Pyro Studios

Pyro Mobile
Company typePrivate company
IndustryInteractive entertainment
Predecessor
  • Pyro Studios
  • Play Wireless
Founded1996; 28 years ago (1996)
Defunct2017
Headquarters,
Spain
Key people
Carlos Gonzálvez (general director)[1]
ProductsCommandos series
OwnerZed
ParentZed Group

Pyro Mobile was a video game developer based in Madrid, Spain, established in 2012 as a merger between Play Wireless and Pyro Studios and eventually ceasing operations in the second half of 2017.[2] It is mostly known for its real-time tactics games series, Commandos.

Pyro Studios

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Pyro Studios was founded in 1996 with the purpose of developing quality video games.[3] The result of this commitment was the development of Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, which was released in 1998[3] and became the decade's most successful Spanish game. Gonzo Suárez, who had previously worked at Opera Soft, conceived the real-time tactics series.[4] The success of this title led to the release of a disk containing new missions entitled Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty.

In October 2001, the Microsoft Windows version of Commandos 2: Men of Courage was launched, followed by its release on Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2, in September 2002. Commandos 3: Destination Berlin was released in October 2003. In total, the Commandos series has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.[3]

Praetorians, a 3D strategy game for Windows set at the time of Julius Caesar's campaigns, was released in February 2003.

Imperial Glory was released at the beginning of 2005. The game received "average" reviews.[5]

Commandos: Strike Force released during the first months of 2006. The game received "mixed" reviews and sold poorly.[6]

In late 2008, the studio cancelled an Xbox 360 and PS3 game named Cops, laying off 30 employees.[7][8] For its sister company's film Planet 51, Pyro developed the console version of the game, released in November 2009.[3][9]

Pyro Mobile

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In 2012, Pyro Studios merged with Play Wireless, establishing Pyro Mobile, a company to develop applications for smartphones, tablets and social media.[10][1] Its first mobile game, The Moleys, was released in December 2012.[1]

Games

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Moleys, the new game by Pyro, now available for iOS". Gamasutra. 12 December 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  2. ^ Albeit Crunchbase still lists the company as active, their Facebook page was last updated 26 January 2017, last Twitter post is from 26 May 2017, and their own web presence domain shows no content.
  3. ^ a b c d Miller, Greg (25 February 2009). "Planet 51 Game Details Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  4. ^ Wolf, Mark J. P. (2021). Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 982. ISBN 978-1-4408-7020-0.
  5. ^ "Imperial Glory critic reviews". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  6. ^ "La odisea de crear un juego en España". 18 June 2019. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  7. ^ Sayed, Rashid (8 September 2010). "15 cancelled Xbox 360 games that should have never been cancelled". Gaming Bolt. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  8. ^ Esteve, Jaune (21 January 2013). "Cops, el superventas que Pyro canceló". IGN Espana. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  9. ^ Jones, Simon (17 June 2009). "FIREBRAND Games Announces Planet 51 The Game on Nintendo DS". Peppermint. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  10. ^ "PYROMOBILE, NACE UNA NUEVA DESARROLLADORA ESPAÑOLA". iOS Gamers Zone. October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
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