TimeGate Studios

Last updated
TimeGate Studios
Type Private
Industry Video game development
FoundedAugust 1998 [1]
Defunct2013
Fate Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Headquarters,
Key people
Adel Chaveleh, president
Alan Chaveleh, chairman
Products Kohan series
Axis & Allies
Section 8 series
Number of employees
55
Website timegate.com

TimeGate Studios was an American video game developer based in Sugar Land, Texas. The company, which was founded in 1998, released eight titles before closing in 2013. [2]

Contents

History

TimeGate Studios was founded in 1998 by Alan and Adel Chaveleh, who respectively served as chairman and president of the studio. The company had worked with industry publishers such as Vivendi Games, Take-Two Interactive, Atari, Ubisoft, SouthPeak Games, and Gamecock Media Group.

Releases

TimeGate Studios' debut real-time strategy game, Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns , won positive critical reception receiving several awards including “Strategy Game of the Year” in 2001 by Computer Gaming World, PC Gamer, and Computer Games Magazine. [2] The standalone expansion pack, Kohan: Ahriman’s Gift, was released later that year and the company's relative success with the Kohan franchise earned it a nomination for “Rookie Studio of the Year” from the IGDA in 2001. [2]

The studio released an addition to the Kohan series in September 2004 with the release of Kohan II: Kings of War , which was featured as a “Top 10 Game” in 2004 by Computer Games Magazine. [2] In November 2004, TimeGate Studios and Atari released Axis & Allies , a real-time strategy game, based on the board game series of the same name, that let players play the role of World War II’s different factions. This title is currently TimeGate's best-selling release to date. [2]

The studio then began to develop in the genre of first-person shooters in October 2006 with the release of F.E.A.R. Extraction Point , an expansion pack for Vivendi’s horror game F.E.A.R (First Encounter Assault Recon.) F.E.A.R. Extraction Point was named “Best Expansion Pack of 2006” by PC Gamer. [2] TimeGate Studios further propelled the F.E.A.R. series on the PC with the release of F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate in November 2007. The company released F.E.A.R. Files , a combination of both expansion packs, for the Xbox 360 in November 2007 as well. [2]

The studio then began production on Section 8 , a sci-fi first-person shooter that was released on the Xbox 360 and PC in September 2009. Several months later, TimeGate released Section 8 on the PlayStation 3 in March 2010. [3] Further sequels have been hinted upon by TimeGate stating, "...it has never been our intent for it to be a one-product franchise," in reference to Section 8. [4] On April 20, 2011, TimeGate released a digital downloadable sequel to the game called Section 8: Prejudice .

In late 2012, TimeGate were involved in the development of the much-hyped science-fiction first-person shooter, Aliens: Colonial Marines . The game was outsourced to TimeGate by Borderlands developer Gearbox Software, who were originally assigned by publisher Sega to work on the Alien game. However, due to troubled development, the game was released in a rushed, incomplete state and received mostly negative reviews. Most issues were resolved with a post-release patch. Nevertheless, the state of the game upon initial release led to TimeGate laying off twenty-five members of its staff after its release. [5]

In 2013, it was announced that TimeGate was developing a new free-to-play game, titled Minimum, expected to be released at the end of the year. [6]

Bankruptcy

On Wednesday, May 1, 2013, TimeGate Studios filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas Southern Bankruptcy Court, according to court documents obtained by Polygon. [7] [8] [9] The petition filed by TimeGate listed total liabilities that ranged from $10 - $50 million, owed to creditors. Creditors included companies such as Unreal Engine developer Epic Games, online game service Agora Games, transmedia developer DJ2 Entertainment, video game agency Birthplace Management Group, and video game publisher Southpeak Interactive. [7] TimeGate Studios faced $7.35 million in damages and lost the license for Section 8 as part of a fraud suit between itself and SouthPeak. [7]

In 2009, TimeGate sued Southpeak, claiming Southpeak had withheld royalties and failed to follow through with localizing the title "Section 8". SouthPeak countersued, claiming TimeGate hadn't invested enough of its own capital into the game's development, among other complaints. The two entered into arbitration with a third party, who ruled in favor of SouthPeak, awarding SouthPeak $7.35 million in compensatory damages and control of the Section 8 license. In March 2013, this ruling was overturned in a federal court. In April 2013, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit filed to reverse and remand the prior March ruling, reinstating the arbitration award for SouthPeak. [7] SouthPeak Interactive looked to convert TimeGate's Chapter 11 bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation, which would mean a studio closure for TimeGate. [9] It was reported later in May that the studio had closed. [9] [10] [11]

Games

Related Research Articles

<i>Half-Life</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. Players assume the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who must escape the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is invaded by aliens during an experiment gone wrong. The gameplay consists of combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funcom</span> Norwegian video game developer

Funcom Oslo AS is a Norwegian video game developer that specializes in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) titles Conan Exiles, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, The Secret World – and The Longest Journey series of adventure games. The company has offices in Oslo, Norway; North Carolina, US; Lisbon, Portugal; Bucharest, Romania; and Stockholm, Sweden. It also had offices in Beijing, Dublin, and Montreal previously. It is now owned by the Chinese media conglomerate Tencent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interplay Entertainment</span> American video game developer and publisher

Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca Heineman, as well as investor Chris Wells. As a developer, Interplay is best known as the creator of the Fallout series and as a publisher for the Baldur's Gate and Descent series.

