Mediatonic Limited is a British video game developer based in London. The company was founded in September 2005 by Brunel University students Dave Bailey and Paul Croft, releasing their first game, Snowman Salvage in December that year. Initially a work-for-hire studio for Flash games, Mediatonic has developed original games for other platforms, including Murder by Numbers and Fall Guys. As of June 2020, Mediatonic employs 230 people in four studios and is part of Tonic Games Group, which is a subsidiary of Epic Games since March 2021.
History Mediatonic was founded in September 2005 by friends Dave Bailey and Paul Croft, both aged 21 at the time, during their final year at Brunel University. They decided on the opening in a drunken conversation at the university's student union bar. With an office near the campus, they set up the company as a work-for-hire studio to create Flash games and sometimes skipped lectures to accept calls from clients. Snowman Salvage, a game that was part of Croft's dissertation, was Mediatonic's first release in December 2005.
PopCap Games, Big Fish Games and PlayFirst were early Mediatonic clients and, among others, Mediatonic produced Flash conversions of Bejeweled, Bookworm, Diner Dash and Poppit!. It also created Amateur Surgeon, an original game, for Adult Swim Games. Mediatonic was profitable enough in its first year that, following Bailey and Croft's graduation, the studio moved to a former government building in Westminster in February 2006 and hired ten employees. Other early games by Mediatonic included Meowcenaries, Gigolo Assassin, Must Eat Birds, and Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess. Having reached 25 employees, Mediatonic moved to new offices near Covent Garden in February 2008.
In July 2009, Mediatonic opened a studio in Brighton to act as a digital media agency, later spun out into a company named Graphite. Mediatonic received funding from entrepreneurs Kelly Sumner, Ian Livingstone and Geoff Heath in April 2010, and from Frog Capital in January 2012. Pete Hickman, a former executive producer for Eidos Interactive, joined Mediatonic as its head of production in July 2011. Planning to double its 50-strong headcount, Mediatonic moved its London headquarters to Soho in May 2012. Mediatonic opened a Brighton development studio that October. According to Bailey, Mediatonic began giving original games and work-for-hire projects equal weight and the company grew as a result. It later branched out into publishing, opening The Irregular Corporation as a sister company in December 2015.
Mediatonic moved into Shell Mex House, London, in April 2017. In July, a five-person team was established in a co-working space in Madrid, and expanded into a proper office in July 2019. A sister development studio, Fortitude Games, was established in Guildford in 2018. Frog Capital sold its share in Mediatonic to Synova Capital, making a 7.4-times return on its investment. A fourth studio for Mediatonic in Leamington Spa was announced in February 2020. Also in early 2020, Mediatonic established its headquarters in an office above London Victoria station, although it went largely unused due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the company to make employees work from home.
Bailey and Croft established Tonic Games Group as a parent company for Mediatonic, The Irregular Corporation, and Fortitude Games, moving 35 employees to Tonic Games Group, while Mediatonic had a staff of 230. On 2 March 2021, Epic Games announced that it had acquired Tonic Games Group, including Mediatonic. In September 2023, Mediatonic was subjected to deep job cuts by its parent company. Though it was first speculated that the entire studio had been closed, that proved not to be the case.
