BIT-MAPPING OUT THE FUTURE

REBELLION REVEALS THAT GAMES BY THE BITMAP BROTHERS ARE RETURNING

If you think of the Amiga or Atari ST, one of the first companies that probably pops up in your brain is The Bitmap Brothers. While it started off on the 8-bits, the talented developer arguably found most of its success on the 16-bit systems, thanks to the likes of Xenon 2, Cadaver, Gods, The Chaos Engine, and the brilliant Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe.

We’re clearly not the only big fans of the popular developer, as Rebellion has just revealed that it has purchased the company’s entire back catalogue of games for an undisclosed sum. “We’re delighted with the addition of The Bitmap Brothers to the ever-growing Rebellion portfolio,” Rebellion’s CEO and co-founder Jason Kingsley OBE recently revealed in a press release about the acquisition. “The Bitmap Brothers are renowned for making great games and for bringing gaming into the mainstream with inimitable style. We’ve known Mike Montgomery for many years, and we’re honoured by the faith and trust that he has shown in us by passing on the torch. We’ll strive to be vigilant custodians of one of gaming’s great names.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Rebellion has taken an interest in older games, as the company acquired the rights to Battlezone in 2013 and then delivered a number of solid games in subsequent years, including a great VR game that felt like a cross between the arcade original and the Eighties classic, Tron. It would appear that the Kingsley’s plan to not only make the original games easily accessible on new platforms, but also to create new releases based on past games.

Several games are already available on the streaming service Antstream, while Gods was recently remade, and there are also updates of The Chaos Engine and Speedball 2 available on PC. Personally we’d love a HD update of Xenon 2, but in all honesty we’d be equally happy to play new games from both franchises, providing they retain the same quality and distinctive style that made Bitmap Brothers games so popular in the first place. The Kingsleys have proven in the past that Rebellion isn’t the sort of company to acquire a licence and then do nothing with it, so don’t be surprised if you hear more news about this exciting acquisition sooner rather than later.

We’ll strive to be vigilant custodians of one of gaming’s great names

» [PC] If this doesn’t get announced for the PS5 we’ll be very surprised.

» Chris (left) and Jason Kingsley pose with Mike Montgomery (right) to celebrate Rebellion’s new announcement.

» [PC] Gods was remastered last year. Hopefully Rebellion will be turning its attention to shooters like Xenon next.

» [PC] Games like Speedball 2 have already been remade for PC, but we’d love a proper compilation of games.