Bronzelight Studios

Bronzelight Studios was a North American game publisher, founded by former Playfair crew member Gregory Bouchard and established in 2000 as an offshoot of the company. While Playfair officially renamed itself to Bronzelight that year, the name was still kept as a sublabel for more kid-oriented/licensed fare until it was retired in spring 2002, leading to Bronzelight identifying itself only as such from there on out.

After its first release in late 2000, the multi-platform game SolarStones, releases were sporadic during the years of 2001 up to 2005 when (following Magic World's sale of the publisher entirely to Bouchard and his cohorts that year) it began publishing full-time until its closure in 2008 amidst finance issues, accusations of poor workplace ethics, bribery and Bouchard's tax evasion arrest etc.

Similar to Phoenix Games, [https://www.mobygames.com/company/8920/blast-entertainment-ltd/#:~:text=Blast!%20Entertainment%20Ltd.%20is%20a,at%20the%20younger%20children's%20market. Blast! Entertainment] and Data Design Interactive, Bronzelight achieved notoriety for the badness of some titles (though overall a more hit-and-miss track record), all of which were generally offered at budget prices to try and entice families and casual gamers (especially in multipacks).

Controversy
One of Bronzelight's final game releases for the Game Boy Advance, the poorly-received Captain Flamingo: U R In VR, was the subject of a kerfuffle between the publisher and long-time contact developer Pocket Artists, who otherwise took no part in the game whatsoever.

The game was developed in-house at Bronzelight Studios using Pocket Artists' assets and handheld game dev engine yet the latter studio still received credit on the final product, including their logo in the introductory sequence. Pocket Artists were reportedly furious about their name being attached to an infamously low-quality product.

Pocket Artists' then owner Marty Faye-Wilkinson filed a lawsuit against Bronzelight's owner Gregory Bouchard, alleging that the engine and assets from Captain Flamingo (developed by the same team in 2006) for the GBA were used for U R in VR with neither the studio's express permission nor prior knowledge. Bouchard, meanwhile, denied the accusations and argued he was under the impression that Bronzelight effectively owned the rights to every developer's contribution to the publisher's catalogue.

Eventually, shortly before Bronzelight's closure in spring 2008 (whilst debts were owed and Bouchard was being investigated for tax evasion/finance irregularities), the publisher was forced to pay Pocket Artists a $1.5 million CAD settlement in compensation. After receiving the money, Pocket Artists decided to go dormant later in 2008 and did not reopen for business until 2010 (with a restructuring and recovery for employees who had suffered Bouchard's abuse until then).