Eutechnyx


Eutechnyx Limited was a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company focused on racing games. They were known for their universally panned video game Ride to Hell: Retribution, work with the NASCAR The Game franchise, and as a developer on various other racing titles and games.
After not releasing any games in 10 years, the company was finally shut down on May 20, 2025, with Eutechnyx Limited being dissolved and Eutechnyx Holdings Limited also undergoing insolvency.

History

Zeppelin Games (1987–1994)

The company founder, Brian Jobling, started creating games for the Atari 8-bit computers, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 at home in the early 1980s as a 14-year-old. With the money that he made, he started the company, Zeppelin Games, in November 1987 when he was 17.
Zeppelin Games produced a large number of games for various home computer systems including Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Amiga and by the early 90s were also making games for IBM PC compatibles and consoles such as the Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES. Popular games included Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge, International Tennis, Universal Warrior and Sink or Swim. They also worked with publisher Codemasters to produce the first two Micro Machines games and Pete Sampras Tennis.
The company, being primarily a budget publisher, operated several labels for different price ranges; among them were Cognito and Impulze for full-price releases, Zeppelin Premier and Zeppelin Platinum.

Merit Studios Europe (1994–1996)

The company was acquired by American company Merit Studios, Inc. in 1994 and became known as Merit Studios Europe. As well as developing their own games, the company was also responsible for the marketing and distribution of Merit's US games in Europe.

Eutechnyx (1996–2025)

The company became Eutechnyx in 1996. After gaining registered developer and publisher status for the Sony PlayStation, the directors bought back the company from Merit with help from French publishers Infogrames. This started a 3-year agreement with Eutechnyx developing exclusively for Infogrames on the PlayStation and PC platforms. The end of this agreement meant that as of 2000, the company became a fully independent developer and currently releases games across many formats for publishing companies such as Electronic Arts and Namco. Since 1996, the company has specialised in driving and racing games of many types, including licensed titles such as James Bond 007, Max Power, Cartoon Network and The Fast and the Furious.
As of 2009, Eutechnyx had studios in Gateshead, England; Hong Kong; Chengdu; and the United States. It employed almost 200 people.
After the failure of Ride to Hell: Retribution, the London studio was closed in June 2013. In June 2013, several employees were loaned to Ubisoft Reflections and in February 2014, a restructuring was announced, with the loss of 12 jobs, taking the headcount to 130.
In 2012, sister company ZeroLight was formed at the Gateshead offices, to apply the realtime rendering technology developed for racing games to showroom and online configurators for car manufacturers.
In October 2013, Darren Jobling replaced his brother Brian as CEO, to take on a more active role in development, with Brian becoming Executive Chairman.
In July 2014, again after the failure of Warhammer 40k: Storm of Vengeance, following another re-structuring an additional 19 members of staff were lost.
In January 2015, their NASCAR license were given to Dusenberry Martin Racing, while Eutechnyx continued to develop their final NASCAR title, NASCAR '15, for DMR; subsequent NASCAR titles by them were developed by Monster Games instead. In July 2015, following commercially disappointing results from ambitious multiplayer online racing game ACR, a further 8 redundancies were made, with some of the 22 people announced as being added to sister firm ZeroLight, being relocated from Eutechnyx.
In September 2016, Zerolight moved across the river from Eutechnyx' Gateshead office to LiveWorks, on the Quayside at Newcastle upon Tyne.

Games developed

as Zeppelin Games

  • 1988 Zybex
  • 1988 Draconus
  • 1988 Las Vegas Casino
  • 1988 Speed Ace
  • 1989 Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge
  • 1989 Kenny Dalglish Soccer Manager
  • 1989 The Living Daylights
  • 1989 Mirax Force
  • 1989 Mountain Bike Racer
  • 1989 Ninja Commando
  • 1989 Phantom
  • 1989 Sidewinder
  • 1989 Spaghetti Western Simulator
  • 1990 Fantastic Soccer
  • 1990 Fantastic American Football
  • 1990 Edd The Duck!
  • 1990 World Soccer
  • 1990 Arcade Fruit Machine
  • 1990 Blinky's Scary School
  • 1990 Cavernia
  • 1990 Santa's Xmas Caper
  • 1991 Jocky Wilson's Compendium of Darts
  • 1991 Stack Up
  • 1991 Tai-Chi Tortoise
  • 1991 Titanic Blinky
  • 1991 Sharkey's Moll
  • 1991 Mission Shark
  • 1991 Fred
  • 1991 F1 Tornado
  • 1992 Arnie
  • 1992 Edd The Duck 2: Back with a Quack
  • 1992 American Tag-Team Wrestling
  • 1992 International 5-A-Side
  • 1992 International Truck Racing
  • 1992 International Tennis
  • 1992 International Athletics
  • 1992 Match Of The Day
  • 1992 Graeme Souness Soccer Manager
  • 1992 Carnage
  • 1993 Fist Fighter
  • 1993 Arnie 2
  • 1993 World Rugby
  • 1993 Universal Warrior
  • 1993 Sink or Swim a.k.a. S.S. Lucifer: Man Overboard
  • 1994 International Soccer
  • 1994 ''Pete Sampras Tennis''

    as Merit Studios Europe

  • 1994 The Psychotron
  • 1994 The Machines A revised port of Universal Warrior
  • 1994 Micro Machines
  • 1995 Frankenstein: Life or Death Developed by Junkyard
  • 1995 Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament
  • 1996 CyberJudas Published by Merit Studios, developed by D.C. True. Successor to Shadow President.
  • 1996 ''Bud Tucker in Double Trouble''

    as Eutechnyx

  • 1997 Total Drivin
  • 1998 Motor Mash
  • 1998 Max Power Racing a.k.a. C3 Racing - Car Constructors Championship
  • 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours
  • 2000 007 Racing
  • 2000 TNN Hardcore TR US only release.
  • 2001 F1 World Grand Prix 2000
  • 2002 Big Mutha Truckers
  • 2004 Street Racing Syndicate
  • 2005 Ford Mustang: The Legend Lives
  • 2005 Ford vs. Chevy
  • 2005 Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder
  • 2006 Cartoon Network Racing
  • 2006 Hummer Badlands
  • 2006 The Fast and the Furious
  • 2006 Pimp My Ride
  • 2007 Hot Wheels: Beat That!
  • 2008 Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli
  • 2009 Supercar Challenge
  • 2010 Ferrari: The Race Experience
  • 2011 NASCAR The Game: 2011
  • 2012 Auto Club Revolution
  • 2012 NASCAR The Game: Inside Line
  • 2013 Ride to Hell: Retribution
  • 2013 NASCAR: The Game 2013
  • 2014 NASCAR '14
  • 2014 Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Vengeance
  • 2015 ''NASCAR '15''