SingleTrac

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SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies, Inc.
Company type Public
Industry Software & programming
Founded1994
FounderMike Bartholomew, Todd Kelly, Michael Ryder
Defunct2000
Headquarters Salt Lake City, Utah [1] [2]
Products Twisted Metal franchise
Jet Moto franchise
Parent GT Interactive (1997-2000)

SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies, Inc. was an American video game developer. It was formed by was founded in 1994 by Michael Ryder, Todd Kelly, and Michael Bartholomew, who were former employees of Evans & Sutherland, bringing their 3D graphics and software engineering skills into the video game industry. [3] [4] Its most famous titles were the Twisted Metal and Jet Moto video game series. At its heyday it was closely associated with Sony Computer Entertainment, with whom they produced the above two series.

Contents

The company's first two games, WarHawk and Twisted Metal , were major critical and commercial successes, leading publisher Sony Computer Entertainment to contract two further games from SingleTrac. [5] SingleTrac had ambitions of becoming a video game publisher as well as developer. In early 1997, the company signed a deal with Microsoft to enable them to publish PC games, [6] but these plans never came to fruition. Later in 1997, SingleTrac signed on as a developer for the Nintendo 64, [7] [8] but they ultimately never produced any Nintendo 64 games. After producing the two contracted games for Sony Computer Entertainment, SingleTrac was bought by the video game publisher GT Interactive. [1] [9] [10] It was closed down in 2000 before GT Interactive itself was bought out by Infogrames.

Lineage

A group of SingleTrac employees broke off and formed the game studio Incognito Entertainment in 1999, and went on to make some additional entries in the former SingleTrac franchise Twisted Metal and a sequel to SingleTrac's first game WarHawk , both for Sony Computer Entertainment. In 2009, most of the team members left Incognito to form Eat Sleep Play and LightBox Interactive rendering Incognito defunct. [11] Both studios would go on to develop the same two former SingleTrac franchises Incognito made entries in - Eat Sleep Play developed a PS3 entry in the Twisted Metal series and LightBox Interactive developed a spiritual successor to the Warhawk series, Starhawk . Eat Sleep Play transitioned to mobile development right before releasing its PS3 entry in the Twisted Metal series and shutting down in 2017. [12] LightBox Interactive's contract with Sony expired right after the release of Starhawk and is considered defunct since 2012. [13]

Developed games

YearTitlePlatform
1995 WarHawk PlayStation
Twisted Metal
1996 Twisted Metal 2 PlayStation
PC
Jet Moto
1997 Jet Moto 2 PlayStation
Critical Depth
1998 Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012
Streak: Hoverboard Racing
Outwars PC
2000 Animorphs: Shattered Reality PlayStation

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References

  1. 1 2 "GT Interactive Buys Singletrac, Makes Agreements with BMG and Warner Bros. Interactive". GamePro . No. 108. IDG. September 1997. p. 20. Singletrac, which is also a Nintendo 64 licensee, will keep its 70 employees at the company's headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  2. ↑ "GT Interactive Completes Acquisition Of SingleTrac, a Leading Multi-Platform Entertainment Software Developer". Business Wire . October 17, 1997. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2021– via The Free Dictionary.
  3. ↑ "Peacetime Programmers". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 97. Ziff Davis. August 1997. p. 72.
  4. ↑ Daniel, Kim (November 20, 1995). "On the Right 'Trac'". The Salt Lake Tribune . p. 13. Archived from the original on January 6, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "At the Deadline". GamePro . No. 87. IDG. December 1995. p. 206.
  6. ↑ "In the Studio". Next Generation . No. 27. Imagine Media. March 1997. p. 24.
  7. ↑ "SingleTrac Joins 'Dream Team'". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 97. Ziff Davis. August 1997. p. 20.
  8. ↑ "News Bits". GamePro . No. 106. IDG. July 1997. p. 21.
  9. ↑ "Tidbits...". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 98. Ziff Davis. September 1997. p. 23.
  10. ↑ Mullen, Micheal (June 18, 1997). "GT Goes on a Binge". GameSpot . Archived from the original on February 22, 1999. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  11. ↑ Crecente, Brian. "Warhawk's Dylan Jobe Leaves Incognito, Forms New Studio". Kotaku. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  12. ↑ Crecente, Brian (June 26, 2017). "Former Valve initiative CastAR shuts down". Polygon.
  13. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (October 18, 2012). "Starhawk developer LightBox Interactive hit with layoffs, moving from console development to iOS". Polygon. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
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