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- yohnstoppable, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9How can Obsidian be on there after releasing the turd that was Neverwinter Nights 2? By the time they fixed some of the problems, it was too late. It will never have the mod community NWN1 had, which by default makes it a failure
- Downtime, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Cheers to that. Obsidian rushed KOTOR II and it had way too many bugs; I had to restart from the beginning multiple times because of a few major glitches Obsidian never addressed. They don't deserve the #1 spot IMO.
- ttcism, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Sounds like a BS designed to be dugg story to me.
- DevinOlsen, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7
Fatal error: Out of memory (allocated 2097152) (tried to allocate 311296 bytes) in /home/admin/public_html/wp-includes/query.php on line 910 - FTL =( - Paroparo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6How about Seeds Inc? They employ the big names behind Devil May Cry, Okami, Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe and God Hand. Basically the people who did all of Capcom's good non-hand held games last gen. Weirdest about them is that nobody has any idea what they're doing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeds_Inc - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7This doesn't deserve to be a "Top 10" - all of these developers have done things worthy of merit and only a fool would try to "rank" them.
It isn't conclusive either, these are just 10 of many. - MisterSquishy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"Why It Made The List: Obsidian Entertainment started off its life with two daunting tasks; create the sequels to two of to the veteran BioWare’s biggest games (Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights). Both were successes..."
This is their number #1 pick? What a bunch of transparent shilling! Neverwinter Nights 2 was literally unplayable out of the box, and it was only months later that they patched it enough to even play, and calling Knights of the Old Republic 2--a game that was buggy, ended abruptly and whose disc was full of inaccessible, unfinished content--a "success" just boggles the mind. Who are the failures? - StormTrooperVII, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I agree. KotOR2 was equally a letdown. I don't think I'll be buying any obsidian games any time soon, since they've demonstrated twice that they can't do it right. Though, both of those were sequels that simply didn't live up to the original, so maybe their original stuff might be better by comparison. Though, you hit the nail on the head about their NWN2 *****-up. They should have delayed release a few months to fix the major issues that should have been done right in the first place.
- nobiology, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Thank you, I was coming here to post the same thing. Obsidian has released two bug filled games that are sequels to amazing games, and can't even move on beyond the level of the previous games.
NWN2 was/is a nightmare. NWN1 still has a huge following to this day because of all the mods that have been (and still are being) released for it, yet they decided the basically destroy the main aspect of what made the first so great. One of the interviews during E3 for the upcoming expansion kept pointing out the fact that the expansion included updates to make the game perform better after the disastrous launch performance even with high end hardware. This is something that should have been done before the first game was even released, and failing that, included in the regular updates. Instead they expect us to pay 30 bucks for an expansion to make the game work how it should have from the start. Well ***** that. - newJxE, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Seeds hasn't made anything yet. They're not up and coming, just up, for now.
- NWVG, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4#10 Kaos Studios
Why It Made The List: Every so often, a team of artists and coders create a wildly successful mod and transitions its way into becoming an actual game developer. That’s the case with Kaos Studios (then Trauma Studios) and its immensely popular Battlefield 1942 mod, Desert Combat. They have since been hired by publisher THQ to create Frontlines: Fuel of War, a futuristic war game that aims for the non-linear feel of the Battlefield series with the concentrated gameplay of the Call of Duty games. It’ll be interesting to see how they pull this off, and how well it does given the competitiveness of the genre as of late.
#9 Media Molecule
Why It Made The List: Few gamers took more than a perfunctory look at the quirky Rag Doll Kung Fu, but when Media Molecule unveiled Little Big Planet - their upcoming title for the PS3 – more than a few heads turned. Media Molecule was formed in early 2006 after Mark Healey (the man credited almost entirely with Rag Doll Kung Fu) and a few fellow artists left Lionhead Studios to see what they could give to the ‘next-gen’ world. Well, they’ve started to show what they’re made of; cutesy puzzle games with out of this world physics and an emphasis on creativity and player created content. Little Big Planet boasts a simple and intuitive level editor that players will quickly come to master just by playing the game. Once finished with designing a level, you’ll be able to invite anyone within the Little Big Planet community to check it out for themselves.
#8 Spark Unlimited
Why It Made The List: Spark Unlimited came about after a few former developers from the Medal of Honor series set out on their own to create something a bit different in the way of World War II shooters. After getting an initial start developing Call of Duty: Finest Hour for Activision, they have now announced two next generation first person shooters using Unreal 3 technology. The first, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (Codemasters), is set in an alternate time line where the Nazi’s had successfully defeated Britain and now have footholds along the eastern seaboard. The second game, Legendary: The Box (Gamecock), is set in modern day locations such as New York and London. It features combat against mythological creatures that were released from Pandora’s Box. The games are due out the fourth quarter of this year and first quarter of next year, respectively.
