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2015 (company)

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2015, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo game development
Founded1997 (1997)
FounderTom Kudirka
Headquarters
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Omaha, Nebraska
Key people
Tom Kudirka (CEO)
ProductsSiN: Wages of Sin
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Men of Valor
SubsidiariesTrainwreck Studios
Website2015games.net

2015, Inc. also known as 2015 (pronounced "twenty-fifteen") and 2015 Games is an American video game development company, best known for developing the highly successful video game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, published by Electronic Arts.

History

2015, Inc. was founded by Tom Kudirka in 1997 with no money, no office, no employees, no contract, nothing.[1] 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, 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. For the first time 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,[2] Zied Reike,[3] Carl Glave,[4] Benson Russel,[5] Paul Glave[6] and Michael Boon,[7] who Kudirka relocated from Tasmania Australia to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

SiN: Wages of Sin

Wages of Sin was the official expansion pack for Ritual Entertainment’s game SiN. The game was published by Activision and released for the Windows platform in February 1999.[8] The game ultimately sold more units than the original title, thus showing the amount of piracy at that time.[citation needed]

During the 1999 E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) Kudirka met developers from Valve Software at a Microsoft party. They expressed how much they liked Wages of Sin and wanted 2015 to work on an expansion pack to Valve's mega-hit video game Half-Life. Gearbox Software was currently working on the first expansion pack, Half-Life: Opposing Force so a meeting was setup with Gabe Newell. Terms were soon agreed upon and development began on the second expansion pack for Half-Life. To assist in the development of the project Kudirka hired developers such as Steve Fukuda,[9] Justin Thomas,[10] Preston Glenn,[11] Robert Field,[12] Todd Alderman,[13] Earl Hammon Jr.,[14] Brad Allen,[15] Jon Olick,[16] Adam Bellefeuil[17] and Jeff Heath.[18] The development of the expansion pack was going very well. The development team was evolving into a group of very talented developers. The team was confident the second expansion pack would again exceed expectations. 90 days from going gold the project was cancelled.[citation needed]

In September 1999, 2015 hired Jason West as a developer, who convinced Vince Zampella to also join as lead producer.[19]

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Main article: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

In May 2000 Kudirka received a phone call from someone claiming to be Steven Spielberg's assistant. They wanted to know if 2015 would be interested in developing a World War II first-person shooter video game with a story-line created by Steven Spielberg.[20] 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,[21] Paul Messerly,[22] Keith Bell,[23] Mackey McCandlish,[24] Chance Glasco,[25] Jason West[26] and Radomir Kucharski[27] who Kudirka relocated from Katowice, Poland.

The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Windows platform.[28][29] 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.[citation needed]

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.[30][31]

Men of Valor

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.[32][33] 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.[34][35] 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.[36][37]

Subsidiaries

Trainwreck Studios

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, two smaller title where created Laser Arena and CIA Operative: Solo Missions.[38]

Tornado Studios

In August 2008, Kudirka opened a new development company called Tornado Studios focused on casual games for the mass market.[39] "The success of Nintendo's latest consoles, and the recent growth of the casual games market as a whole, has provided an incredible opportunity for us to reach a whole new audience," said 2015 founder Tom Kurdika.[40] On September 24, 2008, he stated that his studio will continue developing the kind of games with which it is associated, stating, "We're still passionate about action games and shooters, in particular, and will continue to make them under the 2015 label."[41]

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

  1. ^ Takahashi, Dean (7 March 2010). "The making and unmaking of Infinity Ward". VentureBeat. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Ken Turner Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  3. ^ "Zied Rieke Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  4. ^ "Carl Glave Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  5. ^ "Benson Russell Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  6. ^ "Paul Jury Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  7. ^ "Michael Boon Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  8. ^ Coldberg, Sonya (12 June 2000). "Somebody's gotta do it". Tulsa World. Berkshire Hathaway. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Steve Fukuda Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  10. ^ "Justin Thomas Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  11. ^ "Preston Glenn Video Game Credits - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  12. ^ "Robert Field Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  13. ^ "Todd Alderman Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  14. ^ "Earl Hammon Jr. Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  15. ^ "Brad Allen Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  16. ^ "Jon Olick Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  17. ^ "Adam Bellefeuil Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  18. ^ "Jeff Heath Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  19. ^ Chafkin, Max (2 June 2013). "— Modern Warfare — Inside the Lawsuit-Filled Breakup of Video-Game Publisher Activision and Call of Duty Designers Vincent Zampella and Jason West". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ "Nathan Silvers Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  22. ^ "Paul Messerly Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  23. ^ "Keith Bell Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  24. ^ "Mackey McCandlish Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  25. ^ "Chance Glasco Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  26. ^ "Jason West Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  27. ^ MOH Center (2 January 2010). "Medal of Honor Allied Assault Interview with producer". MOH Center. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  28. ^ Wolpaw, Erik (23 January 2002). "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ McWhertor, Michael (22 December 2010). "The Modern Warfare Fight: Your Guide to Activision Vs. Infinity Ward". Kotaku. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  31. ^ 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.
  32. ^ Crowley, Hillary (23 January 2003). "Vivendi Universal Games and 2015 Announce Development of Men of Valor: Vietnam". PR Newswire. UBM plc. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  33. ^ Aihoshi, Richard (18 October 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 22 June 2015.
  34. ^ Torres, Ricardo (24 February 2004). "Men of Valor: Vietnam Updated Impressions". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  35. ^ Park, Andrew (24 May 2004). "Men of Valor Profile Preview #1 - The Characters of Men of Valor". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  36. ^ McWhertor, Michael (14 April 2015). "Vietnam War shooter Men of Valor snapped up by Nordic Games". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  37. ^ Makuch, Eddie (14 April 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 22 June 2015.
  38. ^ "Trainwreck Studios". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 4 January 2015.[unreliable source?]
  39. ^ Evatt, Robert (24 March 2009). "Tornado Studios looking past stereotypical Gamers". NewsOK. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  40. ^ Remo, Chris (25 September 2008). "Developer 2015 Gets Funding, Opens Casual Game Studio". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  41. ^ IGN Staff (24 September 2008). "2015 Receives Millions in Founding and Reopens Doors". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 21 June 2015.

Official website

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