Relic Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver, founded in 1997. The studio specializes in real-time strategy games and is known for series such as Homeworld, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes. Acquired by THQ in 2004, the company was sold to Sega on January 22, 2013 as part of THQ's bankruptcy. Relic Entertainment became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sega Europe.

<i>Space Hulk</i> Board game

Space Hulk is a board game for two players by Games Workshop. It was released in 1989. The game is set in the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000. In the game, a "space hulk" is a mass of ancient, derelict space ships, asteroids, and other assorted space debris. One player takes the role of Space Marine Terminators, superhuman elite soldiers who have been sent to investigate such a space hulk. The other player takes the role of Tyranid Genestealers, an aggressive alien species which have made their home aboard such masses.

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

Big Huge Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Timonium, Maryland since 2000, known first for real-time strategy games such as Rise of Nations, later for the console RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and more recently for mobile games such as DomiNations and Arcane Showdown. Throughout most of its history the company has been associated with its best-known founder, Brian Reynolds, whose prior career already included work as lead designer of Civilization II and Alpha Centauri, and co-founder of Firaxis Games. The studio's ownership has changed hands several times over the years, and it became briefly defunct in May 2012, but it was revived by Reynolds along with several original alumni and new partners. The company is presently owned by Nexon, and actively runs its mobile titles DomiNations and Arcane Showdown, while continuing to develop new games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stardock</span> Software and video game developer

Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Microsoft Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998. The company is best known for computer programs that allow a user to modify or extend a graphical user interface as well as personal computer games, particularly strategy games such as the Galactic Civilizations series, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress, and Ashes of the Singularity.

<i>Aliens Versus Predator</i> (1999 video game) 1999 video game

Aliens Versus Predator is a 1999 science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Fox Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is a part of the Alien and Predator crossover franchise, Alien vs. Predator. A sequel, Aliens Versus Predator 2, was developed by Monolith Productions and released by Sierra in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gearbox Software</span> American video game company

Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, serves as president and chief executive officer. Gearbox initially created expansions for the Valve game Half-Life, then ported that game and others to console platforms. In 2005, Gearbox launched its first independent set of games, Brothers in Arms, on console and mobile devices. It became their flagship franchise and spun off a comic book series, television documentary, books, and action figures. Their second original game series, Borderlands, commenced in 2009, and by 2015 had sold over 26 million copies. The company also owns the intellectual property of Duke Nukem and Homeworld.

<i>X-COM: Alliance</i> Cancelled video game

X-COM: Alliance is a cancelled video game in the X-COM series. The game was developed by two different teams of MicroProse developers between 1995 and 2002. It had the player assume the role of commander of the militarized scientific mission lost in space during the aftermath of X-COM: Terror from the Deep.

The Creative Assembly Limited is a British video game developer based in Horsham, founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell. In its early years, the company worked on porting games to MS-DOS from Amiga and ZX Spectrum platforms, later working with Electronic Arts to produce a variety of games under the EA Sports brand. In 1999, the company had sufficient resources to attempt a new and original project, proceeding to develop the strategy computer game Shogun: Total War which was a critical and commercial hit, and is regarded as a benchmark strategy game. Subsequent titles in the Total War series built on the success of Shogun: Total War, increasing the company's critical and commercial success.

<i>Aliens: Colonial Marines</i> 2013 video game

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a 2013 first-person shooter developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sega for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360. Based on the Alien universe and set shortly after the events of James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens, the game follows a group of Colonial Marines, a fictional military unit, as they confront the Weyland-Yutani corporation in an effort to rescue survivors from the Sulaco spaceship. The game features a campaign mode that supports both single-player and cooperative gameplay, and a multiplayer mode in which players compete in different scenarios.

<i>Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns</i> 2001 video game

Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns is a real-time strategy video game developed by TimeGate Studios. It was published for Microsoft Windows by Strategy First in North America and Ubi Soft in Europe, and ported to Linux by Loki Software, both in 2001. With a high fantasy setting, the game follows immortal beings named Kohan. It features a lengthy single-player campaign and skirmish maps playable in multiplayer or against the AI. The gameplay focuses on controlling companies instead of individual soldiers, a mechanic praised by critics for eliminating micromanagement. A sequel, Kohan II: Kings of War, was released in 2004.

