Mode 7 Games

Last updated
Mode 7 Games
Industry Video games
Founded2005
FoundersPaul Kilduff-Taylor, Ian Hardingham
Headquarters,
England
Website www.mode7.games

Mode 7 Games is a United Kingdom-based video game developer and publisher.

History

Mode 7 was founded around 2005 by Paul Kilduff-Taylor and Ian Hardingham. They spent two years to develop Determinance, a multiplayer sword fighting game. According to Kilduff-Taylor, the game was a commercial disappointment for them, but their capabilities attracted contract work from clients like ITV, BBC, and Novint Technologies. Their work with Novint had involved a game that was divisive - some thought it was great while others were confused by it. This led the pair to the goal of making a game that was good regardless of how long it would take. [1] They started development of this title while still doing contract work to pay for their bills, and once they felt the single player was in a state good enough for a beta release of their next title, Frozen Synapse in April 2010. [2] After about a year, sales of the beta were sufficient to sustain them allowing them to commit to the title full-time. [1] Frozen Synapse, a turn-based combat strategy simulation game, was released in full by May 2011, received critical praise, and by early 2012, had sold over 300,000 units, with over US$300,000 in direct sales to Mode 7. This allowed Mode 7 to expand the game to other platforms and hire additional staff. [3]

Based on the success of Frozen Synapse, Mode 7 wanted to take the core of that game into their next title, and developed Frozen Endzone, a similar strategy game but based on a sport like American football. The game, which was released in 2015, did not fare as well as Synapse even after a change in name to Frozen Cortex, which Kilduff-Taylor attributed to players thinking it was a sports game rather than a strategy game. Due to this, Mode 7 returned to develop a sequel to Frozen Synapse, Frozen Synapse 2 , which was initially planned for released in 2016 but was delayed until 2018. [4]

In 2017, Mode 7 announced they would also support publishing of other indie games, with Smac Games' Tokyo 42 [5] and Codebyfire's The Colonists. [6]

In March 2019 Ian Hardingham announced he was leaving the studio to become chief technology officer at Oxford Brain Diagnostics, working on early detection of brain diseases. With his departure, Mode 7 further downsized as they were no longer developing "large-scale indie games in-house", but instead would remain committed to supporting the publishing arm and their third-party studios. [7]

Mode 7 announced in February 2020 they would help publish Ground Shatter Game's Fights in Tight Spaces . [8]

Related Research Articles

Kongregate is an American web gaming portal and video game publisher. Its website features over 124,000 online games and 30+ mobile games available to the public. The company also publishes games for PC, mobile, and home consoles. It was purchased by GameStop Corporation in 2010 before being acquired by Modern Times Group MT AB in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indie game</span> Class of video game, generally independently published

An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to a lack of publisher support. The term is analogous to independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.

Xbox Live Indie Games were video games created by individual developers or small teams of developers released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games were developed using Microsoft XNA, and developed by one or more independent developers that are registered with App Hub. Unlike Xbox Live Arcade titles, these were generally only tested within the local creator community, had much lower costs of production, and generally were less expensive to purchase. The service was released to widespread use alongside the New Xbox Experience, and as of November 2014, over 3,300 games had been released on the service, many receiving media attention. All Indie Games currently require the user to be logged into their Xbox Live account to initiate the start-up of each game. Indie Games were not available in Australia, due to the requirement for all games to be rated by the Australian Classification Board, and the prohibitive expenses involved. The Xbox Live Indie Games program did not continue with the release of the Xbox One, and the marketplace for these games was shuttered on October 7, 2017.

Minecraft is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java programming language, it was developed over the span of two years, with many public test builds being released from May 2009 until its full release on 18 November 2011. After the game's full release, Persson gave Jens "Jeb" Bergensten control over the game's development. In the years since its release, it has been ported to several platforms, including smartphones and various video game consoles, primarily by 4J Studios. In 2014, Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property were purchased by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion. Minecraft has become the best-selling video game of all-time, with over 300 million copies sold and nearly 140 million monthly active players as of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mojang Studios</span> Swedish video game developer

Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time.

<i>Ace of Spades</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Ace of Spades was a 2012 first-person shooter and voxel-based sandbox video game developed and published by Jagex. Originally created by Ben Aksoy and released as a prototype in April 2011, the game was acquired by Jagex in 2012 and fully released in December that year. Following poor reception and several minor downloadable content package releases, the game was shut down in March 2019.

<i>SpaceChem</i> 2011 video game

SpaceChem is a puzzle and indie game by Zachtronics Industries, based on principles of automation and chemical bonding. In the game, the player is tasked to produce one or more specific chemical molecules via an assembly line by programming two remote manipulators that interact with atoms and molecules through a visual programming language. SpaceChem was the developer's first foray into a commercial title after a number of free Flash-based browser games that feature similar puzzle-based assembly problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zachtronics</span> American video game developer

Zachtronics LLC is an American video game developer, best known for engineering-oriented puzzle video games and programming games. Zachtronics was founded by Zach Barth in 2000, who serves as its lead designer. Some of their games include SpaceChem, Infinifactory, TIS-100, and Shenzhen I/O. Infiniminer (2009) inspired the creation of Minecraft.

<i>Frozen Synapse</i> 2011 video game

Frozen Synapse is a turn-based tactics video game developed by independent game developer Mode 7 Games, in which players plan their moves at their leisure and turns are resolved simultaneously. Players attempt to win by giving orders to a small squad of armed combatants, most commonly with the goal of eliminating all enemy units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double Eleven (company)</span> British video game developer and publisher

Double Eleven Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based in Middlesbrough.

