Everything about Westwood Studios totally explained
Westwood Studios (
1985-
2003) was a
computer and
video game developer, founded in 1985 as
Westwood Associates by
Brett Sperry and
Louis Castle and based in
Las Vegas,
Nevada.
The company's first projects consisted of contract work for companies like
Epyx and
Strategic Simulations (SSI), porting 8-bit titles to 16-bit systems like
Commodore Amiga and
Atari ST. Proceeds from contract work allowed the company to expand into designing its own games in-house. Their first original title was
Mars Saga, a game developed for
Electronic Arts and released in
1988. One of the company's first greater successes was
Eye of the Beholder (1990), a real-time
computer role-playing game based on the
Dungeons & Dragons license, developed for SSI. Other publishers of early Westwood games included
Infocom and
Disney.
In
1992, the company was renamed
Westwood Studios and sold to
Virgin Interactive. Well-known Westwood titles from this period include
Dune II, the
adventure game The Legend of Kyrandia and the role-playing game
Lands of Lore. Westwood's greatest commercial success came in
1995, with the release of the
real-time strategy game
Command & Conquer. Building on the gameplay and interface ideas of
Dune II, it added pre-rendered 3D graphics for gameplay sprites and video cinematics, an alternative pop
ock soundtrack with techno elements streamed from disk, and
modem play.
Command & Conquer,
Kyrandia, and
Lands of Lore all spawned multiple sequels.
In August
1998, Westwood was
acquired by
Electronic Arts (EA) for $122.5 million in cash, and at the time Westwood had 5% to 6% of the PC game market.. In response to what was perceived as an unwillingness to maintain the Westwood brand and independence from EA, many long-time employees quit over the next few years.
Along with Westwood, EA had also acquired a development studio in
Irvine,
California. It was managed by Westwood and became known as
Westwood Pacific (later
EA Pacific). Westwood Pacific developed or co-developed games like
Nox and the Command & Conquer sequel .
One of the last games released by Westwood, (an action game which mixed elements from
first-person shooters and
real-time strategy games) failed to meet consumer expectations and commercial goals Westwood and EA had set for it. In March of
2003, Westwood Studios (along with
EA Pacific) was liquidated by EA and all willing staff were assimilated into
EA Los Angeles. At the time of its closure, Westwood employed more than 100 people. Their last game was the
MMORPG Earth & Beyond.
Some time after the closing of Westwood Studios, a new game studio,
Petroglyph, was formed consisting mainly of former Westwood employees.
Selected games developed by Westwood
Further Information
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