Stormfront Studios
 | |
| Formerly | Beyond Software (1988–1993) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | December 28, 1988 |
| Founder | Don Daglow |
| Defunct | March 31, 2008 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Don Daglow (President & CEO) |
Number of employees | 33 (2008) |
Stormfront Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. In 2007, the company had over 50 developers working on two teams, and owned all its proprietary engines, tools, and technology. As of the end of 2007, over fourteen million copies of Stormfront-developed games had been sold. Stormfront closed on March 31, 2008, due to the closure of their publisher at the time, Sierra Entertainment.[1][2]
The company received major awards and award nominations from
Software Publishers Association
and many magazines and websites.
In 2008, MMORPG games. Don Daglow accepted the award for project partners Stormfront Studios, AOL and Wizards of the Coast.
History
Stormfront was founded in 1988 by
Vivendi Universal and Warner Bros.
Stormfront was founded as Beyond Software, but changed its name in 1993 when the trademark for Beyond proved difficult to enforce.
Highlights 1988–1993
- MMORPG, the original Neverwinter Nights (1991–1997). Neverwinter Nights held the all-time record as the top revenue-producing online RPG for almost ten years until the success of Ultima Online in the late 1990s. BioWaresubsequently purchased the rights to the name, and built a new generation of award-winning multiplayer RPGs set in the Neverwinter universe.
- Baseball, Intellivision World Series Baseball and Earl Weaver Baseball, the latter two with programmer Eddie Dombrower.
- SSI on a series of Gold Box Dungeons & Dragons RPG games. This led to the company's first #1 hit, Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991), and the first game where an AI character might fall in love with the player (depending on how they reacted to situations in the game), Treasures of the Savage Frontier(1992).
- GUIinterface in an era when most games continued to use text menus.
Highlights 1993–1999
- John Madden Football game designer Scott Orr, who produced a long series of games with Stormfront, championed the development of Andretti Racing, which led in turn to the creation of NASCAR.
- Madden NFL. Stormfront created the original PC versions of Madden for EA Sports.
- Byzantine: The Betrayal, Although the game earned limited distribution in the United States, Stormfront's 1997 Discovery Channel game Byzantine: The Betrayal swept the European EMMA Awards at the Frankfurt Book Fair, winning honors as Best Adventure Game, Game of the Year, and CD of the Year.
- Tiger Woods PGA TourGolf, EA Sports.
- Tony La Russa Baseball 3 and Old Time Baseball. In 1994-1995 the company self-published these two baseball games, both distributed by EA. The baseball strike of 1994 severely hampered sales, and Stormfront returned to being solely a developer.
- Stormfront was the first video game developer to use motion control photography in a video game, in the Electronic Arts game Eagle Eye Mysteries, (1993).
Highlights 2000–2005
- Awardfor Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering.
- Blood Wake for Xbox (2001). A featured title in Microsoft’s launch of the Xbox, Blood Wake is a fast-action naval combat game with real wakes and waves and the most striking water effects created on a video game console. The game later became part of the Xbox Platinum line of classic hits.
- BAFTAAwards.
Highlights 2006–2008
- The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) Wii, Xbox 360, PS2, and PC, published by Sierra, based on the Paramount film (adapted from the illustrated children's fantasy books written by Holly Black and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi).
- Twentieth Century Fox movie Eragon, adapted from the best-selling Christopher Paolinifantasy novel.
- (2008) Stormfront closed on March 31, 2008.[1]
Interactive television
Stormfront had an ongoing involvement in the development of games for Interactive television since its first experiments on Florida cable systems in 1990, and produced demos for companies including OpenTV.
Games developed
| Year | Title | Publisher | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Andretti Racing | EA Sports | PC, PlayStation and Sega Saturn |
| 1997 | Andretti Racing '98 | EA Sports | PC |
| 2001 | Blood Wake | Microsoft Game Studios
|
Xbox |
| 1997 | Byzantine: The Betrayal | Discovery Channel | PC |
| 1994 | Eagle Eye Mysteries in London | Creative Wonders (EA Kids) | PC and Mac |
| 1993 | Eagle Eye Mysteries | Creative Wonders (EA Kids) | PC and Mac |
| 2006 | Eragon | Vivendi Universal Games
|
Xbox 360, Xbox, PC and PS2 |
| 1994 | ESPN Baseball Tonight | Sony | PC |
| 1995 | ESPN National Hockey Night
|
Sony | PC |
| 2004 | Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone | Atari | Xbox, PC and PS2 |
| 1991 | Gateway to the Savage Frontier | SSI | PC, C64 and Amiga |
| 1999 | Hot Wheels Turbo Racing | EA | PlayStation and Nintendo 64 |
| 2001 | Legend of Alon D'ar
|
UbiSoft
|
PS2 |
| 2000 | Lego My Style: Kindergarten | Lego Media | PC and Mac |
| 2000 | Lego My Style: Preschool | Lego Media | PC and Mac |
| 1996 | Madden NFL '97 | EA Sports | PC |
| 1997 | Madden NFL '98 | EA Sports | PC |
| 1994 | Mario Andretti Racing | EA Sports | Sega Genesis |
| 1997 | NASCAR 98 | EA Sports | PlayStation and Sega Saturn |
| 1998 | NASCAR 99 | EA Sports | PlayStation and Nintendo 64 |
| 1999 | NASCAR 2000 | EA Sports | PC, PlayStation and Nintendo 64 |
| 1991 | Neverwinter Nights
|
AOL, SSI | PC |
| 1995 | Old Time Baseball | Self-published | PC |
| 2001 | Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor | Ubisoft | PC |
| 1993 | Rebel Space | Prodigy | PC and Mac |
| 1996 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Harbinger | Viacom New Media | PC and Mac |
| 1998 | Starfire Soccer Challenge | Purple Moon | PC and Mac |
| 1993 | Stronghold | SSI | PC |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | EA | PS2, Xbox, GBA[3]
|
| 2008 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | Sierra | Wii, Xbox 360 and PC |
| 2000 | Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 2001
|
EA Sports | PlayStation |
| 1991 | Tony La Russa Ultimate Baseball | SSI | PC |
| 1993 | Tony La Russa Ultimate Baseball | EA Sports | Sega Genesis |
| 1994 | Tony La Russa Baseball '95 | EA Sports | Sega Genesis |
| 1994 | Tony La Russa Baseball II | SSI | PC |
| 1995 | Tony La Russa Baseball 3 | Self-published | PC |
| 1996 | Tony La Russa Baseball 3: 1996 Edition | Self-published | PC |
| 1997 | Tony La Russa Baseball 4 | Maxis | PC |
| 1992 | Treasures of the Savage Frontier | SSI | PC and Amiga |
| 1989 | Quantum Space | AOL | PC, Mac, Apple II and C64 |
| 1988 | The QuantumLink Serial | AOL | PC, Mac, Apple II and C64 |
References
- ^ a b "Stormfront Studios shutting down".
- ^ "Breaking Report: Stormfront To Shutter Studio". April 2008.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (GBA)". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- 1up.com feature on Stormfront
- GameBanshee feature on Stormfront
- Game Informer article on Daglow
- Underdogs company listing
- MobyGames company summary
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
