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]
Big Huge Games is currently developing a single player role playing game titled "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning", and is to be released in early 2012 by Electronic Arts (EA) and 38 Studios for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game is set in fantasy worlds 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]
