Ubisoft Reflections Ltd., formerly known as Reflections Interactive, is a video game developer

Video game developer

A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...

 based in Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The studio focuses on racing games and it is best known for creating the award winning Driver

Driver (series)

Driver is a series of mission-based driving video games developed by Reflections Interactive , and originally published by GT Interactive and later by Atari. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, driving, and third-person shooting in open world environments...

 series.

History

The company was formed by Martin Edmondson in 1984, developing games for the BBC Micro

BBC Micro

The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...

. Later, they had become well known for their 1989 hit Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

 game, Shadow of the Beast

Shadow of the Beast

Shadow of the Beast is a side-scrolling platform computer game produced by Reflections Interactive and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Commodore Amiga, but the game has been ported to many other systems...

, published by Psygnosis

SCE Studio Liverpool

SCE Studio Liverpool is a video game development house head-quartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool, England. It is part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios. Founded in 1984 as Psygnosis, the company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment and...

 which spanned two sequels.

The original Amiga game was partially written by Paul Howarth, and started out life as a parallax test of the Fat Agnus bit blitter chip on the Amiga, Paul later went on to work for Deep Red Games, a UK video game company based in Milton Keynes.

In 1995, they became known for Destruction Derby

Destruction Derby

Destruction Derby is a 1995 video game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis, the former of which would later develop the successful Driver series. It was released for PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and MS-DOS...

, which was critically acclaimed for its realistic physics and destruction, which later become Reflections' specialty. Due to the success, the game had four more sequels over the years. In 1999, Reflections became well known for the game Driver

Driver (video game)

Driver is a series of mission-based driving video games developed by Reflections Interactive , and originally published by GT Interactive and later by Atari. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, driving, and third-person shooting in open world environments...

, which was inspired by '70s cop shows like Starsky and Hutch

Starsky and Hutch

Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...

and movies like Bullitt

Bullitt

Bullitt is a 1968 American police procedural film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L....

and The Driver

The Driver

The Driver is a 1978 crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. Based upon similarities in plot elements, it is heavily influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville's film Le Samouraï...

. It has been followed by four sequels and four spin-offs.

In 2004, studio founder Martin Edmondson left Reflections and sued Atari due to the poor reception of Driv3r

Driv3r

Driv3r, more commonly known as Driver 3 , is a racing, shooting, and adventure video game. It is the third installment in the popular Driver series and was developed by Reflections Interactive and published by Atari. Driv3r was released in North America for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on June 21, 2004...

and "constructive unfair dismissal as a result of Reflections alleged repudiatory breach of a contract of employment that necessitated Mr. Edmondson's resignation." Martin's brother, Gareth Edmondson, took his place as the studio manager. In August 2006, Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

 announced that it had transferred all of the staff and most of the assets of Reflections Interactive Limited, including the intellectual property and technology rights to the Driver series, to Ubisoft

Ubisoft

Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....

 for $24 million.

Reflections Interactive Limited was subsequently renamed Ubisoft Entertainment Limited trading as Ubisoft Reflections. The first Reflections' game after becoming a Ubisoft studio, was Driver 76

Driver 76

Driver 76 is a video game for the PlayStation Portable, which was released on May 8, 2007 in the US, and on May 11, 2007 in the EU. The game is a prequel to Driver: Parallel Lines, and is set two years prior. It is the first game in the Driver series for the PSP. It has been developed by Ubisoft...

, released in 2007.

Martin Edmondson returned to Reflections for the development of Driver: San Francisco

Driver: San Francisco

Driver: San Francisco is a sandbox-style action driving video game developed by Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game formally was unveiled at E3 2010 and was released in Australia on September 1, 2011, Europe on September 2, 2011 and North America on September 6, 2011 on...

, released in September 2011.

Gareth Edmondson, studio manager, left Reflections after more than a ten-year presence at the studio in November 2011, two months after the launch of Driver: San Francisco

Driver: San Francisco

Driver: San Francisco is a sandbox-style action driving video game developed by Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game formally was unveiled at E3 2010 and was released in Australia on September 1, 2011, Europe on September 2, 2011 and North America on September 6, 2011 on...

.

