🐳 New! Moby v2023.03.30 update

Underground Development

Also Known As +

  • Z-Axis, Ltd. (from 1994 to 2008-02)

Overview edit · view history

The company was founded as Z-Axis by David Luntz in 1994. Its first major project was John Madden NFL Football '96 for the SEGA Genesis, which was a best seller, and they created several other sports games afterwards. Z-Axis also provided motion capture services to game developers and publishers.

They were located in Hayward until acquired by Activision in May of 2002. They moved their offices to Foster City, California.

In February 2008, the company's name was changed to Underground Development. In April 2008, only two months later, Activision announced to close down the studio near the end of May 2008. Under the new name, the division only worked on the PlayStation 3 version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars as well as the multiplayer component of Wolfenstein.

17 Games Released (1995 - 2009)

Guitar Hero: Van Halen (2009 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii...)
Wolfenstein (2009 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360...)
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007 on Linux, Windows, Xbox 360...)
X-Men: The Official Game (2006 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox...)
True Crime: New York City (2005 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox...)
BMX XXX (2002 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
Aggressive Inline (2002 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 (2001 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX: Maximum Remix (2001 on PlayStation)
Freestyle Motocross: McGrath vs Pastrana (2000 on PlayStation)
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX (2000 on Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast)
Thrasher Presents Skate and Destroy (1999 on PlayStation)
Space Invaders (1999 on Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo 64...)
Fox Sports College Hoops '99 (1998 on Nintendo 64)
Alexi Lalas International Soccer (1998 on Windows, PlayStation)
Madden NFL 96 (1995 on SNES, Genesis)

History +

1994

Company founded as Z-Axis, Ltd.

May 22nd, 2002

Z-Axis, Ltd. is acquired by Activision.

February 10th, 2005

To expand the company, the headquarters are moved from Hayward, CA to Bayside Towers, Foster City, CA.

February 2008

The company's name is changed to Underground Development.

April 2008

Activision announces to close the studio near the end of May 2008.

Related Web Sites +

Frequent Collaborators

Contribute

Add your expertise to help preserve video game history! You can submit a correction or add the following: