7th level

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7th Level Inc.
legal form Corporation
founding 1993
Seat Richardson , United States
Branch Computer games, training software

7th Level (later 7th Street.com, then Learn2.com) (NASDAQ: SEVL) was a publicly traded software company based in Richardson , Texas that developed and sold computer games and children's educational software. In 1997, 7th Level stopped developing games and, after a merger, focused on Internet applications. 7th Level later merged with various other companies and distributed software training courses and tutorials .

The most successful products include three Monty Python games, which were created between 1994 and 1998 in collaboration with Terry Gilliam , and the mech simulation G-NOME . Other software products included the proprietary playback engine TopGun , the 2D animation program Studio 7 and the Internet software Agent 7 .

Company history

Computer games and software for children

7th Level was founded in 1993 by George D. Grayson, previously president and founder of the software company Micrografx , musician Scott Page and entertainment producer Bob Ezrin. Grayson became the company's CEO . Investors included Michael Milken and the co-founder of Lorimar Telepictures Corp. Merv Adelson. It was based in Richardson , Texas, with a production studio in Los Angeles . Since 1994, 7th level has been listed on the American stock exchange NASDAQ ( ticker symbol : SEVL).

7th Level various computer games developed, both from the adventure - and the action - genre . In addition, the internal department called Kids World Entertainment developed several, in some cases award-winning, children's learning software products.

In 1996, the strategy game Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 was presented at the Consumer Electronics Show trade fair . Competitor Blizzard was so impressed by the alleged live demonstration of the game that the previous work on the strategy game StarCraft was discarded and development started again from scratch. It wasn't until years later that it became known that it was not a live demonstration of a playable version of the game, but merely a pre-made video for which the presenters only pretended to be playing the game live.

7th Level struggled with financial difficulties from the start. Although the games and children's software were successful, 7th Level made no profit in the first four years. Its Great Adventures program for children has faced stiff competition from CUC International. There was disagreement in the company's management as to whether one should concentrate on the further development of shoot-em-up computer games or children's educational software. Computer games accounted for 90% of last year's $ 20.5 million in sales. After the development of children's software ceased, co-founder Grayson left the company. In the end, however, the decision was made to withdraw completely from the computer game industry and instead develop applications for the relatively new Internet.

In November 1997, 7th Level announced its intention to buy Pulse Entertainment and to merge the two companies into a new company called P7 Solutions. 21 million shares of 7th Level were to be issued to the shareholders of Pulse Entertainment. In 1998, however, this agreement was revoked without giving any precise reasons.

The games division was largely dissolved, the existing projects were abandoned or sold. The largely completed strategy game Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 was sold to the young company Ion Storm . Ion Storm founders Todd Porter and Jerry O'Flaherty were previously responsible for the design and development of the game at 7th Level before they left the company to found Ion Storm. Along with the game, Ion Storm acquired the license for 7th Levels TopGun technology and the first mission pack.

In the mid-1990s, 7th Level received the rights to an RPG based on the Riftwar books by Raymond Feist . The developers PyroTechnix Inc. were brought in to develop Return to Krondor . When 7th Level gave up the games division, Sierra On-line took over the role of publisher for PyroTechnix.

The distribution rights for their Monty Python games were acquired by Panasonic Interactive .

Internet software, tutorials and mergers

In May 1998, the company received US $ 10 million from private investors to finance the completion and delivery of new Internet software called Agent 7 . With this software it was possible to incorporate animated cartoon characters into websites and other applications. In the following period contracts with several companies about how RealNetworks closed, the Agent 7 inserting.

In 1999, 7th Level merged with the privately held Street Technologies Inc. of White Plains , New York and was renamed 7th Street.com in February 1999. Tutorials and courses for popular computer programs were now sold , including at the web address Tutorials.com. In the same year, 7th Street bought Panmedia, the parent company of the online learning community learn2.com. 7th Street issued 1,544,000 shares for this, more details about the purchase remained secret. The contents of the websites learn2.com and tutorials.com have been merged under learn2.com. In June 1999, 7th Street bought another training software company, ViaGrafix Corporation (Nasdaq: VIAX). Viagrafix was the top-selling computer training company in the United States at the time.

A month later, in July 1999, it was announced that 7th Street and its acquired companies and brands would be merged under the new name Learn2.com. The company also changed its ticker symbol from SEVL to LTWO.

In August 2002, Learn.com finally acquired Learn2 Corp, renaming Learn2 and the websites learn2.com and tutorials.com.

Games

Developed games

  • Tuneland feat. Ron Williams (1993)
  • Lil 'Howie's Great Word Adventure (1997)
  • Lil 'Howie's Great Math Adventure (1997)
  • Lil 'Howie's Great Reading Adventure (1998)
  • Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994)
  • Battle Beast (1995)
  • Take Your Best Shot (1995)
  • Ace Ventura (1996)
  • Arcade America (1996)
  • Monty Python & The Quest for the Holy Grail (1996)
  • Tracer (1996)
  • G-Nome (1997)
  • Tamagotchi CD-ROM (1997)
  • Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life (1998)

Publisher for

  • Helicops (1997)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Video Business: CD-ROM company searches for '7th' heaven . December 1994.
  2. ^ CNET : Milken works market again . April 21, 1998.
  3. ↑ Michael Obermeier: StarCraft - ... was completely turned inside out because of a lie. In: gamestar.de . September 28, 2012, accessed October 1, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Business Week : 7th Level's New Plateau: War Games. April 21, 1997.
  5. ↑ Ex 7th level exec begins anew. In: Dallas Business Journal. October 22, 1999.
  6. ^ Company News: 7th level ends agreement to buy Pulse Entertainment. In: The New York Times . April 23, 1998.
  7. ↑ 7th Level Closes on $ 10 Million Private Placement to Finance Rollout of New Line of Internet Software Tools. In: Business Wire . May 8, 1998.
  8. ↑ CNN Money : 7th Level gets private cash . May 11, 1998.
  9. ↑ E-Commerce Times: 7th Street.com Stock Soars After AOL Deal . March 8, 1999.
  10. ↑ CNET : Net learning resource expands . May 26, 1999
  11. ↑ a b Business Wire : 7thStreet.com Consolidates Brands Under Learn2.com; Changes Symbol To "LTWO" July 20, 1999.
  12. ↑ Business Publisher: Learn.com has acquired the e-learning business assets of Learn2 Corp., including the name "Learn2" and the Web domains learn2.com and tutorials.com . August 31, 2002.