 | |
| Industry | Software |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 in Bolton, Ontario, Canada |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Fate | Acquired by GT Interactive |
| Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona, United States |
| Products |
|
FormGen Corporation was a developer of business software and publisher of video games based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
FormGen was founded in 1987 by friends Randy MacLean and Robert Van Rycke in Bolton, Ontario. It was a software producer and distributor, selling its text-based form generation program through Radio Shack stores in Canada. Van Rycke left the company in October 1988 and was replaced later by James Perkins.[ citation needed ]
The company advanced rapidly in the early 1990s when it made an agreement with id Software to distribute its new games, such as Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter , Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny , Doom (shareware), and with Apogee Software (later 3D Realms) for Rise of the Triad and Duke Nukem 3D .[ citation needed ]
After being based in North Andover, Massachusetts, [1] FormGen relocated to the Scottsdale Airpark in Scottsdale, Arizona, in November 1993. [2] The facility, which measured 9,000 square feet (840 m2), was outgrown by October 1995, so the company moved to a nearby office of 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2). [3] FormGen opened its website in April 1996 to serve news and shareware downloads online. [4] GT Interactive acquired FormGen in July 1996. [5] [6]
FormGen was involved in a landmark intellectual property lawsuit, Micro Star v. FormGen Inc. They claimed that Micro Star's sale of the Nuke It compilation of user-created maps and levels infringed on its copyright of the derivative works of Duke Nukem 3D and won the case on appeal. [7]
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms. It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II, published by 3D Realms.
Duke Nukem Forever is a 2011 first-person shooter game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It is the fourth main installment in the Duke Nukem series and the sequel to Duke Nukem 3D (1996). Players control Duke Nukem as he comes out of retirement to battle an alien invasion. Like its predecessor, Duke Nukem Forever features pop culture references, toilet humor, and adult content.
Apogee Entertainment, formerly Apogee Software, LLC, is an American video game publisher based in Rowlett, Texas. The company was founded by Terry Nagy in 2008 after he acquired the rights to the name and logo from Scott Miller and his company, 3D Realms, which had used both previously. After reorganizing as Apogee Entertainment in 2021, it hired Miller for its publishing operations.
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the Civilization and X-COM series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games.
3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas (US) in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions, to release his game Kingdom of Kroz. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company popularized a distribution model where each game consists of three episodes, with the first given away free as shareware and the other two available for purchase. Duke Nukem was a major franchise created by Apogee to use this model, and Apogee published Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D the same way.
Shadow Warrior is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive. The shareware version was released for the PC on May 13, 1997, while the full version was released on September 12, 1997. Shadow Warrior was developed using Ken Silverman's Build engine and improved on 3D Realms' previous Build engine game, Duke Nukem 3D. Mark Adams ported Shadow Warrior to Mac OS in August 1997.
Todd Jason Replogle is an American video game programmer best known as the co-creator of the Duke Nukem series. He wrote six 2D action games for MS-DOS released as shareware by Apogee Software between 1990 and 1993. This included Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II, which were side-scrolling platform games.
Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, serves as president and chief executive officer. Gearbox initially created expansions for the Valve game Half-Life, then ported that game and others to console platforms. In 2005, Gearbox launched its first independent set of games, Brothers in Arms, on console and mobile devices. It became their flagship franchise and spun off a comic book series, television documentary, books, and action figures. Their second original game series, Borderlands, commenced in 2009, and by 2015 had sold over 26 million copies. The company also owns the intellectual property of Duke Nukem and Homeworld.
Balls of Steel is a pinball computer game developed by Wildfire Studios and released on September 3, 1997. It is the only game to be published under the Pinball Wizards label, a division of Apogee Software.
George Broussard is an American video game producer and designer, one of the creators of the Duke Nukem series.
WizardWorks Group, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1980 and, in 1993, WizardWorks opened the CompuWorks and MacSoft divisions. In 1996, WizardWorks was acquired by GT Interactive to become part of their GT Value Products umbrella, which was later abandoned. Through acquisitions, GT Interactive became Atari. On March 29, 2004, Atari, Inc. closed down all operations of WizardWorks, and folded outstanding projects into their publishing branch in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Arush Entertainment was a video game publisher and developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. It published interactive entertainment software for personal computers and advanced entertainment consoles. As a division of World Entertainment Broadcasting Corporation Arush publishes PC and console video games for sale in retail outlets and on the Internet. In 2005, the company was bought by HIP Interactive, who eventually went bankrupt. The assets of Arush and HIP are currently held by a bankruptcy holding company.
Duke Nukem: Time to Kill is a third-person shooter video game developed by n-Space and published by GT Interactive for the PlayStation.
Time Warner Interactive (Group) (TWI) was a studio within Time Warner and a predecessor of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It was formed in 1993 after Time Warner bought a controlling interest in Atari Games, and was active until 1996 when WMS Industries, the owners of the Williams, Bally and Midway arcade brands, bought the company.
Lobotomy Software, Inc. was an American video game developer founded in 1993 and based in Redmond, Washington. The company ported Quake and Duke Nukem 3D to the Sega Saturn and developed the first-person shooter PowerSlave. Lobotomy Software was acquired by Crave Entertainment in 1998 and renamed to Lobotomy Studios which closed a year later.
Atari, Inc. is an American subsidiary and publishing arm of Atari SA. Formed in 1993 as the video game publishing arm of GoodTimes Home Video as GT Interactive Software Corp., the company was subsequently majority acquired by Infogrames in 1999, and later renamed to Infogrames, Inc. As part of Infogrames Entertainment's company-wide re-branding in May 2003, Infogrames, Inc. finally became known as Atari, Inc., after Infogrames acquired Hasbro Interactive, who owned the rights to the Atari brand, in 2001. On October 11, 2008, Infogrames completed its acquisition of Atari, Inc., making it a wholly owned subsidiary. On January 21, 2013, Atari, Inc. filed for bankruptcy, with President Jim Wilson stating plans to split off from parent Atari SA.
Duke Nukem is a video game series named for its main character, Duke Nukem. Created by the company Apogee Software Ltd. as a series of video games for personal computers, the series expanded to games released for various consoles by third-party developers. The first two games in the main series were 2D platformers, while the later games have been a mix of first-person and third-person shooters.
The video game Duke Nukem Forever spent more than 14 years in development, from 1996 to 2011. It is a first-person shooter for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, developed by 3D Realms, Triptych Games, Gearbox Software and Piranha Games. It is the sequel to the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D, as part of the long-running Duke Nukem video game series. Intended to be groundbreaking, it became an infamous example of vaporware due to its severely protracted development schedule; it had been in development under 3D Realms since 1996. Director George Broussard, one of the creators of the original Duke Nukem game, announced the development in 1997, and promotional information for the game was released from 1997 until its release in 2011.
Slipgate Ironworks ApS is a Danish video game developer based in Aalborg, founded in 2010 by Frederik Schreiber.
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