Blendo Games is an American independent video game development company based in Culver City, California. It was founded by Brendon Chung in 2010 and is primarily a one-person effort. Blendo Games gained more widespread exposure with the short form stand alone title Gravity Bone; the following games Flotilla and Atom Zombie Smasher were met with critical praise. The studio has also released several other games in several genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Schatz</span> Video game developer

Andy Schatz is a video game designer based in San Diego. He began developing video games at a young age and graduated from Amherst College. After graduation, he worked for various video game development companies, including TKO Software, before founding his own independent video game development studio Pocketwatch Games in 2004. Attempting to expand his company, Schatz tried enrolling into business school; all applications were rejected. As a result, he began working on games he was passionate about. Schatz has released four video games under Pocketwatch Games: Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa, Venture Arctic, Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine, and Tooth and Tail. Monaco 2 is currently in development. His design philosophy revolves around taking inspiration from already existing media, such as films, and transforming it into a video game.

Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alpha, alpha, and/or beta, while the developer is able to use those funds to continue further development on the game. Those that pay to participate typically help to debug the game, provide feedback and suggestions, may have access to special materials in the game. The early-access approach is a common way to obtain funding for indie games, and may also be used along with other funding mechanisms, including crowdfunding. Many crowdfunding projects promise to offer access to alpha and/or beta versions of the game as development progresses; however, unlike some of these projects which solicit funds but do not yet have a playable game, all early access games offer an immediately playable version of the unfinished game to players.

<i>Nidhogg</i> (video game) 2014 video game

Nidhogg is a side-scrolling two-player fighting video game developed and published by Messhof. Players duel with swords in a pixelated environment. The game was commissioned for the New York University Game Center's annual multiplayer show, and was revised and demoed at private events over the next four years before its final release. It won Indiecade 2013's Game Design award and the 2011 Independent Games Festival's Nuovo Award. It was released for Microsoft Windows on January 13, 2014, and later ported to OS X, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. Critics praised the feel of the gameplay and its balance, but considered its single-player mode unsatisfying. Messhof released a sequel in 2017 with a higher resolution art style and additional weapons and arenas.

Counter-Strike (CS) is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror while counter-terrorists try to prevent it. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, Counter-Strike. It was initially released as a modification ("mod") for Half-Life that was designed by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe before the rights to the mod's intellectual property were acquired by Valve, the developers of Half-Life, who then turned Counter-Strike into a retail product released in 2000.

<i>Mini Metro</i> (video game) 2015 puzzle strategy video game

Mini Metro is a puzzle strategy video game developed by New Zealand indie development team Dinosaur Polo Club. Players are tasked with constructing an efficient rail transit network for a rapidly growing city. The game's visual style makes use of bold colours and simple geometry to replicate the appearance of modern transit maps. The game uses a procedural audio system to generate sounds based on the player actions and transit network, with inspiration from works of minimal music.

RimWorld is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Canadian-based developer Ludeon Studios. Originally called Eclipse Colony, it was initially released as a Kickstarter crowdfunding project in early access for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in November 2013, and was released on October 17, 2018. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as RimWorld Console Edition on July 29, 2022, with development and publishing being handled by Double Eleven. Rather than a test of skill or a challenge, the game is intended to serve as an AI-powered "story generator", where the game is used as the medium for players to experience narrative adventures. The game has received outstanding reviews from critics.

<i>Frozen Synapse 2</i> 2018 video game

Frozen Synapse 2 is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Mode 7 Games. It is a sequel to the 2011 video game Frozen Synapse. The player is in charge of a security force in a cyberpunk metropolis. The game was announced in February 2016 for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The developers were initially targeting a late 2016 release, but the game eventually shipped on September 13, 2018 for Windows only.

<i>Chivalry 2</i> 2021 video game

Chivalry 2 is a 2021 multiplayer hack and slash action video game developed by Torn Banner Studios and published by Tripwire Interactive. The sequel to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare (2012), the game was released on June 8, 2021, for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S.

<i>Town of Salem</i> 2014 video game

Town of Salem is an online multiplayer game with social deduction and strategy elements. It was developed and published by indie game developer BlankMediaGames, and released on December 15, 2014. Early alpha and beta versions were browser-based and free-to-play. On October 14, 2018, the game was released for iOS and Android mobile devices after a successful and long-supported Kickstarter fundraiser.

References

  1. 1 2 Meer, Alec (12 July 2011). "Mode 7's Paul Taylor". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  2. Cangeloso, Sal (19 April 2010). "Indie game Frozen Synapse pre-orders available today". Geek.com . Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. Polson, John (25 January 2020). "Road to the IGF: Mode 7 Games' Frozen Synapse". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  4. Wawro, Alex (14 March 2016). "When good games go bad, devs share lessons learned from failure". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. Wakaskez, Luke (30 March 2016). "Tokyo 42". Game Informer . Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. Smith, Adam (18 July 2017). "Mode 7 to publish planetary settling sim The Colonists". Rock Paper Shotgun . Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  7. O'Conner, Alice (18 March 2019). "Mode 7 co-founder leaves to do brain science". Rock Paper Shotgun . Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. Phillips, Tom (17 March 2020). "Fights in Tight Places has some stylish turn-based fisticuffs". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.