Radical Games team that created gaming classics such as: Simpsons Hit & Run, Prototype, Hulk Ultimate Destruction and others has reopened under the name New Radical Games.
The team describes itself on the site as a combination of Radical Entertainment + Hothead Games, which means that the new company is the successor to both defunct ones. Radical was founded in 1991 in Vancouver and was bought by Vivendi Games in 2005, and then by Activision in 2008. At the end of 2013, they closed their offices, but their name remained, and by decision of the Canadian government, team members were assigned to help work on other Activision projects.
Hothead Games was also a studio from Vancouver known for titles like Penny Arcade Adventures and DeathSpank before they shifted to making mobile games. They went under at the end of 2024.
It seems that the sun is shining again for both teams, as Ian Wilkinson will be the head and Tim Bennison the deputy at New Radical Games. Wilkinson was one of the co-founders of Radical Entertainment, after Vivendi's acquisition he left in 2008 and was the president of Hothead Games for the next 16 years.
Bennison was also the deputy and head of the Capcom Vancouver studio. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined New Radical Games in December 2024 when Hothead Games shut down, which is a bit strange considering the site has just now become available.
New Radical Games has announced on the web that they are looking for employees to develop titles for consoles and mobile devices, but they say they are also open to collaborations with other studios or creating remasters and ports for existing titles. The opening of this studio has caused a real frenzy on social media, and everyone hopes for remakes or remasters of The Simpsons and Prototype.
