Runecraft (video game company)

Runecraft is a British software design and development studio, specializing in brand-led video games. Runecraft's clients include US publishers such as Hasbro, Mattel, Interplay, Activision, Crave and Ripcord. The company is based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and was formed in April 1997. Since then, Runecraft has expanded and now employs around 110 full-time employees and operates game development studios in Dewsbury, Glasgow, Taunton, Leeds and Nottingham as well as US business development offices in Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA.

The company eventually ran into financial trouble which many speculate was caused by a combination of over expansion and slipping management standards. The company was sold in 2001 in a transaction which saw Martin Hooley receiving ownership of Blue Monkey Studios in exchange all his shares of Runecraft. Poor management practices became rife after the sale and many of the staff who were responsible for their successful titles left in the period mid-2001 to mid-2002. By the time of the collapse in 2003 the company was a shadow of its former self with most of the staff having written warnings for petty misdemeanours so they could effectively be fired at will if the need arose.

Geo's World-related games developed

 * Fiox 2 (original developer)
 * Grand Theft Auto: Bikini Bottom