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Raven Software

Raven Software, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary of Activision
IndustryComputer and video games
Interactive entertainment
Founded1990
HeadquartersMadison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Key peopleBrian Raffel (founder), Steve Raffel (co-founder)
ProductsVideo games
Owner(s)Activision Blizzard
ParentActivision
Websiteravensoft.com

Raven Software (or Raven Entertainment Software, Inc.) is an American video game developer. The company was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, much of the studio's original talent responsible for creating the Heretic and Hexen: Beyond Heretic games left to form Human Head Studios.

Raven has a history of working with id Software: After using id's engines for many of their games (from Heretic in 1994), they took over development of id's Quake franchise for Quake 4 and the new iteration of id's Wolfenstein series.[1] A major layoff at the company occurred in August 2009 after the poor performance of Wolfenstein,[2] followed by another in October 2010 after delays with Singularity.[3]

Games developed

  • Black Crypt (1992)
  • Shadowcaster (1993)
  • CyClones (1994)
  • Heretic (1994)
    • Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders (1996)
  • Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995)
    • Deathkings of the Dark Citadel (1996)
  • Necrodome (1996)
  • Mageslayer (1997)
  • Take No Prisoners (1997)
  • Hexen II (1997)
  • Heretic II (1998)
  • Soldier of Fortune (2000)
  • Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (2000)
  • Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force: Virtual Voyager (2001)
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002)
  • Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002)
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003)
  • X-Men Legends (2004)
  • X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005)
  • Quake 4 (2005)
  • Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)
  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
  • Wolfenstein (2009)
  • Singularity (2010)
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops (DLC, user interface)[4] (2010)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (DLC, user interface)[4] (2011)

References

  1. ^ "id Software and Activision, Inc. Confirm Wolfenstein(R) for the Xbox 360 Video Game and Entertainment System". PR Newswire. 2005-10-05. http://investor.activision.com/releas edetail.cfm?ReleaseID=175541.
  2. ^ Ivan, Tom. "Raven Software Hit By Layoffs". http://www.next-gen.biz/news/raven-so ftware-hit-layoffs.
  3. ^ "Raven Software loses more staff". http://www.1up.com/news/raven-softwar e-loses-staff.
  4. ^ a b "Infinity Ward clarifies Raven's involvement with CoD franchise". gamerzines.com. 2011-07-20. http://www.gamerzines.com/ps3/news/ra ven-modern-warfare-3-clarity.html.

External links

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