American video game developer
Surreal Software
was an American
video game developer
based in
Kirkland, Washington
, and a subsidiary of
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
, known for
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
,
The Suffering
and
Drakan
series. Surreal Software employed over 130 designers, artists, and programmers. Surreal was acquired by Warner Bros. Games during the bankruptcy of Midway Games in July 2009. After a significant layoff in January 2011, the remaining employees were integrated into WBG's Kirkland offices, along with developers Monolith and Snowblind.
The studio last worked on
This Is Vegas
, a title which was scheduled to be released on
Xbox 360
,
PlayStation 3
and
Windows
.
[1]
The first screenshots, video and game information for
This Is Vegas
were unveiled the week of February 4, 2008, at
IGN
.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
Surreal Software was founded in 1995 as an independent video game development studio by Alan Patmore, Stuart Denman, Nick Radovich and Mike Nichols. Patmore, Nichols and Radovich attended
Eastside Catholic High School
in
Bellevue, Washington
together.
[3]
They found Stuart Denman, a
University of Washington
grad, through an online message board. The group began operating in 1995 in an office in Seattle's
Queen Anne
neighborhood. Previously, Radovich sold real estate, Patmore worked at a wireless company, Nichols was working at local game company Boss Studios, and Denman had just interned at Microsoft on the Excel team.
Their first contract was with Bothell-based children's game developer
Humongous
, which found Denman's website and called to recruit programmers for Humongous. Surreal instead offered to do contract work. Surreal developed the Riot Engine for its games in 1996. First receiving critical acclaim with the 1999 release of
Drakan: Order of the Flame
,
[4]
[5]
Surreal Software continued its success with
Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
in early 2002, both games selling in excess of 250,000 units. Having grown to two development teams, Surreal released
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
later that same year, selling over 1.8 million units.
In March 2004, Surreal Software released
The Suffering
,
[6]
an original concept action-packed horror game set in a secluded island prison, with monster designs by
Stan Winston
. Gamers and critics alike enjoyed this bold new contribution to the horror genre and in 2005,
The Suffering: Ties That Bind
followed.
[7]
In April 2004,
Midway Games
acquired Surreal Software as an in-house game studio.
[8]
In 2006, the Surreal Software staff moved from Fremont to their new waterfront studio on Elliott Avenue next to the
Olympic Sculpture Park
. In 2009, Surreal Software was among the Midway Games assets purchased by
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
. In 2010, the company was merged into the nearby studio
Monolith Productions
.
Founders
[
edit
]
All of the founders had left the company prior to its merging with Monolith.
- Stuart Denman ? CTO
- Alan Patmore ? CEO and Creative Director
- Nick Radovich ? CFO
- Mike Nichols ? Art Director
List of games
[
edit
]
Canceled
[
edit
]
- Gunslinger
- The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard
- This Is Vegas
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Drakan
series
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The Suffering
series
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Other
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Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Interactive Entertainment
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Streaming
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Warner Bros. Games
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Related
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Games
developed
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Games published
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Companies
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People
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Related
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Motion Picture Group
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Television Group
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Other properties
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Former/defunct
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Key people
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Related
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