Silicon Studio

Last updated
Silicon Studio Co., Ltd.
Native name
シリコンスタジオ株式会社
Romanized name
Shirikonsutajio Kabushiki-gaisha
Type Public (K.K.)
TYO: 3907
Industry Computer graphics
video games
Founded2000 (2000)
Headquarters
Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
Teruyasu Sekimoto (Honorary Chairman)
Takehiko Terada (President and CEO)
Products 3D Dot Game Heroes
Bravely Default
Bravely Second: End Layer
Number of employees
261 (as of November 2022) [1]
Website siliconstudio.co.jp English

Silicon Studio is a Japanese computer graphics technology company and video game developer based in Tokyo. As a technology company, Silicon Studio has produced several products in the 3D computer graphics field, including middleware software, such as a post-processing visual effects library called YEBIS, as well as general real-time graphics engines and game development engines, such as OROCHI and Mizuchi, a physically based rendering engine. As a video game developer, Silicon Studio has worked on different titles for several gaming platforms, most notably, the action-adventure game 3D Dot Game Heroes on the PlayStation 3, the two role-playing video games Bravely Default and Bravely Second: End Layer on the Nintendo 3DS, and Fantasica on the iOS and Android mobile platforms.

Contents

History

Silicon Studio was established in 2000. It was founded by Teruyasu Sekimoto, who was formerly the senior vice president of Silicon Graphics (SGI). [2] Specializing from the start in rendering technology, research and development methods, post-processing visual effects, game content development, and online game solutions, Silicon Studio created four main studios to achieve the highest productivity in these areas.[ citation needed ] The research team at Silicon Studio developed several techniques related to fields in visual effects shown at the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference, such as post effect processing and global illumination. While traditionally a provider of middleware solutions for Japanese game developers, Silicon Studio has grown as an international company with a greater focus on the visibility of their products abroad.[ citation needed ]

Silicon Studio has partnerships with a number of companies, including French company Allegorithmic, Canadian company Audiokinetic, British company Stainless Games, Italian companies such as Kunos Simulazioni and Milestone, American companies such as Microsoft and Pixar, and Japanese companies such as Bandai Namco, DeNA, Dimps, FromSoftware, Idea Factory, Koei Tecmo, Marvelous, Sega, and Sony Computer Entertainment. [3] Silicon Studio has also partnered with the following companies: Vivante, [4] OTOY, [5] Square Enix, and Matchlock.

In February 2015, Silicon Studio was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market. [6]

Video games

Games developed by Silicon Studio:

Release dateTitlesGenrePublisher(s)Platform(s)
2007 Operation Darkness (Special Thanks) Tactical role-playing Xbox 360
2009 Onore no Shinzuru Michi Wo Yuke Action PlayStation Portable
3D Dot Game Heroes Action-adventure PlayStation 3
2010 Three Kingdoms Card Battle Social role-playing Silicon Studio [7] Mobage
2012 Bravely Default Role-playing Nintendo 3DS
Fantasica Tactical role-playing Silicon Studio [7] Mobage
Muramasa: Princess Commander Social card game
2014 Monster Takt Role-playing Silicon Studio [7] Android, iOS
2014 Age of Ishtaria Action role-playing
2015 Grand Sphere Role-playing Silicon Studio Android, iOS
Muramasa: Princess Commander -Miyabi- Role-playing card game
2015 Bravely Second: End Layer Role-playing Nintendo 3DS
2017 Terra Battle 2 Role-playing Android, iOS, PC

Middleware

Bishamon – Bishamon is a particle effect authoring tool and runtime library that works for many gaming platforms. It is developed by a partner company and is integrated with the Orochi3 game development engine. [8]

Motion Portrait – Motion Portrait is a technology tool that can automatically animate a portrait. It supports both regular camera photos or non-realistic character drawings. [9]

YEBIS

Development for YEBIS originally began some time around 2004. [10] Notable video games that utilize YEBIS include: [11]

Software that support YEBIS include:

YEBIS 2

YEBIS 2 is a post-processing middleware solution that allows developers to create high-quality lens-simulation optical effects. [14]

In June 2013, Silicon Studio announced that their next post-processing middleware solution, YEBIS 2, would be available for game developers on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One development network. At the E3 Expo 2013, Square Enix’s tech demo Agni’s Philosophy was shown using YEBIS 2 post-processing effects. [15]

In August 2013, the YEBIS 2 tech demo "Rigid Gems" was featured in Google’s official unveiling of the Nexus 7 mobile tablet. [16] [17] YEBIS has also been used for the Xbox One launch title, Fighter Within . [18] In May 2014, Silicon Studio announced that their YEBIS 2 middleware was being utilized in the MotoGP 14 video racing game, developed by Milestone for PlayStation 4. [19] YEBIS 2 is also utilized by Square Enix's Luminous Studio engine, and the action role-playing game Final Fantasy XV which runs on the Luminous Studio engine. [12] In 2014, Allegorithmic announced that it had integrated YEBIS 2 with software such as Substance Designer 4.3 and Substance Painter, [20] which are supported by The Foundry's Modo software. [13] OTOY has also been using YEBIS for their real-time path tracing engine on PC. [10]

