Tom Kudirka
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Tom Kudirka | |
|---|---|
| File:Tom wiki.png | |
| Born | October 17, 1962 Omaha, Nebraska |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Men of Valor |
| Spouse | Wannette Kudirka |
Tom Kudirka (born October 17, 1962) is an American Entrepreneur and founder of 2015, Inc., the company behind developing the video game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
Biography
In 1997 Kudirka started 2015, Inc.. 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. Kudirka sent the demo to Activision, who awarded 2015 a contract developing the expansion pack to their upcoming game entitled SiN, currently being 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. It was published by Activision and released for the Windows platform on February 26, 1999.
In May of 2000 Kudirka received a phone call from DreamWorks to see if he was interested in developing a World War II first person shooter video game with a story-line created by Steven Spielberg.[1] DreamWorks Interactive wanted to discuss the development of a PC version of new video game franchise called Medal of Honor. The first Medal of Honor game was released six months earlier for the PlayStation console. A week later Electronic Arts flew out to Tulsa. A deal was soon reached and development began on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Windows platform.[2][3] 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 it to have pioneered the cinematic first person shooter genre.[citation needed] The game provided a substantial push for Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor.
Following the release, a group of developers left 2015 to form Infinity Ward, a studio that would become known for the Call of Duty series based around the same concept.[4][5]
In 2002, 2015 began development on its own IP: Men of Valor, a first person shooter simulating infantry combat during the Vietnam era. 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.
In August 2008, Kudirka opened a new development company called Tornado Studios focused on casual games for the mass market.[6]
Games developed
| 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 | First-person shooter | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2001 | CIA Operative: Solo Missions (as Trainwreck Studios) | ValuSoft | First-person shooter | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2002 | Medal of Honor: Allied Assault | Electronic Arts | First-person shooter | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 2004 | Men of Valor | Vivendi | First-person shooter | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| 2007 | Time Ace (as Trainwreck Studios) | Konami | Combat flight simulator | No | No | No | Yes | |
References
- ^ 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 4 January 2015.
- ^ Wolpaw, Erik (23 January 2002). "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
- ^ Adams, Dan (28 January 2002). "Very few games leave you breathless and gaping in wide-eyed wonder. EA's latest is one of them". IGN. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (22 December 2010). "The Modern Warfare Fight: Your Guide to Activision Vs. Infinity Ward". Kotaku. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ Dring, Christopher (1 November 2013). "The Medal of Honor killer: A Call of Duty story". Market for Home Computing and Video Games. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ Evatt, Robert (24 March 2009). "Tornado Studios looking past stereotypical Gamers". NewsOK. Retrieved 4 January 2015.