#7 Day 1 Studios
Why It Made The List: Last we checked, deformable terrain was something everybody could love. The novelty value of blowing huge holes into the cavernous walls of Red Faction was off the charts. With that in mind, Day 1 Studios is looking to tickle your fancy with their upcoming title Fracture. After getting their start with the MechAssault series on the original Xbox and a port of F.E.A.R. to the 360 and PS3, they’re looking to break a few new boundaries. Fracture boasts a unique terrain system that not only can you deform and mold, its part of the game play mechanics to do so. Different weapons will raise hills in front of you and provide cover, or cause valleys to give you a quick high ground in a firefight. Still in the early stages, you can expect to hear quite a bit on this game and a lot more on its maker in the coming year.
#6 S2 Games
Why It Made The List: Successfully combining several genres is always a difficult task; the individual components just never seem to shine quite as much. But never has it been done better than in S2 Games’ Savage: The Battle for Newarth. S2 had the idea that maybe it’d be a bit more interesting to give other human players commands for battle, as opposed to the standard PC drone. The team was spot on and Savage turned out to be a sleeper hit that many fell in love with. Not being one to disappoint, S2 released Savage: The Battle for Newarth as a free game when they began development on Savage 2. Of course, they couldn’t be content with just releasing a plain old sequel and are planning to include a little RPG twist with progressive stats in online play. Somehow, ambitious just doesn’t seem grand enough a word for S2 Games.
#5 Introversion Software
Why It Made The List: London-based Introversion Software, the “last of the bedroom programmers,” has had quite the cult success in its short existence. Focused more on unique game play and design rather than need for flashy graphics, they’ve shown what a small team of developers can do with a relatively limited budget, and grown rapidly from there. After the commercial success of their first game, Uplink, they’ve begun to distribute through Valve’s Steam Network. After great critical acclaim with their last release, DEFCON, the company has announced two new projects in the works. First, the aptly-titled Multiwinia, is a multiplayer adaptation of their sophomore game, Darwinia. The second is a little-spoken of game called Subversion, which so far appears to be based around “procedurally generated content.” We think its safe to assume that this one will be a lot more than just a blip on the radar.
#4 Wideload Games
Why It Made The List: Why would the founder of a studio, responsible for one of the most widely received console games of all time, leave at the company’s peak? To make a statement, of course.
In 2003, Alex Seropian left Bungie to found Wideload Games, a developer bent on proving that you don’t need a huge company with an even bigger budget to make a great game. And so far they’ve done just that. The studio’s first offering, Stubbs The Zombie, was a wildly unique game that throws you into the often antagonistical role of a zombie who must do everything in his power to fulfill his insatiable hunger.
What’s up next for the small company with big plans? Well, a game about politically-inclined animals, of course. Not much has been said about Hail to the Chimp yet, but it appears that the King of the Jungle’s throne is up for grabs, and various animals are fighting their way to the top. A bit of a departure from Halo, to say the least. And that’s exactly why Wideload’s in our top ten.
#3 Petroglyph Games
Why It Made The List: Good, long-lasting real-time strategies are few and far between these days. So going into the market can be a bit daunting without the proper talent. Thankfully, Petroglyph Games has managed to wrangle in a few members from game series’ such as Command and Conquer and Dune. After creating their first game, Star Wars: Empire at War, licensed under LucasArts, they’ve teamed up with game publisher Sega to create a series all their own. Universe at War: Earth Assault is looking to set the stage for cross platform battles through Xbox Live and Games for Windows. It’ll be interesting to see how Petroglyph handle and balance the obvious advantage PC users have with micromanagement in the game, which should in turn set the stage for other cross platform gaming.
#2 Flagship Studios
Why It Made The List: It’s tough being a brand new developer on the verge of your first release. Although, it’s a hell of a lot easier when you have the talent that Flagship Studios has.
Founded by a few upper division ex-Blizzard employees, including the celebrated producer and now CEO of Flagship Bill Roper, the team is really bringing their A-Game to the table with their debut title. Hellgate: London is set in the near future after the UK has been invaded by demons deep from the depths of hell. The selling point here is the attempt to weave point-and-click RPG play ala’ Diablo with some first-person-shooter elements. If the team’s prior work with Blizzard is any indication, no other studio is better suited to pull this one off. You can expect to see Hellgate: London hit shelves on October 31st.
