Westwood Studios, Inc.
Overview
In 1985,
Brett W. Sperry and
Louis Castle set to work in a garage in Las Vegas. Thus was born Westwood Studios, one of the most successful entertainment software companies in the
history of the industry. Among the early creations are
Mars Saga,
BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception,
DragonStrike and
Eye of the Beholder, which garnered the young company, its first taste of widespread recognition at home and abroad.
In 1992, the company merged with
Virgin Interactive Entertainment, which enabled Westwood Studios to
become a software publisher in its own right and to enjoy Virgin's superior worldwide distribution network. It was also the year Westwood released two now legendary titles in the gaming word:
The Legend of Kyrandia and the game that defined the real-time strategy genre,
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty.
Soon after came
Command & Conquer and
Command & Conquer: Red Alert, which set sales records all over the world and redefined the real-time strategy genre. These stunning successes were followed by the
innovative and best-selling
Monopoly CD-ROM, which was the first commercial game with Internet support. Monopoly and titles in the
Command & Conquer series continue to make best seller charts. The Command & Conquer series has topped the 10 million-unit sales mark, a rare achievement in the interactive entertainment industry.
Westwood set new standards with the release of
Blade Runner, which combined groundbreaking
graphic technologies with a depth of storytelling rarely seen in computer games.
In August 1998, Westwood was acquired by
Electronic Arts (EA) for $122.5 million in cash.
Westwood stood at the forefront of the industry with the release of
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun and
Lands of Lore III.
After the game
Command & Conquer: Renegade failed to meet
EA's expectations in March of 2003, they liquidated Westwood Studios. Those employees that were willing to do so moved to
EA Los Angeles. According to Wikipedia, the last game Westwood developed was the MMORPG
Earth & Beyond.
Contributed by
Brian Hirt (10007) on Feb 28, 1999. [
revised by :
LepricahnsGold 
(38451)].
