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Gray Matter Studios

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Not to be confused with Gray Matter (company).

Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc.
FormerlyXatrix Entertainment, Inc. (1993–1999)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedMarch 1993; 31 years ago (1993-03)
Founders
  • Drew Markham
  • Barry Dempsey
Defunct2005 (2005)
FateMerged into Treyarch
Headquarters
Los Angeles
,
US
Key people
Drew Markham (creative director)
Number of employees
18–20 (2001)
ParentActivision (2002–2005)

Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. (Gray Matter Studios; formerly Xatrix Entertainment, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles.

History

Drew Markham and his business partner Barry Dempsey founded Xatrix Entertainment in March 1993. The studio's first release was Cyberia in 1994.[1] Among its later projects was Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning, for which it worked with publisher Activision.[2] Around 1999, some of the original business partners sought to exit the company. To handle this efficiently, Xatrix was transferred to a new corporation under Markham as creative director.[3] With the assistance of Activision, Gray Matter Studios was established on June 17, 1999, and took over the majority of the former employees.[4][5] Activision initially owned 40% of the studio.[6] It bought the remaining 60% in January 2002, after the successful release of Return to Castle Wolfenstein.[2][7] The publisher paid 133,690 shares of common stock, at the time worth around US$3.2 million.[7] Post-acquisition, the studio was put to work on the Call of Duty: United Offensive expansion.[8] It also worked on Trinity: The Shatter Effect, which was announced and then canceled in late 2003.[9] In 2005, during the development of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Gray Matter Studios was merged into Activision's Treyarch studio. As part of Treyarch, the former Gray Matter Studios team worked on Call of Duty 3.[8][10]

Games developed

As Xatrix Entertainment

Year Title
1994 Cyberia
1995 Cyberia 2: Resurrection
1997 Redneck Rampage
1998 Redneck Rampage Rides Again
Redneck Deer Huntin'
Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
1999 Kingpin: Life of Crime

As Gray Matter Studios

Year Title
2001 Return to Castle Wolfenstein
2004 Call of Duty: United Offensive

Canceled

  • Trinity: The Shatter Effect

References

  1. ^ "Corporate Profile". Xatrix Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999.
  2. ^ a b "Activision Buys Gray Matter". IGN. January 15, 2002.
  3. ^ Presley, Paul (January 2001). "The World According to... Drew Markham". PC Zone. No. 98. Dennis Publishing. p. 158. Retrieved September 16, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "Story". Gray Matter Studios. Archived from the original on February 5, 2002.
  5. ^ "News". Gray Matter Studios. Archived from the original on November 11, 2001.
  6. ^ "Return to Castle Wolfenstein". PC Player (in German). Future Verlag. April 2000. p. 18. Retrieved September 16, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ a b "Activision Acquires Rest Of Gray Matter Interactive". The Wall Street Journal. January 14, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Hall, Charlie (May 8, 2018). "Meet the studio behind Call of Duty: Black Ops and Zombies mode". Polygon.
  9. ^ Bramwell, Tom (January 23, 2004). "Gray Matter still pulsing". Eurogamer.
  10. ^ Peel, Jeremy (February 15, 2021). "How Treyarch escaped Infinity Ward's shadow". PC Gamer.
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