Game releases

Title	Year	Platform(s)	Publisher
Ravenskull	1986	BBC Micro BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation... , Acorn Electron Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....	Superior Software Superior Software Superior Software is a video game publisher. It was established in 1982 by Richard Hanson and John Dyson, two graduates of the University of Leeds, England...
Codename: Droid	1987	BBC Micro, Acorn Electron	Superior Software
Stryker's Run	1987	Acorn Electron (conversion of BBC Micro game)	Superior Software
Shadow of the Beast Shadow of the Beast Shadow of the Beast is a side-scrolling platform computer game produced by Reflections Interactive and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Commodore Amiga, but the game has been ported to many other systems...	1989	Commodore Amiga	Psygnosis
Ballistix	1989	Commodore Amiga, Atari ST Atari ST The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...	Psygnosis
Shadow of the Beast II Shadow of the Beast Shadow of the Beast is a side-scrolling platform computer game produced by Reflections Interactive and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Commodore Amiga, but the game has been ported to many other systems...	1990	Commodore Amiga, Atari ST	Psygnosis
Awesome Awesome (video game) Awesome is a science fiction action video game released by Psygnosis for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990. It features a variety of gameplay styles, from overhead shooting to Asteroids-esque sequences, and a pre-rendered ray-traced intro sequence...	1990	Commodore Amiga, Atari ST	Psygnosis
Shadow of the Beast III Shadow of the Beast Shadow of the Beast is a side-scrolling platform computer game produced by Reflections Interactive and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Commodore Amiga, but the game has been ported to many other systems...	1992	Commodore Amiga	Psygnosis
Brian the Lion	1994	Commodore Amiga	Psygnosis
Destruction Derby Destruction Derby Destruction Derby is a 1995 video game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis, the former of which would later develop the successful Driver series. It was released for PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and MS-DOS...	1995	PlayStation PlayStation The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... , MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... , Sega Saturn Sega Saturn The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...	Psygnosis
Destruction Derby 2 Destruction Derby 2 Destruction Derby 2 is a video game released in October 1996 for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows, developed by Reflections Interactive. A version for the Sega Saturn was also planned and developed by Probe Entertainment, but was never released....	1996	PlayStation, MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... , Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...	Psygnosis
Thunder Truck Rally Thunder Truck Rally Thunder Truck Rally is a monster truck racing game developed by Reflections where players select a monster truck or otherwise 4X4 vehicle equipped with monster truck tires and have the option of either racing or crushing cars in an arena.-Gameplay:Players start with an array of options from...	1998	PlayStation, MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... , Microsoft Windows	Psygnosis
Driver Driver (video game) Driver is a series of mission-based driving video games developed by Reflections Interactive , and originally published by GT Interactive and later by Atari. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, driving, and third-person shooting in open world environments...	1998	PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh Macintosh The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a... , Game Boy Color Game Boy Color The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...	GT Interactive
Driver 2 Driver 2 Driver 2: Back on the Streets is the second installment of the Driver video game series.-Gameplay:...	2000	PlayStation, Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...	Infogrames Infogrames Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
Stuntman Stuntman (video game) Stuntman is a video game for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance that was produced by Reflections Interactive and published by Infogrames and Atari. The game focuses around the career of a motion-picture stuntman. It takes the player through various movies in which they perform dangerous stunts as...	2002	PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...	Infogrames
Driv3r Driv3r Driv3r, more commonly known as Driver 3 , is a racing, shooting, and adventure video game. It is the third installment in the popular Driver series and was developed by Reflections Interactive and published by Atari. Driv3r was released in North America for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on June 21, 2004...	2004	PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...	Atari Atari Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
Driver: Parallel Lines Driver: Parallel Lines Driver: Parallel Lines is the fourth video game in the Driver series. The game was released on March 2006 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox by Atari, Wii and Microsoft Windows on June 2007 by Ubisoft.-Overview:...	2006	PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...	Atari, Ubisoft Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
Driver 76 Driver 76 Driver 76 is a video game for the PlayStation Portable, which was released on May 8, 2007 in the US, and on May 11, 2007 in the EU. The game is a prequel to Driver: Parallel Lines, and is set two years prior. It is the first game in the Driver series for the PSP. It has been developed by Ubisoft...	2007	PlayStation Portable PlayStation Portable The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...	Ubisoft
Emergency Heroes Emergency Heroes Emergency Heroes is a mission-based driving game developed by Ubisoft Reflections and Ubisoft Barcelona and published by Ubisoft.-Gameplay:...	2008	Wii	Ubisoft
Monster 4x4: Stunt Racer	2009	Wii	Ubisoft
Driver: San Francisco Driver: San Francisco Driver: San Francisco is a sandbox-style action driving video game developed by Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game formally was unveiled at E3 2010 and was released in Australia on September 1, 2011, Europe on September 2, 2011 and North America on September 6, 2011 on...	2011	Wii, PlayStation 3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...	Ubisoft

External links

• Ubisoft Reflections at MobyGames
  MobyGames
  -Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...