<i>F.E.A.R. Extraction Point</i> First of two standalone expansion packs for F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point is the first expansion pack for the first-person shooter psychological horror video game F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon. Developed by TimeGate Studios and originally published by Vivendi Games under the Sierra Entertainment label, it was released for Microsoft Windows in October 2006 and for Xbox 360 in November 2007. The Xbox version was only available packaged with another expansion, F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, and released as F.E.A.R. Files. On the PC, as well as a standalone release, Extraction Point was also bundled with the original game for F.E.A.R. Gold Edition, released in March 2007, and with the original game and Perseus Mandate for F.E.A.R. Platinum Collection, released in November 2007. The Platinum Collection was also released on Steam in 2012 and GOG.com in 2015. In 2021, F.E.A.R. Files was added to Microsoft's backward compatibility program, making the games playable on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Neither expansion is now considered canon, as the Monolith Productions-developed F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin ignores the events of both.

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

SouthPeak Interactive Corporation, doing business as SouthPeak Games, was an American video game publisher based in Midlothian, Virginia. Founded on March 1, 1996, as a subsidiary of SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina, it was sold and moved to Midlothian, Virginia in 2000, and became a public company in 2008. Also in 2008, the company acquired and closed Austin, Texas-based publisher Gamecock Media Group, and opened a separate digital distribution subsidiary 7Sixty in Grapevine, Texas in 2011. SouthPeak Games quietly disappeared from the public eye in July 2013.

<i>F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate</i> Second of two standalone expansion packs for F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate is the second standalone expansion pack for the first-person shooter psychological horror video game F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon. Developed by TimeGate Studios and originally published by Vivendi Games under the Sierra Entertainment label, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2007. The Xbox version was only available packaged with the first expansion, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point, and released as F.E.A.R. Files. On the PC, as well as a standalone release, Perseus Mandate was also bundled with the original game and Extraction Point for F.E.A.R. Platinum Collection, which was also released on Steam in 2012 and GOG.com in 2015. In 2021, F.E.A.R. Files was added to Microsoft's backward compatibility program, making the games playable on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Neither expansion is now considered canon, as the Monolith Productions-developed F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin ignores the events of both.

<i>Section 8: Prejudice</i> 2011 video game

Section 8: Prejudice is a science fiction, first-person shooter video game developed by TimeGate Studios. It is the direct sequel to the 2009 game Section 8. Unlike its predecessor, Prejudice is a digital download-only title that contains more content than the previous game. It was released for Xbox 360 on April 20, 2011, for Microsoft Windows May 4, 2011, and for PlayStation 3 in North America on July 26, 2011, and in the PAL region on August 3, 2011

F.E.A.R. is a first-person shooter psychological horror video game series created by Craig Hubbard in 2005. Released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, there are three main games in the series; F.E.A.R. (2005), F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009), and F.E.A.R. 3 (2011). There are also two standalone expansion packs for the first game; F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (2006) and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate (2007), but these games are no longer considered canon, as their plots were ignored in Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3. In 2014, F.E.A.R. Online, a free-to-play game, was released, but the servers were shut down in 2015 with the game still in open beta. Monolith Productions developed the original game and Project Origin; Day 1 Studios developed F.E.A.R. 3; TimeGate Studios developed Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate; Inplay Interactive developed F.E.A.R. Online. Initially, the series' publishing rights were owned by Vivendi Games, who published the original game and the two expansions under the Sierra Entertainment label. In 2008, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired the publishing rights and went on to publish Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3. Aeria Games published F.E.A.R. Online under license from Warner.

<i>Alien: Isolation</i> 2014 video game

Alien: Isolation is a 2014 survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Based on the Alien film series, the game is set 15 years after the events of the original 1979 film, and follows engineer Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, as she investigates the disappearance of her mother aboard the space station Sevastopol. Once inside, Amanda discovers that the station has fallen into disarray due to an Alien creature on the loose and must find a way to escape. The game emphasizes stealth and survival horror gameplay, requiring the player to avoid, outsmart, and fight enemies with tools such as a motion tracker and flamethrower.

References

  1. "News". timegatestudios.com. 1999. Archived from the original on March 3, 2000. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "TimeGate Studios - About Us - Sugar Land, Houston, Texas". TimeGate Information. TimeGate Studios. April 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  3. "TimeGate Studios - News - Section 8 Drops on Playstation 3 Computer Entertainment System". TimeGate Information. TimeGate Studios. April 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-30. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  4. "Section 8 Interview". Strategy Informer. April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  5. Hing, David (March 5, 2013). "TimeGate Studios sheds 25 staff". BitGamer. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
  6. "Minimum is Timegate Studios' latest, goes into alpha next week". VG247. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  7. 1 2 3 4 McWhertor, Michael (2013-05-02). "Section 8 developer TimeGate Studios files for bankruptcy protection". Polygon . Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  8. Matulef, Jeffrey (March 5, 2013). "TimeGate Studios has filed for bankruptcy". Eurogamer.net . Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  9. 1 2 3 Schreirer, Jason (May 9, 2013). "The Studio Behind Aliens: Colonial Marines Just Laid Off Its Staff". Kotaku . Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  10. Matulef, Jeffrey (May 10, 2013). "Aliens: Colonial Marines co-developer TimeGate Studios has been shuttered - report". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  11. Hafer, T.J. (May 9, 2013). "Colonial Marines devs TimeGate Studios reportedly laying off all staff". pcgamer.com . Retrieved 2013-08-20.