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2015 (company)

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2015, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo game development
Founded1997; 27 years ago (1997)
FounderTom Kudirka
Headquarters
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Omaha, Nebraska
Key people
Tom Kudirka (CEO)
ProductsMedal of Honor: Allied Assault
SubsidiariesTrainwreck Studios

2015, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The studio is best known for developing Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

History

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2015, Inc. was founded by Tom Kudirka in 1997.[1][2] He assembled a team of developers by researching people who were participating in the FPS mod community. After months of working online and mostly only communicating via ICQ instant messenger, his team created a Quake mod as a playable demo to show off their talent. Kudirka sent the demo to Activision who was so impressed with their work they awarded 2015 a contract developing the expansion pack to their upcoming game entitled SiN, developed by Ritual Entertainment.

Kudirka moved all of his team members to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to begin work on the expansion pack SiN: Wages of Sin. The seven developers who spent over six months online creating the demo met one another for the first time. Three of the seven developers lived in a house rented by Kudirka where the living-room made up the development studio. The team was Tom Kudirka, Ken Turner,[3] Zied Reike,[4] Carl Glave,[5] Benson Russel,[6] Paul Jury,[7] and Michael Boon,[8] who Kudirka relocated from Tasmania Australia.

SiN: Wages of Sin

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Main article: SiN: Wages of Sin

Wages of Sin was the official expansion pack for Ritual Entertainment's game SiN. It was published by Activision and released for Windows in February 1999.[9]

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

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Main article: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Following the release of the film Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg wanted to produce a World War II-themed video game, which was established by the Medal of Honor series, initially produced by DreamWorks Interactive, a joint venture between DreamWorks and Microsoft. While the first two Medal of Honor games were successful, DreamWorks Interactive had also produced the lackluster Trespasser in 1998, which left Spielberg unsure about continuing a video game division. DreamWorks Interactive was sold to Electronic Arts in 2000.[10]

Spielberg was still interested in the Medal of Honor series, and his staff initially approached id Software about the project. id was at capacity at that time, but the id executives pointed them to 2015 as a possible candidate.[10] Spielberg's staff made contact with 2015 in May 2000 about their interest in the series.[11] Development began on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault soon after. To assist in the development of such a high-profile title, Kudirka hired additional developers such as Nathan Silvers,[12] Paul Messerly,[13] Keith Bell,[14] Mackey McCandlish,[15] Chance Glasco,[16] Jason West[17] and Radomir Kucharski,[18] who Kudirka relocated from Katowice, Poland.

The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Windows platform[19][20] on January 22, 2002, in North America and on February 15, 2002, in Europe. The game was a critical and financial success with many considering Medal of Honor: Allied Assault to have pioneered the cinematic first person shooter genre.[who?] The game provided a substantial push for Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor series.[21][22][23]

Following the success of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Electronic Arts ended its contract with 2015, Inc. to develop the franchise in-house. Activision then approached key members of 2015, Inc., including Vince Zampella, Jason West, and Grant Collier, offering them a contract to create Infinity Ward. Under Activision, Infinity Ward developed Call of Duty, a competitor to Electronic Arts' series.[4][24] The remaining members of 2015, Inc. continued working on projects like Men of Valor and other titles under the Trainwreck Studios division.

Men of Valor

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Main article: Men of Valor

In 2002, 2015 began development on its own intellectual property, Men of Valor, a first person shooter simulating infantry combat during the Vietnam era.[25][26] Men of Valor follows Dean Shepard and his squad of Marines from the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Division through 13 missions of the Vietnam War, including missions at the height of the Tet Offensive.[27][28] In historically-based scenarios, the player assumes a variety of roles in which they man the door gun on a Huey helicopter, steer a riverboat along enemy-infested shores, battle their way through enemy tunnel complexes, and call down fire as a forward observer. Mission types include pilot rescues, recon patrols, POW rescue, and search-and-destroy ops.

Men of Valor was published by Vivendi Universal and released for Xbox on October 19, 2004, in North America and on November 5, 2004, in Europe. The game was released for Windows on October 29, 2004, in North America and November 12, 2004, in Europe.

On April 14, 2015, it was announced that Nordic Games had closed an asset purchase agreement with 2015 to acquire the Men of Valor IP.[29][30]

Trainwreck Studios

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In late 1999, Kudirka created a separate development division of 2015 called Trainwreck Studios, a subsidiary specializing in mid-price to budget games. Under that name, a few titles were created: Laser Arena in 2000, CIA Operative: Solo Missions in 2001, and then Time Ace in 2007 for the Nintendo DS.[31]

Tornado Studios

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Tornado Studios is a video game company that is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[32][33] Founded by Kudirka, it was staffed by veteran game designers from video game companies that include Square Enix, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts.

