Lucasfilm Games is an American video game licensor and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a larger 1990 reorganization of the Lucasfilm divisions, the video game development division was grouped and rebranded as part of LucasArts. LucasArts became known for its line of adventure games based on its SCUMM engine in the 1990s, including Maniac Mansion, the Monkey Island series, and several Indiana Jones titles. A number of influential game developers were alumni of LucasArts from this period, including Brian Moriarty, Tim Schafer, Ron Gilbert, and Dave Grossman. Later, as Lucasfilm regained control over its licensing over the Star Wars franchise, LucasArts produced numerous action-based Star Wars titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, while dropping adventure game development due to waning interest in the genre.
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the designers and programmers responsible for its games as "software artists". EA published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987's Skate or Die! The company shifted toward internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991.
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis 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.
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally founded by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes, and Jim Scoroposki from a storefront in Oyster Bay in 1987, the company built a global development team through a series of acquisitions during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following disappointing financial results in their 2003 fiscal year, Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2004. The properties owned by Acclaim were subsequently auctioned off to various parties.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film is based on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney theme parks and is the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. The film stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. The plot follows the pirate Jack Sparrow (Depp) and the blacksmith Will Turner (Bloom), as they attempt to rescue the kidnapped Elizabeth Swann (Knightley). The trio encounters Captain Hector Barbossa (Rush) and the crew of the Black Pearl, who are afflicted by a supernatural curse.
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a first-person shooter video game developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim for the Nintendo 64 console and Microsoft Windows. It was released in 1997 in North America and Europe. Turok is an adaptation of the Valiant Comics comic book series of the same name. The player controls Turok, a Native American warrior, who must stop the evil Campaigner from conquering the universe with an ancient and powerful weapon.
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interactive entertainment worldwide.
Junction Point Studios (JPS) was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas founded by Deus Ex creator, Warren Spector, in 2004. Disney Interactive Studios acquired Junction Point Studios in July 2007 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. The studio was closed in 2013.
Pirates of the Caribbean Online was a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing video game based on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. It was developed and published by Disney Online, in conjunction with SilverTree Media, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, with additional post-release content developed by Schell Games. The game was first announced by The Walt Disney Company in April 2005, and was originally meant to coincide with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in 2006, but its release was delayed multiple times. The game went through two beta testing phases during 2007, and was officially released in October of that year. Pirates of the Caribbean Online was closed on September 19, 2013.
Avalanche Software is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in October 1995 by four programmers formerly of Sculptured Software, including John Blackburn, who is chief executive officer. The studio was acquired by the games arm of The Walt Disney Company in May 2005, and spent the next ten years developing Disney-related titles, including the toys-to-life game Disney Infinity (2013). In May 2016, due to a declining toys-to-life games market, Disney decided to close the games arm, including Avalanche. Warner Bros. Games acquired the studio and re-opened it in January 2017.
Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Walt Disney's theme park ride of the same name, which opened at Disneyland in 1967 and was one of the last Disneyland attractions overseen by Walt Disney. Disney based the ride on pirate legends, folklore and novels, such as those by Italian writer Emilio Salgari.
Turok is a series of first-person shooter video games based on the comic book character of the same name. It is set in a primitive world inhabited by dinosaurs and other creatures. The series was originally developed by Acclaim Studios Austin as Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment from 1997 until Acclaim's bankruptcy in September 2004. The series was then developed by Propaganda Games and published by Touchstone Games. The series generated more than $250 million in revenue by 2002.
Joel Breton is an American video game producer, video game designer, film producer and entrepreneur. He has worked as a producer on multiple award-winning video games, including Unreal PC, Bomberman Live, and Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2016, Breton became the head of virtual reality content for HTC Vive, where he manages both internal and external content development for the HTC Vive virtual reality platform. In October 2018, Breton premiered the world's first feature length VR film, 7 Miracles, at the Raindance Film Festival, where it won the VR Film of the Festival award. Joel Breton is a member of the Steering Committee for the Academy of International Extended Reality (AIXR), where he works to advance AR/VR technology in the global marketplace.
Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversees various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company.
Josh Holmes is a Canadian video game producer and designer originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. Holmes is known for his work at 343 Industries, the studio responsible for the Halo franchise. Holmes was born and raised in British Columbia. After pursuing a career in acting, Holmes turned to games development and worked for years at Electronic Arts, rising from games tester to producer. After leaving Electronic Arts, he co-founded Propaganda Games, before joining 343 Industries in 2009.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned is a cancelled action-adventure role-playing video game that was being developed by Propaganda Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows platforms. Originally set to be published by Disney Interactive Studios, it was the first attempt to create an open world game based on the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. The project was cancelled in October 2010, soon before the closure of Propaganda Games.
Turok is a first-person shooter video game developed by Propaganda Games, and published by Disney Interactive Studios under Touchstone Games. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in February 2008, and later ported on to Microsoft Windows in April. It was the only game produced under the Touchstone Games label.
