Core Design Limited, which was known as Rebellion (Derby) Ltd from 2006 to 2010, was a British video game company located in Derby. It was founded in May 1988 by former employees of Gremlin Graphics. The company was first called Megabrite but changed its name to Core Design in October 1988. In December 1994, Core Design was bought by its parent company, CentreGold. CentreGold was later acquired by Eidos Interactive in April 1996. In May 2006, Rebellion Developments purchased Core Design's staff and resources. The company was then renamed Rebellion Derby but was closed in March 2010.

History

Core Design was founded in 1988 in Derby, England, by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith, Kevin Norburn, and Greg Holmes. Most of these individuals had previously worked for Gremlin Graphics. In 1996, the studio became part of CentreGold, a distribution company that was later bought by Eidos Interactive. Jeremy Heath-Smith said the acquisition helped the company because it was difficult to fund development projects independently. Eidos later sold most of CentreGold but kept U.S. Gold, which owned Core Design.

Core Design is best known for creating the Tomb Raider video game series. The first game was made by Toby Gard and Paul Douglas and released in 1996. It was followed by several sequels. The success of the first Tomb Raider helped Eidos Interactive become a major company in the video game industry. In 1996, Eidos changed from a financial loss of $2.6 million to a profit of $14.5 million. In 1997, Eidos signed a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment to make Tomb Raider II and Tomb Raider III exclusive to the PlayStation console. The fourth and fifth games in the series, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles, were released later.

After Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, released in 2003, was not well received, Eidos assigned another studio, Crystal Dynamics, to develop future Tomb Raider games. This led Jeremy Heath-Smith and his brother Adrian to leave Core Design and start a new company called Circle Studio. They said they asked 37 employees to join them, and 36 accepted. They also noted that Core Design had few people left and lacked strong leadership.

The remaining staff at Core Design worked on a puzzle game called Smart Bomb for the PlayStation Portable, which was released in 2005. They also created a plan to remake the original Tomb Raider game for the same console. However, Eidos canceled the project and continued working with Crystal Dynamics on Tomb Raider games.

In 2006, Eidos announced that Rebellion Developments, an independent game company, had bought Core Design’s tools, equipment, and employees. However, Eidos kept the Tomb Raider brand and other intellectual property. Under Rebellion, the company made games like Free Running, Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, and Rogue Warrior. In 2010, due to an expired office lease, Rebellion Developments decided to close its Derby studio. The studio officially shut down on March 17, 2010.

Legacy

In July 2010, a short time after the studio closed, a nearby road in Derby was named "Lara Croft Way" to honor the studio's work in the creative industries.