Big Huge Games
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| Type | Subsidiary of 38 Studios |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and video games |
| Founded | February, 2000 |
| Headquarters | Timonium, Maryland, United States |
| Key people | Brian Reynolds Tim Train David Inscore Jason Coleman Ken Rolston |
| Products | Rise of Nations series |
| Employees | 70[1] |
| Parent | 38 Studios[2] |
| Website | http://www.bighugegames.com/ |
Big Huge Games is a video game developer located in Timonium, Maryland. The company was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game industry developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds (lead designer of Alpha Centauri, et al.). Their first game, Rise of Nations, was a critical and commercial hit.
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[edit] History and events
Although Brian Reynolds was a founding member of Firaxis Games, he and the others left Firaxis to found a new company based on their desire to apply the complexity and concepts of the turn-based strategy genre to the real-time strategy genre.[3]
In February 2007, Big Huge Games announced that Ken Rolston, the lead designer behind The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, had come out of retirement to join the company as Lead Designer on an untitled role playing game (RPG).[4] Later that May it was announced that THQ would publish the title in 2009.[5] This marked the first title from Big Huge Games that is not distributed by Microsoft.
On January 15, 2008, THQ acquired the developer.[6]
On July 30, 2008, Grant Kirkhope joined the Big Huge Games team as an Audio Director. He had previously worked for Rare, composing for the Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark games (among others).[7]
On March 18, 2009, THQ announced that due to declining economic conditions, it would close Big Huge Games unless an outside buyer could be found in the next 60 days.[8]
On May 27, 2009, 38 Studios announced that they were acquiring Big Huge Games and retaining 70 employees out of approximately 120 who were at THQ.[1]
From mid-2009 to January 2012, Big Huge Games developed a single player role playing game titled "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning", which was released in early February 2012 and published by Electronic Arts (EA) and 38 Studios for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game is set in a fantasy world created with input from R A Salvatore and Todd MacFarlane.
[edit] Game titles
| Release Date |
Title | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Rise of Nations | Real-time strategy | |
| 2004 | Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots | Real-time strategy | Expansion pack |
| 2006 | Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends | Real-time strategy | |
| 2007 | Catan | German-style board game | Xbox Live Arcade |
| 2007 | Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties | Real-time strategy | Expansion pack |
| 2012 | Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning | Single player action RPG |
[edit] Unfinished titles
At the time of their move from THQ to 38 Studios, Big Huge Games was working on two large game projects, which are now presumed to be canceled.[9]
[edit] Game engine
Big Huge Games made use of their internally developed game engine, the Big Huge Engine, in both Rise of Nations and Catan. The engine features support for a variety of applications and technologies, including physics, artificial intelligence, animation, and others.[13]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Dance, Scott (2009-05-27). "Big Huge Games acquired by Curt Schilling's 38 Studios". Washington Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/05/25/daily32.html.
- ^ Fear, Ed (May 27, 2009). "38 Studios snaps up Big Huge Games". Develop. http://www.developmag.com/news/31958/38-Studios-snaps-up-Big-Huge-Games. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- ^ "Brian Reynolds interview on GameSpy". GameSpy. 2002-05-02. http://archive.gamespy.com/e32002/special/reynolds/. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
- ^ "Acclaimed 'Oblivion' Designer Heads To Big Huge Games". Totalgaming.net. 2007-02-20. http://tgnforums.stardock.com/?aid=144850. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ^ "Big Huge Games RPG Gets Publisher, Date". Totalgaming.net. 2007-05-03. http://tgnforums.stardock.com/?forumid=141&aid=151776. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ^ Gamasutra: THQ Acquires BHG
- ^ Music 4 Games: Grant Kirkhope resigns from Rare, joins Big Huge Games as Audio Director
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (2009-03-18). "THQ Cuts Down Big Huge Games, Lets Go Two More". Kotaku. http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2009/03/thq_cuts_down_big_huge_games_lets_go_two_more-2.html.
- ^ "Big Huge Games Experiences Big Huge Media Leak, Oblivion Designer's Game Reportedly Canceled". Chris Fayler, Shack News. 2009-04-09. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58087&highlight=. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ^ "BHG and THQ join hands". THQ Investor Relations. 2007-05-03. http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96376&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=994961&highlight=. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ^ a b Plunkett, Luke (April 9, 2009). "What Were Big Huge Games Working On (And Have They Found A Buyer)?". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5204841/what-were-big-huge-games-working-on-and-have-they-found-a-buyer. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ "BHG Big Huge Games now working on Wii title". 2007-08-28. http://jobs.gamasutra.com/jobseekerx/ViewJob.asp?JobID=zhzLqIUWDCnVnPJhM%2Bs370anxq6u&Keywords=Wii=. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
- ^ "Big Huge Engine". Big Huge Games. http://www.bighugeengine.com/index.html. Retrieved 2007-05-07.[dead link]
