Virgin Play

Virgin PLAY S.A. (formerly Virgin Interactive España S.A.) was a Spanish video game company that mainly handled distribution of titles in Spain and Portugal. The company later expanded to publishing video games throughout European territories.

History

Virgin Play began operations in 1995 as Virgin Interactive Entertainment España S.A.. Formed by employees Mariele Isidoro and Francisco Encinas, it was the Spanish distribution arm of British video game publisher Virgin Interactive Entertainment which marketed and distributed the company's titles in Spain and later released titles from Interplay Entertainment, Titus Interactive and Swing! Entertainment in the country, much like its parent. Virgin Interactive España was also the Spanish distributor for titles released by The 3DO Company, Midway Games, Light & Shadow Production, and Midas Interactive.

Separation as Virgin Play

On May 14, 2002, Virgin Interactive España SA announced that it would undergo a management buyout led by VIE's former CEO Tim Chaney and VIE España's co-founder Francisco Encinas. Titus Interactive accepted the deal, which was closed on June 11. As part of the buyout, Titus signed an exclusive distribution agreement to allow VIE Espana to remain the distributor for the group's products (Titus, Virgin, Interplay) in Spain.

Self-Publication

In 2006, Virgin Play announced that it would start self-publishing games. The first game that was self-published by the company wasTorrente 3: El Protector, which was the first movie produced in Spain to have a video game tie-in.[4] In March, they signed a publishing deal with Dream On Studio to publish their Nintendo DS tactical shooter Dead 'n' Furious for a November release.[5] In April, they signed a publishing deal with I-Imagine Interactive for the release of Final Armada on the PlayStation 2 and PSP, which was the first video game for the two systems developed in South Africa.[6] All three games were released the following year.

For 2007, Virgin Play spun off its publishing division separately as V.2. Play. In May 2007, the company signed a deal with DTP Entertainment which would allow the publisher to distribute the company's products in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[7] This was followed with a UK distribution deal with Koch Media in June.[8] which would allow them to distribute in the United Kingdom. Additional game deals included one with Real Madrid in the same month[9] and with Zinkia Entertainment for the Pocoyo franchise in October.[10][11] In July 2007, Virgin Play announced it would open an office in Lisbon, Portugal to expand within the market and offer a more personalized treatment to Portuguese companies.[12] The office would be branded under the V.2 Play name.

On March 11, 2008, the company announced they had acquired the rights to produce and distribute a video game based on the animated television series Lola & Virginia.[13] The following day, they launched the V.2 Play website.[14] In April, they announced the release of the Mind Your Language language-training software for the Nintendo DS.[15] in July, Virgin Play signed an Italian distribution deal with Atari Italy for the titles.[16] On May 29, Virgin Play formed a UK publishing joint-venture with Playlogic Entertainment known as PlayV. The venture would bring video games from both companies to the United Kingdom while also offering PR, marketing and sales solutions to additional partners looking to penetrate the UK retail market.[17] The first titles released by PlayV were released in October.[18]

type	Private
fate	Liquidation
defunct	September 2009
industry	Video games
founder	Tim Chaney and Paco Encinas
founded	1995 (as Virgin Interactive España SA) November 1, 2002 (as Virgin Play)
location	Madrid, Spain
subsid	V.2 Play V.2. Play Portugal PlayV Ltd (50/50 Joint Venture with Playlogic Entertainment)

History

Separation as Virgin Play

Self-Publication

Liquidation

List of published games

External links

References