News is coming out this week that Take Two, the parent company of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar, has made the decision to close London based game developer Roll7.
Oh, I’m sorry, you’re right – this is a skateboarding blog, not a video game news site.
Let me rephrase: Roll7, the makers of last year’s awesome skateboarding game OlliOlli World, and a studio consistently of many UK based skateboarders who are veterans in the game development field, are reportedly being shut down by their parent company.
That’s the link here. And that’s what I want to talk about.
Roll7 were pioneers. They were known for brave, interesting, radical video games that offered truly new experiences to players. Skateboarding was a core foundational part of the studio’s DNA, with studio co-founder and Creative Director John Ribbins being the driving force behind the OlliOlli franchise.
As someone who also works in the games industry, I only really know John on a surface level. Despite me not really knowing him that well, he was kind enough to write a blog post for me about his skateboarding influences a few years back. John runs the popular DownRiverSpotGuide account on Instagram, and a firm fixture of the London skate scene. Basically, he was as much like any of us who picked up a skateboard years ago.
Above: A collection of John Ribbins footage from 2018
I had a fondness for Roll7 because of it being a studio founded by skateboarders, and for it’s contribution to the UK games industry, and UK skateboarding culture. Roll7 had Arthur Tubb working for them – who previously was sponsored by Heroin and had a banger full part in Live From Antarctica. Local lifelong manual and ledge aficionado Alex Darby worked at the studio for a brief stint. When I interviewed there back in 2020, I was interviewed by the guy who designed all of Focus Skate Shop‘s board graphics.
Not only did it have lifelong skaters on the payroll, but those who joined the studio who weren’t skateboarders, in time got the bug themselves and started to learn. In time they also attracted those with an interest for rollerskating, with the development of their BAFTA award winning rollerskating third person shooter Rollerdrome. This was a studio firmly rooted in skatepark culture, with a philosophy towards making video games that closely aligned with the creativity and freedom of skateboarding.
My point here is that Roll7 was as much as part of UK Skateboarding as Death Skateboards, or Get Lesta, or Rollersnakes. Depending on your investment in video games you may not have ever heard of them, however that doesn’t change that many who worked there were UK skateboarders, who you likely may have bumped into if you travel around the country a lot, or happen to live in London. What Take Two have done is destroy a game studio that brought all of the exciting style, innovation and attitude of UK skateboarding into the world of award winning, artistically rich video games.
Roll7 were forward thinking. They were working remotely before Covid-19 was even muttered by a single news outlet. They were in on the new skateboarding video game boom before EA or Activision decided to revive their classic franchises. They were creating banger after banger, in wildly different genres, and they were good at it, too.
It is rare for a skateboarding game to hit such lofty heights as “winning a BAFTA”. Even Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, the most popular skateboarding game franchise in history, can’t claim that goal. OlliOlli did it, and that is a shining example of what Roll7 brought to the games industry that no one else could.
I have no idea what the team members will go on to do next. The games industry has been devastated with a shocking number of lay offs and studio closures. I could rant about this for much longer, but my honest belief is that the pursuit of ever increasing profit from the Triple A gaming space is to blame.
This is the same level of hyper-capitalist nonsense that saw the likes of Enjoi and Almost cannibalised by Dwindle’s parent company, or the decision to turn Madness into a Walmart board brand. It’s the same reason why my local skate shop, Ride, had to shut their doors after 25 years and force it’s owners into early retirement. Ultimately my belief is that people at the top, with no love or passion for the craft they wield such power over, are making horrible decisions with brands and companies that are respected and beloved by people all over the globe. We, as skateboarders, as creatives, as people, deserve so much better than this.
In the same way that the fall of Enjoi and Madness led to the birth of Jacuzzi Unlimited and Opera, my hope is that the fall of Roll7 will lead to something bigger and brighter for John Ribbins and the rest of the crew at the studio. These are good people, not just because they are skateboarders, but because they are talented individuals who brought something unique and interesting to video games. Roll7 deserved so much more respect than this.
The Terrible Company 
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