Climax Studios is an independent development studio founded in 1988 by Karl Jeffery in Portsmouth, Hamshire. The studio has developed numerous licensed games, and is perhaps best known for its two entries in Konami's Silent Hill franchise--0rigins and Shattered Memories--and the prolific output of its racing studio in the early 2000s, which included Sony's ATV Offroad Fury series and the THQ-published MotoGP games. Most recently, the studio has developed the XBLA title Bloodforge and downloadable Vita puzzler Smart As.
Climax Studios was, in the early 2000s, one of many studios in The Climax Group, a collective of independent studios. The empire began when Climax Studios--who, during this time, rebranded their development staff as Climax Solent after the strait in the vicinity of where they are based--purchased Syrox Developments and reestablished them as Climax London; they were soon followed by Climax Handheld Games (originally a division of Climax London staffed by former members of Crawfish Interactive that became further ingrained in Climax London as the studio shifted focus to handheld development), Climax Brighton (a.k.a., Climax Racing) and an American branch in Climax LA. However, financial issues and restructuring ultimately led to the number of Climax-branded studios being whittled back down to one. Climax Racing was rebranded as Black Rock Studio and sold to Disney in 2006; Climax LA was closed in 2007 after the troubled development of Silent Hill: Origins forced the Solent branch to take over the project; Climax London, along with the Solent branch, was rebranded Climax Action in 2004 in an effort to unify the development efforts of both studios, a move that eventually saw the London branch merged with the Solent branch and shuttered.
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