Project Runway

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The first video game Tornado Studios released was Project Runway. Based on the reality television series of the same name, the game was published by Atari and released for the Wii on March 2, 2010. In the last years, Tornado Studios has been focusing on developing photorealistic 3D models for games, movies, presentations, architectural visualizations and designs. They are a team of 3D artists.[34]

Games developed

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Year Game Publisher Genre Platform(s)
Windows Mac OS Xbox Nintendo DS
1999 SiN: Wages of Sin Activision First-person shooter Yes Yes No No
2000 Laser Arena (as Trainwreck Studios) ValuSoft Yes No No No
2001 CIA Operative: Solo Missions (as Trainwreck Studios) Yes No No No
2002 Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Electronic Arts Yes Yes No No
2004 Men of Valor Vivendi Yes No Yes No
2007 Time Ace (as Trainwreck Studios) Konami Combat flight simulator No No No Yes

Cancelled games

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Year cancelled Title Platform(s) Publisher
1999 Half-Life: Hostile Takeover — Sierra Entertainment

References

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  1. ^ Takahashi, Dean (March 7, 2010). "The making and unmaking of Infinity Ward". VentureBeat. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  2. ^ Evatt, Robert (March 24, 2009). "Tornado Studios looking past stereotypical Gamers". NewsOK. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Ken Turner Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Dring, Christopher (November 1, 2013). "The Medal of Honor killer: A Call of Duty story". MCV. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "Carl Glave Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames.
  6. ^ "Benson Russell Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames.
  7. ^ "Paul Jury Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames.
  8. ^ "Michael Boon Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames.
  9. ^ Coldberg, Sonya (June 12, 2000). "Somebody's gotta do it". Tulsa World. Berkshire Hathaway. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Takahashi, Dean (March 7, 2010). "The making and unmaking of Infinity Ward". Venture Beat. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  11. ^ Lynn Thompson, Tara (July 2009). "Powering up with Tornado Studios. A Tulsa-based company creates video games to attract a different set of players". TulsaPeople. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  12. ^ "Nathan Silvers Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames.
  13. ^ McWhertor, Michael (April 14, 2010). "Today's Update On The Great Modern Warfare Developer Bailout". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  14. ^ "Keith Bell Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames.
  15. ^ "Mackey McCandlish Video Game Credits and Biography – MobyGames". MobyGames.
  16. ^ Pettite, Omri (November 5, 2012). "Infinity Ward animator talks FPS design, animations in Reddit AMA". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  17. ^ Gardner, Eriq (May 31, 2012). "Activision Settles Huge 'Call of Duty' Litigation on Eve of Trial". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  18. ^ MOH Center (January 2, 2010). "Medal of Honor Allied Assault Interview with producer". MOH Center. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  19. ^ Wolpaw, Erik (January 23, 2002). "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Review". GameSpot. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  20. ^ Adams, Dan (January 28, 2002). "Very few games leave you breathless and gaping in wide-eyed wonder. EA's latest is one of them". IGN. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  21. ^ Walker, Trey (March 6, 2002). "Allied Assault unstoppable: EA's popular World War II action game, retains the top spot on NPD's latest list of best-selling games". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  22. ^ GameSpot Staff (June 1, 2004). "Medal of Honor Pacific Assault Designer Diary #1". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 28, 2015. Rick Giolito: Following the release of Medal of Honor Underground for the PlayStation, I was encouraged to expand the franchise, and with this, Medal of Honor Allied Assault was borne. The centerpiece for the product would be the Allied assault on the beaches of Normandy, more commonly known as D-Day. The vision for the product was cemented in the acronym D.I.C.E (Deep Interactive Cinematic Experience). Copious use of scripted events and moment-by-moment storytelling took the first-person shooter genre to a new level. Allied Assault went on to become one of the best-selling PC products in history. It even outsold Half-Life--something deemed impossible at the time.
  23. ^ Fahs, Travis (November 6, 2009). "IGN Presents: The History of Call of Duty". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  24. ^ McWhertor, Michael (December 22, 2010). "The Modern Warfare Fight: Your Guide to Activision Vs. Infinity Ward". Kotaku. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  25. ^ Crowley, Hillary (January 23, 2003). "Vivendi Universal Games and 2015 Announce Development of Men of Valor: Vietnam". PR Newswire. UBM plc. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  26. ^ Aihoshi, Richard (October 18, 2004). "Action Preview — Men of Valor. The PC version of 2015's game about a young Marine and his squad during part of the controversial Vietnam War". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  27. ^ Torres, Ricardo (February 24, 2004). "Men of Valor: Vietnam Updated Impressions". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  28. ^ Park, Andrew (May 24, 2004). "Men of Valor Profile Preview #1 – The Characters of Men of Valor". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  29. ^ McWhertor, Michael (April 14, 2015). "Vietnam War shooter Men of Valor snapped up by Nordic Games". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  30. ^ Makuch, Eddie (April 14, 2015). "Vietnam Shooter Men of Valor Goes to Darksiders Publisher. Nordic Games acquires rights to Men of Valor from 2015 Games". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  31. ^ "Trainwreck Studios". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 4, 2015.[unreliable source?]
  32. ^ "Cookies not enabled?".
  33. ^ Wright, Jason (January 16, 2009). "Game Industry Finally Notices Girls". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012.
  34. ^ "Project Runway". IGN. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
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