HB Studios


HB Studios is a Canadian video game developer founded in 2000 and located in Nova Scotia, Canada. They are best known for their rugby and cricket games, published by EA Sports.

History

HB Studios was founded in 2000 by Jeremy Wellard in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The company started with nine employees, and developed Cricket 2002 for Electronic Arts' Asia Pacific studio.
In 2004, HB Studios entered a multi-project deal with EA Canada to continue developing sports games for the EA Sports label, including further games in the Rugby and Cricket series, FIFA Street 2 for the PlayStation Portable as well as co-development on Madden 07 for the Wii. This exclusivity deal ended in 2007, after which the company was hired by THQ to create Big Beach Sports for the Wii. This was HB Studios' first non-sports simulation game as well as the first game not developed for the EA Sports label. HB Studios continued developing EA Sports games for Windows, PlayStation 2, Wii and mobile/handheld platforms until 2012.
In 2008, HB Studios opened a second studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia as well as now operating with 130 employees. The Halifax studio was closed at the end of July 2012 with all development moved to their headquarters in Lunenberg. The last games developed by the satellite studio were NBA Baller Beats for Kinect and Medal Bound on iOS.
A second label, HB Arcade, was formed in 2009, with the goal of self-publishing downloadable titles on WiiWare, PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. Games released under this label included HB Arcade Cards and HB Arcade Disc Golf, both for the WiiWare platform, as well as Jam Space for DSiWare.
In 2011, HB Studios developed Rugby World Cup 2011, a self-funded title published by 505 Games. It was well-received, and entered the UK charts at No.3.
In January 2014, it was announced that HB's The Golf Club for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC would be launching in the Spring of 2014. The game is a golf simulator that includes a Course Creator using procedural generation, allowing users to create, edit and share courses online. The game went to Steam Early Access in April 2014 and was fully released in August 2014.
In February 2015, HB Studios' founder, Jeremy Wellard, announced he was stepping down as President of the company with COO Alan Bunker announced as his replacement.
In March 2016, HB Studios and Maximum Games announced a joint venture to release Mark McMorris Infinite Air, an open-world, physics-based snowboarding video game. It was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in October 2016.
The release of their VR title, The Golf Club VR was released in February 2017 and released their next golf title, The Golf Club 2, in June 2017.
In August 2018, 2K Sports took over the publishing of The Golf Club 2019 featuring PGA Tour which was released digitally on August 28, 2018 with physical versions to be released in the fall of that year
In November 2019, saw the departure of CEO Alan Bunker from the company. James Seaboyer, long time Executive/Senior producer at HB Studios, steps into the role of CEO. Dave McFarland, previously Technical Director, moves into the new CTO role. Craig Heffler remains CFO of the company.

Games developed

YearTitlePublisherPlatform
2001Cricket 2002EA SportsPC, PS2
2003Cricket 2004EA SportsPC, PS2
2003Rugby 2004EA SportsPC, PS2
2005Rugby 2005EA SportsPC, PS2, Xbox
2005Cricket 2005EA SportsPC, PS2, Xbox
2006FIFA Street 2EA SportsPSP
2006Rugby 06EA SportsPC, PS2, Xbox
2006Madden NFL 07EA SportsWii
2007Cricket 07EA SportsPC, PS2
2007UEFA Champions League 2006-2007EA SportsPC, PS2, PSP
2007NBA Live 08EA SportsPC, PS2, PSP, Wii
2007Rugby 08EA SportsPC, PS2
2007NHL 08EA SportsPC, PS2
2008Big Beach SportsTHQWii
2008FIFA 09EA SportsPC, PS2, PSP
2008NBA Live 09EA SportsPS2, PSP, Wii
2008NHL 09EA SportsPC, PS2
2009Rock RevolutionKonamiWii, DS
2009Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10EA SportsPS2, PSP
2009Football AcademyEA SportsNintendo DS
2009HB Arcade CardsHB ArcadeWiiWare
2009FIFA 10EA SportsPC, PS2, PSP
2009NBA Live 10EA SportsPSP
20102010 Fifa World Cup South AfricaEA SportsWii, PSP
2010FIFA 11 Ultimate TeamEA SportsXbox 360, PS3
2010Backyard Sports: Sandlot SluggersGT InteractiveWii, Xbox 360, PC
2010FIFA 11EA SportsPS2, PSP, iOS, Android
2010HB Arcade Disc GolfHB ArcadeWiiWare
2010Backyard Sports: Rookie RushGT InteractiveWii, 360, PC
2010HB Arcade Jam SpaceHB ArcadeDSiWare
2011Rugby World Cup 2011505 GamesPS3, Xbox 360
2011Fight Night ChampionEA SportsiOS
2011Madden NFL 12EA SportsPS2, PSP, Wii
2011HB Rugby: Fixture ChallengeHB StudiosiOS
2012FIFA 12EA SportsWii
2012Medal BoundHB StudiosiOS
2012NBA Baller BeatsMajesco EntertainmentKinect
2012Madden NFL 13EA SportsVita, Wii
2012Maze AdventuresHB StudiosiPad
2012Ace Geographer: CanadaHB StudiosiPad
2013MLB.com Home Run DerbyMLB.comiOS, Android
2013MLB.com Franchise MVPMLB.comiOS, Android
2014MLB.com Home Run Derby 2014MLB.comiOS, Android
2014The Golf ClubHB StudiosPS4, PC, Xbox One
2014Rugby 15HB StudiosPS4, Xbox One, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS Vita
2015Rugby World Cup 2015HB StudiosPS4, Xbox One, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS Vita
2015RBI Baseball 2015MLBPS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, iOS, Android
2016Mark McMorris Infinite AirMaximum GamesPS4, Xbox One, PC
2016 RBI Baseball 2016MLBPS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, iOS, Android
2017The Golf Club VRHB StudiosHTC Vive
2017The Golf Club 2Maximum GamesPS4, PC, Xbox One
2018The Golf Club 2019 featuring PGA Tour2K SportsPS4, Xbox One, PC
2020PGA Tour 2K212K SportsPS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, Stadia