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Crave Entertainment

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Crave Entertainment
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1997; 28 years ago (1997)
FounderNima Taghavi
Defunct2012; 13 years ago (2012)
FateDissolved
HeadquartersNewport Beach, California, United States
Key people
  • Nima Taghavi (CEO)
  • Vincent Bitetti (President)[1]
Subsidiaries
WebsiteCraveGames.com
Crave's old logo 2004–2011

Crave Entertainment (aka Crave Games) was an American video game publisher founded in 1997 by Nima Taghavi. Its headquarters was in Newport Beach, California. It was acquired by Handleman Company in 2005 in a deal valued up to $95,000,000 but was then sold to Fillpoint LLC in early 2009 for only $8,100,000 due to Handleman's bankruptcy and pending liquidation. During its lifetime it published games for Dreamcast, Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Crave mainly focused on budget titles, and imported games such as Tokyo Xtreme Racer series.

History

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Crave Entertainment was founded in 1997 by Nima Taghavi as a subsidiary of distributor, SVG Distributions. The company was headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris, and Hamburg.[2] In 1998 the company acquired Lobotomy Software, the creators of Death Tank and PowerSlave.[3] That same year, the company also acquired Big Rain, a studio formed by former Squaresoft veterans, and founded its first internal studio, Craveyard Studios.[4][5][6] In 1999 Crave signed an exclusive five year licensing deal for the video game rights to Ultimate Fighting Championship.[7]

The company briefly held a European distribution deal with Square Europe in 2000.[8] In November 2000, Crave announced that they would sign a European co-publishing and distribution deal with Ubi Soft.[9]

In 2005 the company and its parent company were acquired by Handleman who would later sell the publisher to Fillpoint in 2009.[10][11] In 2006, it formed a partnership with Oxygen Interactive via Liquid Games, whereas Liquid Games would market its titles by Crave Entertainment for the European market.[12]

During Fillpoint ownership, the company launched its own label for its family friendly gaming, Red Wagon Games.[13]

On August 15, 2012, Fillpoint LLC filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, with Crave ceasing operations.[14] In 2023, the website was revived with a Coming Soon page by Fillpoint and Throwback Entertainment.[15]

List of video games published by Crave Entertainment

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Cancelled games

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  • H20verdrive
  • Jeanette Lee's Virtual Pool
  • Man vs. Wild (DS and PSP versions)
  • Pilot Academy
  • Powershot Pinball
  • PowerSlave 2[16]
  • Pro Bull Riders: Out of the Chute (Xbox 360 version)
  • Project Cairo (Nintendo 64 DD, developed by Craveyard)[17]
  • Savage Safari Hunt
  • SnoCross 2 Featuring Blair Morgan (Xbox version)
  • Supershot Golf Robot
  • Jet Ion GP (released in Europe in 2002, the U.S. release was cancelled)
  • The Lost (PAL regions only)
  • UFC: Tapout (Dreamcast version)
  • World Championship Poker All In
  • Wave Runner (Dreamcast version)

References

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  1. ^ Adams, David (September 1, 2004). "Crave Gets New President". IGN. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "Corporate Overview". Archived from the original on April 10, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  3. ^ "Crave Lobotomizes Las Vegas". IGN. March 28, 1998. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  4. ^ "Exclusive Interview: Crave Entertainment". IGN. April 10, 1998. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "Details on Crave RPG Uncovered". IGN. November 20, 1997. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  6. ^ "Playing Catch-Up: Ted Woolsey". Game Developer. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  7. ^ "Ultimate Fighting Championship Details". Gamespot. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "Infogrames Gets Square".
  9. ^ "UbiSoft Craves Europe". Eurogamer. November 15, 2000.
  10. ^ "Handleman acquires Crave Entertainment Group". Games Industry. October 24, 2005. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "Crave Entertainment acquisition". Games Industry. February 24, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  12. ^ "Oxygen Brings Crave Titles To Europe". WorthPlaying. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  13. ^ rawmeatcowboy (November 19, 2010). "Red Wagon Games flies Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer into retail stores this holiday season". GoNintendo. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  14. ^ "Malta video game distribution company Fillpoint files for bankruptcy". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  15. ^ "Coming Soon". Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  16. ^ "PowerSlave 2 in Development". GameFan. Vol. 5, no. 10. October 1997. p. 100.
  17. ^ "Details on Crave RPG Uncovered". IGN. November 20, 1997. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
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