March 8 to May 13 in order to incorporate player feedback from the game's demo release. That same month, another round of layoffs took place.^[16][17]

Games developed

Year	Title	Publisher	Platform(s)	Note(s)
2016	Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak	Gearbox Software	Microsoft Windows, OS X	Spin-off to the Homeworld series
2018	Project Eagle	Blackbird Interactive	Microsoft Windows
2019	Minecraft Earth	Xbox Game Studios	Android, iOS, iPadOS	Assisted Mojang Studios
2022
	Hardspace: Shipbreaker	Focus Entertainment	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One	Released via early access in 2020
	Crossfire: Legion	Prime Matter	Microsoft Windows
2023	Minecraft Legends	Xbox Game Studios	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch	Developed along with Mojang Studios.
2024	Homeworld 3	Gearbox Software	Microsoft Windows
TBA	Earthless	Blackbird Interactive	Microsoft Windows	Released via early access in 2024

References

1. "The scale in Homeworld 3 is tremendous - it's a space RTS for the James Webb era". August 26, 2022.
2. "Team - Blackbird Interactive". Archived from the original on 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
3. Williams, Mike (2013-09-02). "Gearbox had "no clear path" for Homeworld IP". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
4. Sliwinski, Alexander (2013-04-22). "THQ auction results: Nordic Games takes Darksiders, Red Faction; 505 Games is Drawn to Life". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on 2015-01-31. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
5. Goldfarb, Andrew (2013-09-02). "PAX: Homeworld: Shipbreakers Announced - Blackbird Interactive's spiritual successor will become part of the franchise instead". ign.com. Retrieved 2013-09-07. Blackbird was previously developing the game as a spiritual successor to Homeworld with the title Hardware: Shipbreakers, but Gearbox confirmed today that it will now be released as part of the franchise instead, and Gearbox will provide financial support to make sure the game can be completed and achieve Blackbird's vision.
6. Porter, Matt (December 16, 2015). "Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Announced". IGN.
7. "Project Eagle in collaboration with NASA". 5 December 2018.
8. "FIVE ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS COVER MARS EXPLORATION AND VR". www.dicesummit.org. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
9. Plunkett, Luke (August 30, 2019). "Homeworld 3 Is Coming, Hell Yes". Kotaku. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
10. "Homeworld 3 Crowdfunding Campaign". Fig. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
11. @InsideBBI (1 November 2019). "Proud to celebrate the arrival of @MinecraftEarth here in Canada. Honoured and delighted to have helped in its deve…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
12. Chalk, Andy (20 April 2020). "Hardspace: Shipbreaker, a game about the horrors of blue-collar work in space, is coming in June". PC Gamer. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
13. "A video game studio moved to a four-day workweek. It 'saved us,' employees say". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
14. "Blackbird Interactive To Implement Four-day Work Week". Techcouver.com. 2022-02-11. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
15. Lyles, Taylor (2023-08-30). "Homeworld 3 Developer Blackbird Interactive Confirms Layoffs After 'Several' Projects Canceled". IGN. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
16. Kerr, Chris (February 14, 2024). "Update: Blackbird Interactive confirms layoffs and wider "realignment plan"". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
17. Sinclair, Brendan (2024-02-14). "Blackbird Interactive cuts staff again". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

External links

• Official website