Stainless Games’ History

Current Projects

Further Magic: the Gathering related work for Wizards of the Coast
Carmageddon: Reincarnation (check out carmageddon.com for details!)
Major title (Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
Undisclosed titles (Apple iPad)

...plus others we can't mention!

Recent Releases

Carmageddon 1 (iPhone/iPad) published by Stainless Games.

Carmageddon 1 and Splat Pack (PC) from GoG.
Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 for Wizards of the Coast (XBLA, PC Steam, PSN)
- Plus Expansion Packs and other extra content
Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 for Wizards of the Coast (XBLA, PC Steam, PSN)
- Plus Expansion Packs and other extra content
RISK: Factions for EA (XBLA, PSN, PC Steam)
Magic the Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers for Wizards of the Coast (XBLA, PC Steam, PSN)
- Plus 3 Expansion Packs, Dashboard Themes and other extra content
Scrabble for Electronic Arts (DS, PSP)
Red Baron for Sierra Online, now Activision Blizzard (Playstation 3, PC)
Happy Tree Friends for SEGA (Xbox 360 Live Arcade, PC)
Battlezone for Atari (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
Warlords for Atari (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
Arcade Classics Evolved for Atari (PSP)
Asteroids/Asteroids Deluxe for Atari (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
Tempest for Atari (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
Missile Command for Atari (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
Centipede & Millipede for Atari (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
Novadrome for BVG/Disney (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
- Plus Expansion Pack
Crystal Quest for Microsoft (Xbox 360 Live Arcade, Windows Vista)
- Plus 5 Expansion Packs
Other products (boxed and online, various platforms, contractually confidential)

Full History

1993 Stainless founded by Patrick Buckland, an industry veteran with extensive games programming experience dating back to 1982, and Neil Barnden, previously a senior designer at Conran and The Body Shop. The company starts by performing sub-contracted 3D engine work for Argonaut, and developing medical multimedia titles for the Times Mirror Group.

1995 Stainless lands its first full-scale games contract with SCi, for the game which became Carmageddon.

1997 Carmageddon enters the UK charts at the number one position, and proceeds to top charts worldwide. The company expands to develop Carmageddon 2 and other titles, as well as an add-on pack to Carmageddon called the Splat Pack which also tops charts around the world.

1998 There are approximately 200 Carmageddon fan-sites on the Internet. The game - and the company - win numerous awards. Carmageddon 2 is completed ahead of schedule and again tops charts worldwide. SCi subsequently release PlayStation, N64 and Gameboy versions of Carmageddon.

1999 The Stainless team becomes part of the VIS entertainment group and begins work on a high-profile racing title for EA on PS2 and PC.

2001 Buckland is appointed executive director and design consultant on the State of Emergency project being developed internally by VIS. State of Emergency wins Game of the Show awards at E3 and shoots to number one in the all-formats charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

State of Emergency case

Later this year, Stainless Games Ltd. is spun off from the VIS group. The new company, headed by Patrick Buckland and backed by Bullfrog founder Les Edgar incorporates all of the proprietary technology developed since 1993, including the industry-renowned physics engine that gave the Carmageddon series its edge.

2002 Stainless Games signs a major contract with Midway Home Entertainment to develop an arcade-action driving game on PS2, Xbox and GameCube.

2003 Stainless starts work on a driving game for Sony's new PSP handheld with an undisclosed US publisher. Following the closure of the VIS IOW studio in July 2003, more of the original team rejoin Stainless, including its original co-founder Neil Barnden.

2004 Stainless are chosen as the developer for a high profile Internet based game for the PC which launches to considerable media interest (unfortunately confidentiality clauses preclude us from naming the product).

2005 SCi (now Eidos) - the original publishers of Carmageddon - commission Stainless to work on an undisclosed project. In parallel to this, Stainless develops a budget PC and PS2 racing title for the Dutch publisher Davilex, which was completed on time and to budget.

2006 The popular Stainless-developed classic Crystal Quest is released on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade platform.

Novadrome, a premium Xbox 360 Live Arcade driving game based on Stainless' own IP is released by publisher Buena Vista Games.

Atari announces that 6 of its classic arcade coin-op titles will be coming to the XBox 360 Live Arcade platform during 2007. Developed by Stainless, each title features an evolution version which brings the gameplay and graphics to exciting new heights. A nanosecond-perfect emulation of the original is included with each title.

2007 The first Atari coin-op classic package - Centipede and Millipede - is released on Xbox 360 Live Arcade in May, with Missile Command following in July. Missile Command tops the charts on release. Asteroids/Asteroids Deluxe and Tempest follow later in the year.

State of Emergency case

During Q4, Stainless and Wizards of the Coast (a subsidiary of Hasbro) jointly announce a collaboration based on a globally-renowned Wizards property.

And a successful year is rounded off in December as the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) title Atari Classics Evolved is released.

2008 A title update to Stainless' well-received Xbox Live Arcade classic Crystal Quest is released in January featuring enhanced gameplay and new leaderboards.

The Wizards of the Coast collaboration is revealed to be an Xbox Live Arcade title based on the hugely popular Magic: the Gathering trading card game.

Stainless-developed Happy Tree Friends is released by SEGA on Xbox Live Arcade during the summer, while other Stainless-developed titles released through 2008 include Sierra Online's Red Baron, and Atari's Battlezone and Warlords.

2009 Another year of Stainless-developed releases begins with the Electronic Arts' official Hasbro-licensed Scrabble title for DS and PSP in Q1.

Red Baron Arcade for PS3 is released soon after, while Magic the Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers for Xbox Live Arcade is released in June. It heads straight to the #1 position, and at that moment is the fastest-selling XBLA title in history.

2010 Further downloadable content packs are released for Duels of the Planeswalkers, propelling the main title back to #1 for the third time since release. The PC version of Duels of the Planeswalkers is released on Steam in June.

In June, RISK: Factions is released by EA on XBLA, giving Stainless yet another XBLA #1!

2011 Probably the busiest year to date for Stainless. The big news in the spring is that Max is Back! Stainless announces that Carmageddon has come home: Stainless now owns all IP in the brand, including all past games, all characters, trademarks and designs. Carmageddon.com is resurrected and a thriving community is rapidly established.

RISK: Factions is released on PS3 and Steam, extending this popular title across multiple platforms.

Strong sales of Duels of the Planeswalkers and its content packs mean the title rarely leaves the top ten best seller lists. In June its long awaited sequel Magic 2012 (or Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 to give it its full title) is released on Xbox Live Arcade, the Playstation Network and Steam, hitting the number one spot yet again!

2012 and Beyond May and June 2012 saw Stainless launch and complete a highly successful Kickstarter Campaign, raising funding for an all-new Carmageddon game due in 2013.

Later in the year the original Carmageddon 1 PC Game was released by GOG, shortly followed by a highly polished port of the same title for Apple iOS devices.

Stainless continues to work on a variety of titles for a number of clients. Currently over a dozen download titles bear the Stainless name, along with a number of retail releases. Please see our News section for up-to-date information on future Stainless titles and collaborations.