SuperVillain Studios

Last updated
SuperVillain Studios
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
FoundedJanuary 2004
Headquarters Irvine, California
Key people
Owners
Steve Ganem
Chris Rausch
ProductsGames for video game consoles
Number of employees
13
Parent Nicalis (2017–present)

SuperVillain Studios is an American video game development company that develops for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Portable.

Contents

Company profile

SuperVillain Studios (SVS) was founded in January 2004 by Tim Campbell, Steve Ganem and Chris Rausch in Costa Mesa, CA. The original team consisted of six members, whose first duties were levels and online programming for Tony Hawk's Underground 2 , which was primarily developed by Neversoft. The team grew steadily through steady contracts with Activision, eventually developing the original title, Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony, on the PSP for 2K Games. The title was built using the company's internally developed cross-platform engine, Automaton, which is known for its versatility. Automaton was also used to develop Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake and flOw PSP for Sony Computer Entertainment and Order Up! (Wii) for Zoo Games.

According to the company website, "...SuperVillain Studios was founded on the belief that the key to developing outstanding video games is to combine talented developers with a creative and fulfilling environment." SuperVillain Studios is composed of a group of veteran game developers from companies such as Blizzard Entertainment, Neversoft Entertainment, Westwood Studios, EA, Interplay, Troika, and Point of View. SuperVillain Studios intends to create games that appeal to both the mass market and hard-core gamers.

SuperVillain Studios developed one original IP for the Wii, named "Order Up!". The game was later upgraded and published as "Order Up!!" on PSN and 3DS eShop before being re-designed for mobile and released as the highly successful "Order Up!! To Go" on iOS and Android.

In 2012, SuperVillain published their first Steam game, "Tower Wars" - a competitive, multiplayer Tower Defense game that added innovative offensive mechanics to the traditionally defense-only genre.

At the end of 2013, SVS returned to their console roots in developing "flOw" for PS4's launch and for PS Vita.

2014 saw a boost in mobile production from the studio. They developed "Record Run" with Harmonix Music Systems, "Order Up!! Fast Food", "Glacier Rush" and published "Choco Dozer" before launching "Transworld Endless Skater" in July.

In 2017, Nicalis announced that they had acquired the studio, alongside Cowboy Color. [1]

Co-developments

Games

Related Research Articles

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

Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the studio worked with Playmates Toys, where they worked on the game Skeleton Warriors, which was based on a animated television series of the same name. Throughout 1996, the studio grew, and worked on projects with Crystal Dynamics and Sony Computer Entertainment, but due to internal conflicts, they were cancelled.

<i>Tony Hawks Underground</i> 2003 video game

Tony Hawk's Underground is a 2003 skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the Tony Hawk's series after Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance. In 2004, it was published for Microsoft Windows in Australia and New Zealand as a budget release.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2</i> 2000 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is a 2000 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second installment in the Tony Hawk's series of sports games and was released for the PlayStation in 2000, with subsequent ports to Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color, and Dreamcast the same year. In 2001, the game was ported to the Mac OS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, and Xbox. The game was later ported to Windows Mobile and Windows Phone devices in 2006 and to iOS devices in 2010.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3</i> 2001 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is a 2001 skateboarding video game and the third installment in the Tony Hawk's series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label in 2001 for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color and GameCube. In 2002, it was published for the Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and the Nintendo 64. It was the final official release for the Nintendo 64, the first game released for the PlayStation 2 supporting online play and was a launch title for the GameCube in North America.

A softmod is a method of using software to modify the intended behavior of hardware, such as video cards, sound cards, or game consoles in a way that can overcome restrictions of the firmware, or install custom firmware.

<i>Tony Hawks Underground 2</i> 2004 video game

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is a 2004 skateboarding video game, the sixth entry in the Tony Hawk's series after Tony Hawk's Underground. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision on October 4, 2004 in the U.S. for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Advance platforms. The PlayStation Portable version was released in March 15 the following year, renamed Tony Hawk's Underground 2: Remix, which includes extra levels and characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D3 Publisher</span> Japanese video game developer and publisher

D3 Publisher Inc. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded on February 5, 1992. The company is known for the Simple series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii U, Android, and iOS.

NHL 2K was a series of hockey games developed by Visual Concepts. It was published by Sega Sports from 2000 to 2004, and 2K from 2005 to 2014. The games are officially licensed from the National Hockey League and NHL Players Association.

<i>Tony Hawks Downhill Jam</i> 2006 video game

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. The game, named after the level "Downhill Jam" from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, was published by Activision in 2006 as a timed Nintendo exclusive for the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and Wii. In 2007, it was published for the PlayStation 2. It is a spin-off in which accompanies the release of Tony Hawk's Project 8, which is conversely available on non-Nintendo systems.

Tony Hawk's is a skateboarding video game series published by Activision and endorsed by the American professional skateboarder of the same name. The series was primarily developed for home consoles by Neversoft with an annual release schedule from launch to 2007, until Activision transferred the franchise to Robomodo in 2008, who developed the franchise on a non-annual release basis until 2015 when Activision and Hawk's license expired, leaving the future of the series uncertain. In 2020, the series returned under Activision with a remake of the original two games in the series, with development handled by Vicarious Visions. The series has spawned a total of 20 games.

<i>Tony Hawks Proving Ground</i> 2007 video game

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is a 2007 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS, and by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii. Proving Ground is the ninth installment in the Tony Hawk's series, and the last to be developed by Neversoft as the franchise was then transferred to Robomodo, and Neversoft was later shutdown after being merged into Infinity Ward in 2014.

Zynga Eugene is an American video game developer based in Eugene, Oregon. The company was founded as Buzz Monkey Software in late 2001 by four former Dynamix employees: senior producer Randy Thompson, senior engineers Jon Milnes and Steve Cordon, and lead artist Barry Drew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tantalus Media</span> Australian video game developer

Tantalus Media is an Australian video game developer based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1994 by programmers Andrew Bailey and Trevor Nuridin. Since its inception, Tantalus has developed almost 100 games and has won multiple game awards. In March 2021, Keywords Studios acquired 85% of Tantalus Media for US$46.8 million.

Exient Entertainment is a video game developer and publisher based in the United Kingdom and Malta. Developing for handheld, mobile, console, VR and PC platforms, Exient grew a name for designing and developing popular series' games to portable systems. It is known for its ports of various games in the Madden NFL, FIFA, Need for Speed, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour series for Electronic Arts and for developing numerous titles in the Angry Birds series. The company was incorporated in 2000 and began operations in January 2001.

indiePub American video game publisher

indiePub Entertainment, Inc. was a publisher of video games based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Door Lemon</span> British video game company

Four Door Lemon Ltd was a video game company based in Bradford, West Yorkshire and was one of the UK's longest-lived independent video games and middleware developers. Commonly known as "FDL", the company’s name derived from a children’s joke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PikPok</span> New Zealand video game developer based in Wellington

Prodigy Design Limited, better known as PikPok, is a New Zealand video game developer and publisher based in Wellington. It was founded in 1997 and originally operated as Sidhe; a subsidiary brand named PikPok was formed in 2012 to focus on mobile games and gradually replaced Sidhe as the company's primary brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paon DP</span> Japanese video game development company

Paon DP Co., Ltd. (株式会社パオン・ディーピー) is a Japanese video game developer. The company was founded in August 2004 as DP Inc. and merged with Paon Corporation, Ltd. in March 2015 to form Paon DP.

References

  1. McAloon, Alissa. "Cave Story 3D dev Nicalis acquires SuperVillain Studios and Cowboy Color". Gamasutra. Gamasutra. Retrieved 6 August 2019.