Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Video games |
Founded | November 2004 |
Founder | Warren Spector |
Defunct | 29 January 2013 |
Fate | Dissolved |
Successor | Library: Disney Interactive |
Headquarters | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Key people | Warren Spector [1] Art Min |
Products | Epic Mickey Epic Mickey 2 |
Number of employees | 160 [2] (2012) |
Parent | Disney Interactive Studios |
Website | junctionpoint |
Junction Point Studios (JPS) was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas founded by Deus Ex creator, Warren Spector, in 2004. [3] Disney Interactive Studios acquired Junction Point Studios in July 2007 [1] to develop a property based on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , a character created by Walt Disney but owned by Universal Studios until the character was acquired by The Walt Disney Company from Universal in 2006. [4] The studio was closed in 2013. [5]
The studio was established in November 2004 by Warren Spector [6] [1] and Art Min. [7] The new studio is based around several former employees of Ion Storm, where Spector [8] and Min previously worked. [9]
From inception up until their acquisition by Disney Interactive Studios, Junction Point was working on a Source Engine based game that was to be distributed on Valve's Steam distribution network. [7] This was later revealed to be a new game in Valve's Half-Life series which was cancelled when Junction Point was acquired. [10]
Junction Point developed Epic Mickey , a Wii game which was released on November 25, 2010 in Europe and on November 30 in North America. The game is about Mickey Mouse's adventure in Wasteland, a world where forgotten characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit live. Junction Point has indicated that its game will be a "combination of action and roleplaying, traditional narrative and player choice", and will use Emergent Game Technologies' Gamebryo engine. The game has been developed for the Wii console platform.[ citation needed ]
On March 21, 2012, Warren Spector announced that a sequel, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two , was in development for Wii and Wii U. [11]
On January 29, 2013, Disney Interactive Studios confirmed the closure of the studio. [12]
Before its closure, Junction was working on a video game called Project Goliath. [13]
There has been speculation regarding the name "Junction Point" — apparently, this name was used by a canceled game at Looking Glass Studios, where Spector once worked. [8] According to available descriptions, this game was a "massively multiplayer fantasy role-playing game, changed in midstream to a single-player science-fiction role-playing game."
In March 2007, Spector explained the name in an interview: [8]
When I was with Looking Glass, the last thing I worked on with them on was a concept that I came up with along with Doug Church and some other guys. It was a very different approach to multiplayer online games called Junction Point. I loved the name and concept. I'm not revealing anything too dramatic since we're not doing the game, though I'd love to some day, but the name spoke to me more as a name for a studio than a name for a game. ... It's also nice that it abbreviates to JPS, which rolls off the tongue.
Year | Game | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|
Cancelled | Untitled Half-Life 2 episode | Microsoft Windows (Steam) |
Sleeping Giants [14] | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
2010 | Epic Mickey | Wii |
2012 | Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, Wii |
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio. After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse, who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world.
Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres of video games, such as the Ultima and Wing Commander series. The company was purchased by Electronic Arts in 1992.
Warren Evan Spector is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating immersive sim games, which give players a wide variety of choices in how to progress. Consequences of those choices are then shown in the simulated game world in subsequent levels or missions. He is best known for the critically acclaimed video game Deus Ex that embodies the choice and consequence philosophy while combining elements of the first-person shooter, role-playing, and adventure game genres. In addition to Deus Ex, Spector is known for his work while employed by Looking Glass Studios, where he was involved in the creation of several acclaimed titles including Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld II, System Shock, and Thief: The Dark Project. He is employed by OtherSide Entertainment, where he was part of the development team for now-cancelled System Shock 3. He is currently working on a new immersive sim based on an original intellectual property.
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Epic Mickey is a 2010 platform game developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Wii. It was released in November 2010 in North America and PAL territories and August 2011 in Japan by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damages a world created by Yen Sid for forgotten characters and concepts and must save it from the Blot. The game features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and originally owned by Universal Pictures; The Walt Disney Company gained ownership of the character in 2006. The game marks the first time that Mickey and Oswald have appeared together.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 was the 16th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 14, 2010, and ended on June 17, 2010, with 45,600 total attendees. There was also an E3 event held in Sony's PlayStation Home.
Tron is an American science fiction media franchise created by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. It began with the eponymous 1982 film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The original film portrays Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a genius computer programmer and video game developer who becomes transported inside a digital virtual reality known as "The Grid", where he interacts with programs in his quest to escape.
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Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is a 2012 platform game developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios and the sequel to 2010's Epic Mickey. Unlike its predecessor, which was only released for the Wii, the game was released on the PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U and Xbox 360 in November 2012 and would make further releases on the PlayStation Vita and Microsoft Windows over the next two years. The game features an optional co-op mode where a second player plays as Oswald and assist the first player, Mickey, in saving the Wasteland. The game also has a companion called Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for the Nintendo 3DS. It was also the last game to be released by Junction Point Studios, as it was released two months before its closure.
Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion is a 2012 platform game developed by DreamRift and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the third part of the Epic Mickey series, released alongside Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, and is touted as a tribute to Sega's Illusion series of Mickey Mouse games, particularly Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse.
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