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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | October 1997 |
| Defunct | November 13, 2019 |
| Successor | Roundhouse Studios |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Chris Rhinehart Paul MacArthur Ben Gokey Ted Halsted Jim Sumwalt Shane Gurno |
| Products | Rune Prey |
Human Head Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer located in Madison, Wisconsin.
Human Head Studios was founded in October 1997 by a group of six developers formerly from Raven Software: Ben Gokey, Chris Rhinehart, Paul MacArthur, Ted Halsted, James Sumwalt, and Shane Gurno—later joined by game producer Tim Gerritsen as co-owner in June 1998. Regarding the origin of the studio's name, Gerritsen explained: "When the guys were thinking of leaving Raven Software, someone posted a message via e-mail that they had lost some money. This started people saying they had lost all sorts of things. One person posted that they had misplaced a bag of human heads and this gave the inspiration for the name." [1] Their first game was Rune , a third-person Viking action game. The company also worked on the long-anticipated first-person shooter Prey , a game that was executive produced by 3D Realms.
On April 20, 2007, a news report indicated that the company's headquarters were partially destroyed in a fire. [2] No injuries were reported. On October 1, 2007, the company moved back into their newly renovated offices. In 2014, Human Head announced that they have revived a multiplayer video game called Minimum from TimeGate Studios, which filed for bankruptcy in 2013. [3] Their final major release was the infamous The Quiet Man, an action-adventure beat-em-up published by Square Enix which features full-motion video cutscenes.
On November 13, 2019, the studio announced its closure, immediately after the release of Rune II . The whole team subsequently formed a new studio, Roundhouse Studios, under Bethesda Softworks. Chris Rhinehart of Human Head/Roundhouse stated that "Sadly, we had to wind down the business of Human Head Studios and close its doors", but had been able to reach out to Bethesda to establish this new studio. [4]
| Year | Title | Publisher(s) | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Rune | Gathering of Developers | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2000 | Blair Witch Volume II: The Legend of Coffin Rock | Microsoft Windows | |
| 2001 | Rune: Halls of Valhalla | Microsoft Windows | |
| 2001 | Rune: Viking Warlord | Take-Two Interactive | PlayStation 2 |
| 2004 | Dead Man's Hand | Atari, SA | Xbox, Microsoft Windows |
| 2006 | Prey | 2K Games | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, macOS, Linux |
| 2011 | Brink [5] | Bethesda Softworks | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| 2012 | Fort Courage | Human Head Studios | iOS |
| 2013 | Defiance [5] | Trion Worlds | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| 2014 | Minimum | Atari, SA | Microsoft Windows |
| 2015 | Lost Within [6] | Amazon Game Studios | iOS, Android |
| 2015 | Dungeon Defenders II | Trendy Entertainment | Xbox One, PlayStation 4 [7] |
| 2018 | The Quiet Man [8] | Square Enix | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 |
| 2018 | Survived By | Digital Extremes | Microsoft Windows |
| 2019 | Rune II | Ragnarok Game, LLC | Microsoft Windows |
Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the studio's original developers, largely responsible for creating the Heretic and Hexen: Beyond Heretic games, left to form Human Head Studios.
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Rune is an action-adventure video game developed by Human Head Studios which was released in 2000. The game is based on Ragnarok, showing the conflict between the Gods Odin and Loki and the buildup to Ragnarok. Built on the Unreal Engine, the game casts the player as Ragnar, a young Viking warrior whose mettle is tested when Loki and his evil allies plot to destroy the world and bring about Ragnarok.
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Chris Rhinehart is a programmer, game developer and co-founder of Human Head Studios. He is currently creative director at Roundhouse Studios.
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