#1 Obsidian Entertainment
Why It Made The List: Obsidian Entertainment started off its life with two daunting tasks; create the sequels to two of to the veteran BioWare’s biggest games (Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights). Both were successes, and Obsidian showed just what they were capable of right out the gate. Founded by five ex-Interplay employees, they quickly hopped back onto the role-playing bandwagon after being joined by Josh Sawyer (lead designer on Icewind-Dale II) in 2005. Currently, Obsidian is working on creating an RPG set in the Aliens universe and is also designing an expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2, called Mask of the Betrayer, due out later this year.
Conclusion: If it weren’t for game studios such as these (and a magnitude of others out there that didn’t quite make our list), the industry would have become unbearably stale and repetitive long ago. The fact that there remains developers willing to strike out on their own in order to follow their own unique visions for gaming is possibly the single most valuable asset in existence for modern day game development. It is these visionaries that make it possible for video games to be elevated to an art form all its own. - Bundini, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Offset didn't make the list because all they've shown is a tech demo to a game that might very well never see the light of day. Not a single release yet or anything that looks substantial.
Don't get me wrong, Project Offset looks great. But I needed more from them to put them on the list. - NWVG, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This is working for me; is it not working for other people? I saw it was dugg down and wasn't sure why since it's loading the whole page with pictures.
- doshindude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Buried for not mentioning RedOctane/Harmonix
- Bundini, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2The list, to hold you over until I fix this ridiculous thing:
10 Media_Molecule
9 Wideload_Games
8 Kaos_Studios
7 Spark_Unlimited
6 Introversion_Software
5 S2_Games
4 Day_1_Studios
3 Flagship_Studios
2 Petroglyph
1 Obsidian - Bundini, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I know the server can hold up to the load; it has in the past.
It's just goddamn WordPress that's not doing its job. - CarpeFishem, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2No Techland (Chrome, Call of Juarez, War Hound, look 'em up).
Lame. - mortigon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I wonder how many EA will buy out.
- CharliesRevenge, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2What about Project Offset?
Anyone remember them?
http://www.projectoffset.com/ - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Alex Seropian, FTW!!!
- image0434, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Q? Entertainment anyone?
- whatthejish, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2obsidian sucks
- melkore, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Obsidian didn't rush it. Lucasarts did.
- Gedoron, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Actually, most of the performance enhancements have been included in patches. From about patch 1.04 on, performance on my admittedly outdated machine (3.0 Pentium IV, 1.5 gigs of RAM, GeForce 6800GT graphics) has been night and day from what it was at launch. It runs on medium high settings, without a hiccup. I even have a low-end laptop that I use when traveling, which has the minimum spec video card (Mobility Radeon 9700), and it runs smooth if I keep all the settings turned down.
- ahnonamis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I'd have to put VanillaWare on there. They've only done Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire at this point, but those games are very well done.
- FreedomSpanker, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Top 10 Up and Coming Game Studios & A Crashed Website
- LLamaStar, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2How about Ready at Dawn? - Daxter, God of War, and from what their press release says...a NEW IP for the xbox or ps3.
- ImADharmaBum, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Its true, it does that.
- The0perator, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1@charliesrevenge
was about to say that lol. If there's any up and coming team it's them. - TommieMangino, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Honesty is a question of right or wrong, not a matter of policy.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Obsidian? I'm sorry but NWN 2 BLEW ass compared to the first one. Crytek should be on the list (Far Cry, Crysis) as they are gunning for the likes of iD, Epic, and Valve.
- abouthere, on 10/10/2007, -3/+356 diggs and the site is a gonner. Shame.
- newJxE, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1There's a big difference between an up and coming company making a game with problems. At least they fixed a lot of the problems and are continuing to fix them. Compare them to Dice and EA who are both huge companies that released the battlefield series with huge critical bugs that still aren't fixed.
- cusoman, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Clover WOULD have been on there is Capcom didn't idiotically put an end to such a good thing, no doubt in my mind. Don't know who Clover is? Think Ookami.
RIP Clover. - RansomDenton, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Ya I would have to add Kingsilse out of Austin, Tx. Tom Hall and a bunch of good people are pounding away at something! I got a feeling this house will be known sometime, whenever they can get something out.
- bottlegnome, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1http://www.primotechnology.com.nyud.net:8080/2007/08/15/the-top-ten-up-and-coming-game-studios/
- adventchild08, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Its an Irony...
- merreborn, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Coral mirror got it. Google, duggmirror, and archive.org all missed it.
http://www.primotechnology.com.nyud.net:8080/2007/08/15/the-top-ten-up-and-coming-game-studios/ - bedake, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Can't see the list but I sure hope Flagship Studios is on there
- ClarkLab, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3Pretty interesting article.
- Pifman, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1Great writeup man.
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