Pipeworks Studios

Last updated

Pipeworks Studios
Formerly
  • Pipeworks Software
  • Pipeworks Studio
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
FoundedNovember 1999;24 years ago (1999-11)
Founders
  • Dan White
  • Dan Duncalf
Headquarters,
US
Key people
  • Lindsay Gupton (Studio President)
Number of employees
204 [1]  (2022)
Parent
Subsidiaries Timbre Games (2021-2022)
Website pipeworks.com

Pipeworks Studios is an American video game developer based in Eugene, Oregon. The company was founded in November 1999 by Dan White and Dan Duncalf and works to provide full development, co-development, and live operations to video game publishers and other partners, in addition to creating original IPs. [2]

Contents

History

Pipeworks Software was founded in Eugene, Oregon, in November 1999 by Dan White and Dan Duncalf, two developers formerly of Dynamix. [3] [4] [5] [6] White and Duncalf assumed the roles of chief technical officer and president, respectively, and Phil Cowles was hired as director of business development. [7] On April 12, 2005, it was announced that Pipeworks had been acquired by Foundation 9 Entertainment, a video game conglomerate company founded the month prior. [3] Subsequently, Duncalf joined Foundation 9's board of directors. [3] By May 2010, Pipeworks had 60 employees. [5] In September 2014, under advisory from GP Bullhound, Foundation 9 sold Pipeworks to Italian game publishing company Digital Bros. [6] [8] By February 2016, Pipeworks employed 75 people and had changed its name to Pipeworks Studio. [6] Digital Bros sold Pipeworks off to Northern Pacific Group for US$20 million in February 2018, and the studio was later renamed Pipeworks Studios. [9] In September 2020, Sumo Group acquired Pipeworks for $100 million. [10] Together with its new parent company, the studio opened a subsidiary, Timbre Games, in Canada under the management of Joe Nickolls. [11]

In July 2022, Pipeworks Studios was acquired by Jagex, developers of the RuneScape franchise. [12]

Games developed

YearTitlePlatform(s)
2001GLOM Palm OS
2002 Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee GameCube, Xbox
2004 Godzilla: Save the Earth PlayStation 2, Xbox
2005 Prince of Persia: Revelations PlayStation Portable
2006 Rampage: Total Destruction GameCube, PlayStation 2, Wii
2007 Prince of Persia: Rival Swords PlayStation Portable, Wii
NHRA Drag Racing: Countdown to the ChampionshipPlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
Godzilla: Unleashed PlayStation 2, Wii
Boogie PlayStation 2
2008 Merv Griffin's Crosswords Wii
2009 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Wii, Xbox 360
Charm Girls Club: Pajama PartyWii
GeoStorm (with InVisM Inc) Microsoft Windows
2010 Monopoly PlayStation Portable
Jeopardy! Wii
Wheel of Fortune Wii
Deadliest Warrior PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Zumba Fitness PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
UDraw Studio Wii
2011 Deadliest Warrior: Legends PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2012 Devil May Cry: HD Collection PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Wheel of FortunePlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Jeopardy!PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Deadliest Warrior Ancient CombatXbox 360, PlayStation 3
Wreck-It RalphWii, 3DS, DS
2013 Dancing With the Stars: Keep Dancing Browser, Microsoft Windows
World Series of Poker: Full House Pro Xbox 360
2014Godzilla: Smash 3 Android, iOS
2015SoccerDieiOS
Gems of War Xbox One, PlayStation 4
2016Prominence PokerMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
SuperfightMicrosoft Windows
2017Queen's Sea PokerAndroid, iOS
2018 Terraria PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
King's Cruise LotteryAndroid, iOS
2019SoccerDie: Cosmic Cup Nintendo Switch
Adventure AcademyiOS, Microsoft Windows, MacOS
2020 Rival Peak Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS
2022 The Walking Dead: Last Mile Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS
Magic Spellslingers Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS

Related Research Articles

Jagex Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. It is best known for RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, both free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The company's name is derived from the company's original slogan, "Java Gaming Experts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sumo Digital</span> British video game developer

Sumo Digital Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Sheffield and the principal subsidiary of Sumo Group since 2017. The company was founded in 2003 by four former members of the management team of Infogrames Studios and, as of 2023, employs more than 1100 people in 16 studios. The developer's model has been described as work for hire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Silver</span> Austrian video game publisher

Deep Silver is an Austrian video game publisher and a division of Plaion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Bros. Games</span> American video game publisher

Warner Bros. Games is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The publisher was founded as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on January 14, 2004, under Warner Bros. Entertainment and transferred to its Home Entertainment division when that company was formed in October 2005. Warner Bros. Games manages the wholly owned game development studios TT Games, Rocksteady Studios, NetherRealm Studios, Monolith Productions, WB Games Boston, Avalanche Software, and WB Games Montréal, among others.

Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game company based in Irvine, California. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers Backbone Entertainment and The Collective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2K (company)</span> American video game publisher

2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports sub-labels. The nascent label incorporated several development studios owned by Take-Two, including Visual Concepts and Kush Games, which had been acquired the day before. Originally based in New York City, 2K moved to Novato in 2007. A third label, 2K Play, was added in September 2007. 2K is governed by David Ismailer as president and Phil Dixon as chief operating officer. It operates a motion capture studio in Petaluma, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">505 Games</span> Italian video game publisher

505 Games S.p.A. is an Italian video game publisher based in Milan. It was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Milan-based Digital Bros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punch Entertainment</span>

Punch Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2005 by Tobin Lent, the company established a Vietnamese satellite studio that same year. In September 2011, Punch Entertainment sold off its Vietnamese studio to DeNA and its US-based staff to Aeria Games.

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

Double Helix Games was an American video game developer based in Irvine, California, founded in October 2007 through the merger of The Collective and Shiny Entertainment, two studios owned by Foundation 9 Entertainment. Double Helix was acquired by Amazon and integrated into Amazon Game Studios in February 2014.

Demiurge Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Boston. It was founded in 2002 by Albert Reed, Chris Linder, and Tom Lin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalypso Media</span> German video game publisher

Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Claymore Game Studios, and Nine Worlds Studios. Kalypso is best known for publishing Tropico, Sudden Strike, Dungeons and Railway Empire series.

Team17 Group plc is a British video game developer and publisher based in Wakefield, England. The venture was created in December 1990 through the merger of British publisher 17-Bit Software and Swedish developer Team 7. At the time, the two companies consisted of and were led by Michael Robinson, Martyn Brown and Debbie Bestwick, and Andreas Tadic, Rico Holmes and Peter Tuleby, respectively. Bestwick later became Team17's chief executive officer until 1 January 2024. After their first game, Full Contact (1991) for the Amiga, the studio followed up with multiple number-one releases on that platform and saw major success with Andy Davidson's Worms in 1995, the resulting franchise of which still remains as the company's primary development output, having developed over 20 entries in it.

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

Coffee Stain Studios AB is a Swedish video game developer based in Skövde. Founded in 2010 by nine University of Skövde students, the company is best known for Goat Simulator, which was released in April 2014, and Satisfactory, released as an early access game in 2019. Their parent holding company also operates Coffee Stain Publishing, a publisher, and majority-owns developers Coffee Stain North and Lavapotion. In November 2018, the Coffee Stain group was acquired by THQ Nordic AB.

The Chinese Room is a British video game developer based in Brighton that is best known for exploration games. The company originated as a mod team for Half-Life 2, based at the University of Portsmouth in 2007, and is named after John Searle's Chinese room thought experiment. In August 2018, it became a subsidiary of Sumo Digital.

Avantgarden S.r.l. is an Italian video game developer based in Milan. It was founded in 2012 by industry veterans Massimo Guarini and Gianni Ricciardi, sold to Digital Bros in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TT Games</span> British holding company

TT Games Limited is a British holding company and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games. The company was established in 2005 through the merger of developer Traveller's Tales and publisher Giant Interactive. Its other branches include developer TT Fusion, animation studio TT Animation and mobile game studio TT Odyssey. The company is best known for its video games based on the Lego construction toy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sumo Group</span> British video game holding company

Sumo Group Limited is a British video game holding company based in Sheffield. It was formed in December 2017 as the parent company for Sumo Digital and Atomhawk, followed by its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange later that month. Another of Sumo Group's subsidiaries is Secret Mode, a publisher established in March 2021. After purchasing a minority stake in Sumo Group in November 2019, Tencent wholly acquired the company in January 2022.

References

  1. Kerr, Chris (September 30, 2020). "Sumo Group acquires development studio Pipeworks to break into the U.S." Gamasutra . Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  2. PW, The Shop at (July 21, 2022). "Jagex Acquires US-Based Pipeworks Studios". Pipeworks Studios. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Gamespot Staff (April 12, 2005). "Pipeworks laid into Foundation 9". GameSpot . Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  4. Hong, Quang (March 20, 2000). "Pipeworks Credit". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Buri McDonald, Sherri (May 10, 2009). "Getting their game on". The Register-Guard . Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Buri McDonald, Sherri (February 21, 2016). "Pipeworks progress". The Register-Guard . Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  7. Stelter, Brian (July 21, 2000). "Pipeworks Interview". IGN . Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  8. "GP Bullhound advises Foundation 9 Entertainment on the sale of Sumo Digital and Pipeworks". GP Bullhound. November 18, 2014. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  9. Handrahan, Matthew (October 31, 2018). "Digital Bros.' full-year results hurt by a lack of new releases". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  10. Handrahan, Matthew (September 30, 2020). "Sumo Group acquires Pipeworks for $100m". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  11. Kerr, Chris (July 13, 2021). "Sumo Group and Pipeworks open Canadian studio Timbre Games". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  12. "Jagex acquires Pipeworks Studio to grow in North America". VentureBeat. July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.