| Cosmic Rift | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Online Entertainment |
| Designer(s) | Jeff Petersen |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Cosmic Rift was a two-dimensional massively multiplayer video game designed by lead programmer Jeff Petersen. It is based in a science fiction universe wherein players can fly from an overhead view one of 13 spaceships, [1] each with their own strengths and unique weapons, in a variety of gaming zones each with a different objective. [2]
Cosmic Rift is provided as part of the Station Pass package offered by Sony Online Entertainment, which also includes Infantry and Tanarus . Its gameplay is comparable to Virgin Interactive Entertainment's Subspace , another two-dimensional space shooter written by Jeff Petersen prior to joining Sony's team. Today, Subspace remains available in a freeware flavor known as Continuum.
Cosmic Rift was released as an open beta in April 2001, which lasted until May 2002. From this point forward players were required to pay a monthly fee to gain full access to any of the Station Pass games, with limited capability permitted to non-subscribers.
One of the largest draws for subscribers was the 4 on 4 league which sustained the generally low popularity of the game until August 2004, when the league completed its sixth and final season. The remaining subscribers lingered for approximately one year playing only in the Rift Ball league (see zone description below) until August 2005. Since the end of this league, the Cosmic Rift's player base had been essentially non-existent.
On May 23, 2007, it was announced that the Station Pass games would become completely free as of June 26, 2007. [3] A map editor [4] for both Cosmic Rift and Infantry were also being worked on in hopes to have them publicly released by the time the three Station Pass games are made free. [5] This announcement had initially prompted an increase in the population of the game's servers. Despite these efforts, however, the game's population still remained largely insubstantial.
On March 1 of 2012 Sony Online Entertainment announced that Cosmic Rift, Infantry , Star Chamber: The Harbinger Saga , and EverQuest Online Adventures were to come to close on March 29, 2012.
The reason given by Sony Online Entertainment for the closings was that development resources for those titles would be better put to use on developing newer games. [6]
EverQuest is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America, and by Ubisoft in Europe in April 2000. A dedicated version for macOS was released in June 2003, which operated for ten years before being shut down in November 2013. In June 2000, Verant Interactive was absorbed into Sony Online Entertainment, who took over full development and publishing duties of the title. Later, in February 2015, SOE's parent corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, sold the studio to investment company Columbus Nova and it was rebranded as Daybreak Game Company, which continues to develop and publish EverQuest.
Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War, known as Conflict: FreeSpace – The Great War in Europe, is a 1998 space combat simulation IBM PC compatible computer game developed by Volition, when it was split off from Parallax Software, and published by Interplay Productions. In 2001, it was ported to the Amiga platform as FreeSpace: The Great War by Hyperion Entertainment. The game places players in the role of a human pilot, who operates in several classes of starfighter and combats against opposing forces, either human or alien, in various space-faring environments, such as in orbit above a planet or within an asteroid belt. The story of the game's single player campaign focuses on a war in the 24th century between two factions, one human and the other alien, that is interrupted in its fourteenth year by the arrival of an enigmatic and militant alien race, whose genocidal advance forces the two sides into a ceasefire in order to work together to halt the threat.
SubSpace is a 2D space shooter video game created in 1995 and released in 1997 by Virgin Interactive which was a finalist for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Online Game of the Year Award in 1998. SubSpace incorporates quasi-realistic zero-friction physics into a massively multiplayer online game. It is no longer operated by VIE; instead, fans and players of the game provide servers and technical updates. The action is viewed from above, which presents challenges very different from those of a three-dimensional game. The game has no built-in story or set of goals; players may enter a variety of servers, each of which have differing objectives, maps, sounds, and graphics.
Daybreak Game Company LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. The company was founded in December 1997 as Sony Online Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, but was spun off to an independent investor in February 2015 and renamed Daybreak Game Company. On December 1, 2020, Daybreak Game Company entered into an agreement to be acquired by Enad Global 7.
Infantry Online is a multiplayer combat video game. Originally released in 1999, the game was taken offline by Sony Online Entertainment and the servers shut down in March 2012. The Infantry community subsequently took control of the game and re-launched it independently at freeinfantry.com.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting, developed by Mythic Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts in 2008. The game revolved around the continual worldwide conflict that the Warhammer Fantasy setting is known for, and the game is geared toward ongoing, constant war laced with dark humour. Age of Reckoning ended up selling over a million copies and peaking at 800,000 subscribers, but dropped to 300,000 subscribers several months later. The game received generally positive reviews from critics but shut down in 2013. Since at least 2014, an active private server called Return of Reckoning has been run by fans, and it remains active as of August 2022.
