Core Design

Core Design at a Glance

If you are browsing PlayPile to understand the history of British game development, Core Design is a name you will encounter often. This studio was founded in Derby in 1988 by former employees of Gremlin Graphics and operated under the name Megabrite before changing its identity later that year. The company produced or published 63 games on our site between 1989 and 2012, with a massive 55 titles developed in-house. Their output was heavily concentrated in the 1990s, where they released 50 games compared to just eight in the 2000s and two in each of the 1980s and 2010s. The studio is best known for its work on Adventure, Platform, and Shooter genres, with roughly equal numbers of releases in those three categories. They also made a significant impact on early PC platforms like the Amiga, which hosts 33 of their titles, followed by DOS and Windows PC versions. While they started strong, their later years show a clear shift toward legacy management rather than new creations. Their final releases included Collector's Editions of Tomb Raider III and Tomb Raider in November 2012, alongside Smart Bomb in 2005. Quality ratings for the studio reflect this timeline. They hold an average IGDB score of 69.5 across 23 rated titles. The data shows three games rated as great, with seven of those coming from their most famous series. Tomb Raider (1996) scored 82.7 and its sequel scored 80.2. The first game in the franchise, Rick Dangerous from 1989, also holds a solid score of 77.3. However, the quality dipped in later years. Their last major development effort, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness released in June 2003, received a score of 61.9, placing it in the good range but below their earlier peak performances. The company underwent several ownership changes during its life. It was bought by CentreGold in 1994 and then by Eidos Interactive in 1996. In 2006, Rebellion Developments acquired the assets and renamed the studio Rebellion Derby. This entity ceased operations in March 2010. While they built a reputation on strong adventure games during the peak of the Amiga era, their output slowed significantly after the new millennium. They never produced another title with a score above 83 after the turn of the century, and their final years were dominated by re-releases rather than original development.

Release Timeline

Rating Distribution