In 2015, Geomerics announced that it has integrated YEBIS 3 with the Forge lighting tool for the Enlighten 3 software. [21]

Engines

OROCHI3 – Orochi3 is an all-in-one game development engine. It supports PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360 and PC. [22] It was used by Bandai Namco Entertainment's fighting game Rise of Incarnates .[ citation needed ] An earlier version of Orochi was also used by Square Enix's third-person shooter arcade game Gunslinger Stratos in 2012. [23]

Mizuchi

A new real-time graphics engine that debuted in 2014, compatible with the PC and PlayStation 4 platforms.[ citation needed ] It is called Mizuchi, with the full title, Mizuchi: The Cutting-Edge Real-Time Rendering Engine. It is intended to be used for various different applications, including video game development, films, architectural and automobile visualization, and academic research. [24]

In September 2014, a tech demo running on the engine, called "Museum", was revealed. It received a positive reception for the high visual quality of its real-time graphics. [25] [26] In December 2014, Silicon Studio announced the Mizuchi engine will be compatible with the PC at 60 frames per second and the PlayStation 4 at 30 frames per second.[ citation needed ]

Stride

Stride, formerly known as Xenko and before that as Paradox, is a game development framework and C# game engine with an asset pipeline and a cross-platform runtime supporting iOS, Android, Windows UWP, Linux, and PlayStation 4. It was made free and open-source software in October 2014. [27] Xenko beta version 1.8x was then released finally out of beta in February 2017. [28] In April 2020, engine was renamed to Stride. [29]

Related Research Articles

A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Square Enix</span> Japanese entertainment company

Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational holding company, video game production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing game franchises, such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts, among numerous others. Outside of video game publishing and development, it is also in the business of merchandise, arcade facilities, and manga publication under its Gangan Comics brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unreal Engine</span> Video game engine developed by Epic Games

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">PhysX</span> Realtime physics engine software

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SpeedTree is a group of vegetation programming and modeling software products developed and sold by Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. (IDV) that generates virtual foliage for animations, architecture and in real time for video games and demanding real time simulations.

Crystal Tools is a game engine created and used internally by the Japanese company Square Enix. It combines standard libraries for elements such as graphics, sound and artificial intelligence while providing game developers with various authoring tools. The target systems of Crystal Tools are the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and the Wii. This was decided with the intention of making cross-platform production more feasible. The idea for the engine sprang from Square Enix's desire to have a unified game development environment in order to effectively share the technology and know-how of the company's individual teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unity (game engine)</span> Cross-platform video game and simulation engine

Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, first announced and released in June 2005 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a Mac OS X game engine. The engine has since been gradually extended to support a variety of desktop, mobile, console and virtual reality platforms. It is particularly popular for iOS and Android mobile game development, is considered easy to use for beginner developers, and is popular for indie game development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grin (company)</span> Swedish video game developer

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Umbra is a graphics software technology company founded 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. Umbra specializes in occlusion culling, visibility solution technology and provides middleware for video games running on Windows, Linux, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, handheld consoles, and other platforms. In 2021, Amazon acquired Umbra.

<i>Chrono Resurrection</i> 2004 video game

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PhyreEngine is a license-only free to use game engine from Sony Interactive Entertainment, compatible with PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation VR, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Google Android and Apple iOS. PhyreEngine has been adopted by several game studios and has been used in over 200 published titles.

Engine Software is a Dutch video game developer, located in Doetinchem, Netherlands, which specialized in handheld video games and digital platforms until 2011. In the period after (2011-present) they have become more active and known for high-end ports and adaptations of games to modern consoles, mobile, PC and streaming services like Stadia and Luna. Some of the best known games they have worked on include Puzzle Quest for the Nintendo DS, Terraria for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Wii U, Killer7 Remastered for PC, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for Nintendo Switch and No More Heroes / No More Heroes 2 for Nintendo Switch.

Geomerics was a software company based in Cambridge, UK, that specialised in creating lighting technology for the video game industry.

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

Outerra is a Slovak computer software company best known for its middleware 3D planetary graphics engine, called Outerra engine, in development since 2008. The engine renders high-quality terrain, terrain texturing, flora and water flow normal maps using relatively sparse and highly compressed data through fractal processing and other types of procedural generation. The game Anteworld uses real world data to create a virtual replica of planet Earth.