Tribes: Aerial Assault is an online first-person shooter video game released for PlayStation 2 in 2002 by Sierra Entertainment. It was one of the first PlayStation 2 titles designed almost exclusively for online play and was the first online PlayStation 2 shooter that supports both modem and broadband connections. It was announced in tandem with Sony's online strategy for the PlayStation 2 at E3 2001.
FreeSpace 2 is a 1999 space combat simulation computer game developed by Volition as the sequel to Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War. It was completed ahead of schedule in less than a year, and released to very positive reviews, but the game became a commercial failure, and was described by certain critics as one of 1999's most unfairly overlooked titles.
Ratchet: Deadlocked is a 2005 action platformer, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 as the fourth installment of the Ratchet & Clank series.
Resistance: Fall of Man is a 2006 science-fiction first-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 3. It was developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game is set in an alternate history 1951, and follows Sergeant Nathan Hale as he and the human resistance forces attempt to drive a mysterious alien-like invasion out of the United Kingdom. The story continues in Resistance 2.
Star Wars: Battlefront II is a 2005 first-person shooter and third-person shooter video game based on the Star Wars film franchise. Developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts, it is a sequel to 2004's Star Wars: Battlefront and the second game in the Star Wars: Battlefront series. The game was released in PAL regions on October 31, 2005, on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (PSP), Microsoft Windows, and Xbox platforms, and in North America on November 1 of the same year. It was released on the PlayStation Store on October 20, 2009, for download on the PSP. The PSP version was developed by Savage Entertainment.
Tanarus was a free 3D multiplayer online tank first-person shooter that was commercially released on December 12, 1997. It was developed under the direction of John Smedley at Verant Interactive and published by Sony Interactive Studios America. Originally titled Armorgeddon, Verant was forced to change the name when another game with that name was discovered. It was released in late 1997. The game was included in Sony Online Entertainment's Station Exchange program in 2007, and shut down on June 10, 2010.
Station.com was Sony Online Entertainment's portal that was the home to its many PC, Console, Casual and Mobile games. It is the home to many MMORPG's including EverQuest, EverQuest II, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide, and Star Wars Galaxies, which have gained hundreds of thousands of paid subscribers.
MAG was a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter video game developed by Zipper Interactive for the PlayStation 3. The game was released in North America on January 26, 2010, mainland Europe on January 27 and the United Kingdom on January 29. It was released in Australia and New Zealand on February 11, 2010. MAG received an award from Guinness World Records as "Most Players in a Console FPS" with 256 players.
Fat Princess is an action real-time strategy video game developed by Titan Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It was released in North America, Europe and Australia on July 30, 2009, and in Japan on December 25 the same year, as Pocchari Princess. It was included on the Best of PlayStation Network Vol. 1 compilation disc, released on June 18, 2013. A PlayStation Portable version, titled Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake, was released in 2010.
Starhawk is a 2012 third-person shooter video game developed by LightBox Interactive and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the spiritual successor to 2007's Warhawk.
DarkOrbit, later renamed to DarkOrbit: Reloaded is a massively multiplayer online game developed by Bigpoint Games. The game is set in outer space, where players control a spaceship to battle against non-player characters and other players. It is a three-dimensional isometric Flash game with over 300 million registered accounts.
God of War: Ascension is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). The game was first released on March 12, 2013, for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console. It is the seventh installment in the God of War series and a prequel to the entire series. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist, Kratos, the former servant of the God of War Ares, who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. In response to this tragedy, Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood oath to the god. Kratos was, therefore, imprisoned and tortured by the three Furies, guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment. Helped by the oath keeper, Orkos, Kratos escapes his imprisonment and confronts the Furies, aiming to free himself of his bond to Ares.
Unreal Tournament is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games. It is the ninth game in the Unreal franchise, the fifth game in the Unreal Tournament series, and the first entry to be released since 2007's Unreal Tournament 3. The game utilizes Epic's Unreal Engine 4 and was released for free on Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. The game was released as an alpha in 2014, but was never completed due to Epic Games' focus on Fortnite Battle Royale.
League of Pain, also known as Professional Underground League of Pain, and known as Riot in the UK, is a futuristic, violent sports video game developed by British studio Beyond Reality and published by Psygnosis for the PlayStation, MS-DOS, and Windows in 1997.