Monolith Productions
 Logo since 2017 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | October 25, 1994[1] |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Kirkland, Washington, United States |
Number of employees | 100+ (2004)[2] |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Games (2004–present) |
| Website | lith |
Monolith Productions, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Kirkland, Washington. The company has been a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games since August 2004.[3] It formerly published third-party games in the 1990s.
History
[edit]Monolith Productions was founded on October 25, 1994 by Bryan Bouwman, Toby Gladwell, Brian Goble, Jace Hall, Garrett Price, Paul Renault, and Brian Waite. [4]
Co-founder Brian Goble had this to say regarding the company name.
At the time we formed the company, DOS was still the OS of choice for games. Because of this, we knew we had to come up with a name that was 8 characters or less (for 8.3 filenames). We had been researching story and technology ideas for our demo CD and we were watching a lot of movies. "Monolith" came up, was semi mysterious, wasn't taken, and was 8 characters. Perfect.[4]
The company is best known for the Blood, No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R series. Monolith developed the LithTech game engine which was used for most of their games starting with Shogo: Mobile Armor Division in September 1998. Between 1997 and 1999, Monolith also published games–some developed by the studio, some by third parties.
In 2004, Monolith Productions was acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (now Warner Bros. Games).[3]
In 2014, the company released the title Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor with a sequel entitled Middle-earth: Shadow of War being released in 2017.
In 2021, the company announced that they are developing a video game starring Wonder Woman.[5]
Technology
[edit]Video games
[edit]Developed
[edit]| Year | Title | Platform(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC | Console | Handheld | ||
| 1997 | Blood | MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows | — | — |
| Claw | Microsoft Windows | — | — | |
| 1998 | Get Medieval | Microsoft Windows | — | — |
| Shogo: Mobile Armor Division | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux, AmigaOS | — | — | |
| Blood II: The Chosen | Microsoft Windows | — | — | |
| 1999 | Gruntz | Microsoft Windows | — | — |
| TNN Outdoors Pro Hunter 2 | Microsoft Windows | — | — | |
| 2000 | Sanity: Aiken's Artifact | Microsoft Windows | — | — |
| The Operative: No One Lives Forever | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS | PlayStation 2 | — | |
| 2001 | Tex Atomic's Big Bot Battles | Microsoft Windows | — | — |
| Aliens Versus Predator 2 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS | — | — | |
| 2002 | No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS | — | — |
| 2003 | Tron 2.0 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS | Xbox | Game Boy Advance |
| Contract J.A.C.K. | Microsoft Windows | — | — | |
| 2005 | The Matrix Online | Microsoft Windows | — | — |
| F.E.A.R. | Microsoft Windows | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | — | |
| Condemned: Criminal Origins | Microsoft Windows | Xbox 360 | — | |
| 2008 | Condemned 2: Bloodshot | — | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | — |
| 2009 | F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin | Microsoft Windows | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | — |
| 2012 | Gotham City Impostors | Microsoft Windows | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | — |
| Guardians of Middle-earth | Microsoft Windows | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | — | |
| 2014 | Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | — |
| 2017 | Middle-earth: Shadow of War | Microsoft Windows | PlayStation 4, Xbox One | — |
| TBA | Untitled Wonder Woman video game | TBA | ||
Published
[edit]| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| PC | ||
| 1994 | Maabus | MS-DOS |
| 1998 | Rage of Mages | Microsoft Windows |
| 1999 | Rage of Mages II: Necromancer | Microsoft Windows |
| Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator | Microsoft Windows | |
| Gorky 17 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux, AmigaOS |
References
[edit]- ^ @MonolithDev (October 2, 2019). "October 25th is Monolith's 25th Anniversary. Twenty. Five. Years. In the business. And we've got a lot of fun stuff planned this month to celebrate. Stay tuned here for a big ol' look back at a long history of #gamedev" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Fahey, Rob (January 16, 2004). "Monolith Productions appoints new CEO". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
- ^ a b Thorsen, Tor (August 12, 2004). "Warner Bros. buys Monolith Productions". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 12, 2006. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
- ^ a b Keefer, John (March 31, 2006). "GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins, Page 12 of 19". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007.
- ^ Prescott, Shaun. "Wonder Woman game announced, is in development at Monolith Productions". PC Gamer. PC Gamer. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Monolith Productions profile on MobyGames
- Monolith Productions entry on Giant Bomb
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| National | |