Fork Particle is a computer graphics visual effects modeling and software development kit (SDK) developed and sold by Fork Particle, Inc. Fork Particle uses its real time particle system technology to simulate visual effects or particle effects such as CGI explosions, fire, rain, smoke, dust, etc. Fork Particle is used in video games and visual simulation software such as a flight simulator. It has been licensed to game developers for Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Panta Rhei, is a video game engine developed by Capcom, for use with 8th generation consoles: PlayStation 4, Xbox One; as a replacement for its previous MT Framework engine.

Luminous Engine, originally called Luminous Studio, is a multi-platform game engine developed and used internally by Square Enix and later on by Luminous Productions. The engine was developed for and targeted at eighth-generation hardware and DirectX 11-compatible platforms, such as Xbox One, the PlayStation 4, and versions of Microsoft Windows. It was conceived during the development of Final Fantasy XIII-2 to be compatible with next generation consoles that their existing platform, Crystal Tools, could not handle.

The development of Final Fantasy XV, a Japanese action role-playing video game, began in 2006 shortly before its announcement at that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Square Enix handled primary development on XV, and the game was released worldwide in November 2016; the total development time covered approximately ten years. The game was originally announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a PlayStation 3-exclusive spin-off title. It was part of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, a subseries of games linked by a common mythos: while retaining thematic links, specific references were removed to aid with marketing. Additional media was created to portray the world of XV without using sequels; dubbed the "Final Fantasy XV Universe", it included a feature film, an original net animation, a virtual reality simulation game, multiple mobile projects including an abridged version of the game, ports to Windows and Stadia, and a novel The Dawn of the Future depicting an alternate finale.

Stride is a free and open-source 2D and 3D cross-platform game engine originally developed by Silicon Studio. It can be used to create video games for PC, mobile devices and virtual reality.

Square Enix Image Studio Division, is a Japan-based CGI animation studio dedicated towards creating video game cut scenes and full-length feature films for Square Enix. Square Enix Image Studio Division was founded as Visual Works as the CGI department for Square and was responsible for creating the pre-rendered CG sequences for the company, starting with Final Fantasy VII in 1997.

References

  1. ↑ "Company Profile - Silicon Studio". www.siliconstudio.co.jp.
  2. ↑ "The Innovation of Silicon Studio - Silicon Studio". www.siliconstudio.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  3. ↑ Official website
  4. ↑ "Silicon Studio Partners with Vivante". Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2014-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "Outline of Initial Listing Issue" (PDF). Japan Exchange Group. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  7. 1 2 3 "Game Apps and Social Games - Development Showcase - Silicon Studio". www.siliconstudio.co.jp.
  8. ↑ "MATCHLOCK Corporation Middleware". November 28, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Middleware | Motion Portrait | Silicon Studio Corporation". Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  10. 1 2 3 "Yebis Engine Interview: Developing Physically Accurate Optical Post-Effects".
  11. 1 2 3 "SHOWCASE - Featured Projects | YEBIS". www.siliconstudio.co.jp.
  12. 1 2 Linneman, John (March 21, 2015). "Tech Analysis: Final Fantasy 15 Episode Duscae". Eurogamer .
  13. 1 2 "Plug-ins, Kits & Partner Products | Modo | Foundry". www.foundry.com.
  14. ↑ "FEATURES | Post Processing Effects Middleware YEBIS". www.siliconstudio.co.jp.
  15. ↑ "Agni's Philosophy FINAL FANTASY REALTIME TECH DEMO". www.agnisphilosophy.com.
  16. ↑ "- YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  17. ↑ "Yebis 2 Demo Highlights the Power of Nexus 7". Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
  18. ↑ "Fighter Within". Ubisoft.com.
  19. ↑ "YEBIS 2 REVS UP OPTICAL EFFECTS ON NEXT GENERATION RACING TITLE MOTOGP™14". www.gamasutra.com.
  20. ↑ "Substance tools to get Final Fantasy XV render tech | CG Channel". May 22, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Geomerics improves real-time global illumination engine • GraphicSpeak". March 6, 2015.
  22. ↑ "The all-in-One Game Engine｜OROCHI 3". Archived from the original on 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  23. ↑ "GadgetellSolutions Media".
  24. ↑ "Mizuchi - The Real-time Rendering Engine - Silicon Studio". www.siliconstudio.co.jp.
  25. ↑ https://gamnesia.nintendoenthusiast.com/bravely-default-team-unveils-revolutionary-new-graphics-engine/
  26. ↑ Hagedoorn, Hilbert. "Mizuchi Tech Demo Renders Real Time awesomeness". Guru3D.com.
  27. ↑ Open sourcing, new platforms and more on xenko.com (October 2014)
  28. ↑ Silicon Studio releasing Xenko Engine on gamesindustry.biz
  29. ↑ "Stride Game Engine - Xenko has been renamed to Stride". stride3d.net.
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