Digital Anvil
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Digital Anvil
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Incorporated |
| founding | 1996 |
| resolution | January 31, 2006 |
| Seat |
Austin , Texas, United States |
| management | Chris Roberts |
| Branch | Software development |
Digital Anvil was a 1996 from the PC - game developer Chris Roberts founded PC-gaming development studio based in Austin , Texas . It launched three video games for the PC and Xbox before closing in January 2006 .
history
Digital Anvil was founded in 1996 by the brothers Chris and Erin Roberts after they left the Origin development studio with which they had released the successful Wing Commander series.
At the beginning, Digital Anvil worked on several projects. As Publisher for all projects to found Microsoft . However, the development of the projects devoured huge sums of money and in the eyes of Microsoft did not lead to any notable results, which is why a project called "Loose Cannon" was ended first, followed shortly afterwards by a space real-time strategy game called "Conquest: Frontier Wars" however later picked up by the "Fever Pitch Studios" and completed in 2001 and published by Ubisoft .
In 2000 , Digital Anvil's first game, the space action game " Starlancer ", came onto the market. After its appearance, Chris Roberts was hailed as the "revival of the space games". It was five years ago that a such game was released with the last part of the "Wing Commander" series.
At this point in time, Robert's dream project, the space game " Freelancer " , had been developing for several years . Before this could be completed, however, Digital Anvil was bought by Microsoft. Roberts left the company shortly afterwards and was only available as a consultant for his project. Fundamental changes made by Microsoft during this time can be clearly seen in a direct comparison of older pictures and videos of the game with the retail version. The management of the project on the part of Digital Anvil took over Jörg Neumann, who completed the project under the guidance of Roberts. In 2003 Freelancer was finally completed, but completely different than originally planned.
By 2004 , Digital Anvil had completed the Xbox game “Brute Force”, which at the time of the takeover by Microsoft was only mentioned as a “not yet published project for the Xbox”.
In addition to the published games (see table), two more games were announced and also partially developed: Conquest: Frontier Wars , a Command & Conquer -like game in space, and Loose Cannon , a Grand Theft Auto -like game. After Digital Anvil was bought by Microsoft, some developers founded Fever Pitch Studios Inc and took Conquest: Frontier Wars and finished it there.
At the beginning of December 2005, Microsoft announced to GameSpot that the employees of Digital Anvil would be "redistributed" and thus de facto declared the closure of the development studio. All employees are said to have been offered jobs at Microsoft Game Studios .
Work
| Surname | Release year | platform | USK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starlancer | 2000 | Pc | from 12 |
| Freelancer | 2003 | Pc | from 12 |
| Brute force | 2004 | Xbox | from 16 |
Web links
- Microsoft Game Studios - Freelancer ( Memento of October 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English) - official freelancer website
- Microsoft Game Studios - Starlancer ( Memento from August 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English) - official StarLancer website
- Xbox.com - Brute Force ™ - Game Detail Page ( Memento from January 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English) - official "Brute Force" website
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b David Jenkins: Microsoft Confirms Closure Of Digital Anvil ( English ) Gamasutra . December 2, 2005. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
- ^ John Bye: The Death Of the Celebrity Studio . Eurogamer. June 25, 2001. Retrieved November 27, 2007.