Games developed Year Title Publisher Platform(s) 2005 Snowman Salvage Shockwave Web Beetle Bomp iWin Web 2006 Air Control Lufthansa Web 2007 Lego Pirates: Quest for Brickbeard's Bounty The Lego Group Web Operation Challenge Pogo.com Web Mystery Case Files: Millionheir Nintendo Web PlaySega Blackjack Sega Web Mah Jong Amazon Adventure Sega Web Brain Assist! Sega Web Letter Linker Sega Web Addiction Solitaire Shockwave Web Tequila Trouble William Grant & Sons Web Mole Hunt Pogo.com Web Homerun Hero Shockwave Web Horizon AstraZeneca Web SiteAdvisor Challenge McAfee Web Diamond Detective Gamehouse Web Battleships! Sega Web Meat Match Boonty Web Bubble Bubble Sega Web Super Collapse! Gamehouse Web Little Shop of Treasures Gamehouse Web 2008 Turbo Solitaire Sega Web Text Twist Sega Web Sudoku Sega Web Greedy Gang Mediatonic Web Portal Peril Nickelodeon Web Penguin Panic Mediatonic Web Word Whomp Mini Pogo.com Web Poppit! Mini Stressbuster Pogo.com Web Poppit! Stressbuster Pogo.com Web Bookworm PopCap Games Web Bejeweled 2 PopCap Games Web Diner Dash PlayFirst Web Bejeweled 2 PopCap Games Web Inca Quest iWin Web Talismania PopCap Games Web Manor Mystery Boonty Web Gigolo Assassin Adult Swim Web Aquatic Word Burst Sega Web Ice Shuffle Sega Web Greek Island Solitaire Sega Web Beijing 2008, High Dive Sega Web Beijing 2008, Archery Sega Web Beijing 2008, Weightlifting Sega Web Hidden Expedition Titanic Big Fish Games Web Bureaucracy Buster AstraZeneca Web Amateur Surgeon Adult Swim Web, iOS Trivial Pursuit Quiz Electronic Arts Web Crestor Challenge AstraZeneca Web Travelogue 360 Rome Big Fish Games Web Azada Big Fish Games Web Sonic at the Olympic Games Sega Web Music, Melodies and Rockstars Sega Web The Quiz of Culinary Delights Sega Web Back to the 80s Quiz Sega Web Hollywood Adventure Quiz Sega Web Three Reel Slots Sega Web Columns Sega Web Sega Pool Sega Web 2009 Commanders Sierra Entertainment Web Diego's Underwater Adventures Nickelodeon Web Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training 2 Namco Bandai Games Feature Phones Dr. Kawashima's Brain Exercise, Line Up Namco Bandai Games Web Dr. Kawashima's Brain Exercise, Reverse Dice Namco Bandai Games Web Dr. Kawashima's Brain Exercise, Follow the Pencil Namco Bandai Games Web Dr. Kawashima's Brain Exercise, Predominant Number Namco Bandai Games Web Hidden Expedition Titanic Big Fish Games Web Hidden Expedition Titanic MSN Search Special Big Fish Games Web Hidden Expedition Everest MSN Search Special Big Fish Games Web Hidden Expedition Everest Big Fish Games Web Travelogue 360 London Big Fish Games Web Travelogue 360 Paris Big Fish Games Web Amateur Surgeon Christmas Adult Swim Web, iOS Fast & Furious Sierra Entertainment Facebook, Myspace SpongeBob SquarePants: Hooked on You Nickelodeon Web Sonic Level Creator Sega Web Steamweavers Mediatonic Myspace Toy Story: Woody's Great Escape Pixar Web Suite Life on Deck: Smoothie Service Disney Web Kid Vs. Kat: Katapult Katastrophe Disney Web Biker Blast-Off! The Gadget Show iOS Meowcenaries Adult Swim Web, iOS Extreme Lawn Bowls Mediatonic Web Must.Eat.Birds Mediatonic iOS, Android 2010 Amateur Surgeon 2 Adult Swim Web, iOS, Android Vancouver 2010, Slalom Sega Web Vancouver 2010, Ski Jump Sega Web Vancouver 2010, Speed Skating Sega Web Vancouver 2010, Snowboarding Sega Web Moshling Boshling Mind Candy Web Boom Bandits Spil Games Web Who's That Flying?! Mediatonic iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess Mediatonic PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 MicroGP Mediatonic Facebook Pirate King Mediatonic Facebook Ocean Snapper Mediatonic Myspace, Facebook Back to the Future: Blitz Through Time Telltale Games Facebook, Online 2011 1000 Tiny Claws Mediatonic PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 Amateur Ninja Adult Swim Web Thundercats: Tree of the Ancients Warner Bros. Web 2012 Robot Unicorn Attack: Evolution Adult Swim Facebook Amateur Surgeon Hospital Adult Swim Facebook Superbia Disney Web 2013 Moshi Monsters: Lost Islands GREE iOS Qwirkle Square Enix iOS, Android, FacebookFoul Play Devolver Digital Xbox Live Arcade, Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita Amateur Surgeon 3: Tag Team Trauma Adult Swim iOS, Android 2014 Delivery Outlaw Adult Swim iOS Secrets and Treasure Microsoft Studios Windows 8 Hatoful Boyfriend Devolver Digital Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita 2015 Heavenstrike Rivals Square Enix Android, iOS, Microsoft WindowsHatoful Boyfriend: Holiday StarDevolver DigitalMicrosoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita 2016 Bounty Stars DeNA West Android, iOS Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World WB Games Android, iOS 2017 New Yahtzee with Buddies Scopely Android, iOS 2018 Fable Fortune Microsoft Studios Microsoft Windows, Xbox One 2019 Gears Pop! Xbox Game Studios Android, iOS 2020 Murder by Numbers The Irregular Corporation Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows Fall Guys Devolver Digital, Epic Games Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
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