Empire Interactive

Empire Interactive was a British video game company based in London. It was founded in 1987 by Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey. The company grew by acquiring other studios, including Razorworks in 2000. It also launched a budget range of games called Xplosiv for PC and PlayStation 2. Empire Interactive later acquired music creation software eJay in 2002. The company’s history includes several key moments. In 2006, it was acquired by Silverstar Holdings, a U.S. company listed on NASDAQ. By late November that year, 90% of Empire’s shareholders had accepted the deal. The acquisition was valued at around £4.5 million. Ian Higgins left his position in 2008, and the company reduced its staff by 30% in July 2009. Empire Interactive collapsed and went into administration in May 2009. A revival attempt was made in 2026 by Işık Şekercigil, who claimed to have acquired the Empire Interactive trademark. He also said he had secured rights to some games from the 3DO Company. However, these claims were disputed by Throwback Entertainment and Limited Run Games. Şekercigil later abandoned plans to revive the 3DO console and instead focused on developing new games under the Empire Interactive name.