International Hobo
International Hobo (also known as "ihobo") is a consultancy incorporation in video game industry.[1][2]
ihobo was founded by Chris Bateman in 1999 and it is based in Manchester, England.[3][4]
They provide services about game design, narrative design and scriptwriting.
ihobo focuses on role-playing, platform, and children's games. In addition to working on many video games over the years, ihobo also has published a few books on video game design, such as Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames and Beyond Game Design: Nine Steps Towards Creating Better Videogames.[5]
| Type | Private Ltd |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games, Tertiary |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Chris Bateman (founder, team leader) Neil Bundy (writer, team leader) Richard Boon (writer, team leader) |
| Products | Ghost Master The Fairly OddParents video game series Air Conflicts series Heretic Kingdoms series |
| Website | blog |
The company has worked on titles targeting the core audience for video games such as MotorStorm: Apocalypse and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (2 million units), as well as titles targeting more unusual audiences, such as Bratz: Rock Angelz (1.4 million units).
It provided the first proof that external game design was a viable proposition with Ghost Master (nominated for Best New IP in Develop Industry Excellence Awards), and has also worked on chart-topping titles like Reservoir Dogs.
The members of International Hobo have worked on major game projects for publishers like Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Ubisoft, THQ, Take 2, Namco, Atari, Eidos, Codemasters, Vivendi Universal, SCi, 3DO, and Turner Interactive.
Games with services from International Hobo
| Year | Title | Service provided |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Michelle Kwan Figure Skating | Game pitch |
| 1999 | Madden NFL 2000 | Scriptwriting, Video production |
| 2001 | Cubix Robots for Everyone: Race 'n Robots | Scriptwriting |
| 2002 | Taz: Wanted | Unknown contribution |
| 2003 | Ghost Master | Game design, Story and scriptwriting |
| 2003 | Cubix Robots for Everyone: Showdown | Scriptwriting |
| 2003 | Barbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue | Script revision |
| 2003 | The Fairly OddParents: Breakin' da Rules | Scriptwriting (PS2, GC and Xbox versions) |
| 2004 | Bad Boys: Miami Takedown | Unknown contribution |
| 2004 | Mashed | Voice recording |
| 2004 | Kult: Heretic Kingdoms | Game design, Story and scriptwriting, Voice recording |
| 2004 | The Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown | Scriptwriting (PS2 and GC versions) |
| 2005 | Battalion Wars | Story |
| 2005 | Bratz: Rock Angelz | Scriptwriting (PS2 and GC versions) |
| 2005 | Pac-Man World 3 | Scriptwriting |
| 2006 | Air Conflicts | Game design, Game text and manual |
| 2006 | Reservoir Dogs | Initial script work |
| 2006 | Bratz: Forever Diamondz | Scriptwriting (PS2 and GC versions) |
| 2006 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab | Scriptwriting (PS2, GC and Wii versions) |
| 2006 | Play with Fire | General development[6][7] |
| 2006 | ArchLord | Script revision |
| 2007 | Power Boat GT | Game design, Scriptwriting |
| 2007 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl | Additional writing, Game design audit |
| 2007 | Attack on Pearl Harbor | Game design |
| 2007 | Aquadelic GT | Game design, Scriptwriting |
| 2008 | WWII Aces | Game design |
| 2008 | Emergency Mayhem | Unknown contribution |
| 2008 | Jakers! Let's Explore | Game design, Script revision, Quality assurance |
| 2008 | North American Hunting Extravaganza | Unknown contribution |
| 2009 | Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall | Game design audit |
| 2009 | Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II | Game design, Game text and manual |
| 2009 | Rockin' Pretty | Script revision (English version) |
| 2009 | Play with Birds | Unknown contribution |
| 2011 | Green My Place | Quality assurance |
| 2011 | MotorStorm: Apocalypse | Scriptwriting |
| 2011 | Air Conflicts: Secret Wars | Game design, Story and scriptwriting, English voice direction |
| 2012 | Clusterpuck | Game design |
| 2012 | Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers | Game design, Story and scriptwriting, English voice direction |
| 2013 | Luxuria Superbia | Game design audit, Quality assurance |
| 2013 | Air Conflicts: Vietnam | Game design, Story and scriptwriting, English voice direction |
| 2014 | Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms | Game design, Story and scriptwriting |
| 2015 | Sentris | Game design audit, Quality assurance |
| 2016 | Variant: Limits | Unknown contribution |
| 2017 | Vikings: Wolves of Midgard | Game design, Story and scriptwriting |
| 2017 | Hellmut: The Badass From Hell | Game design audit |
| 2017 | Badass Ninja | Unknown contribution |
| 2018 | The Persistence | Scriptwriting, Voice recording |
| 2018 | Shadows: Awakening | Game design, Story and scriptwriting, Voice recording |
| 2019 | Tropico 6 | Scriptwriting |
| 2019 | Silk | General development[8] |