Monolith Productions, Inc.

Moby ID: 804

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Monolith Productions is a game development studio based in Kirkland, Washington (USA). It was established in October 1994. Brian Goble is one of the co-founders along with Jason Hall. Many of the people involved with the formation of Monolith previously worked at Edmark Corporation.

The company's first game was the first-person shooter Blood (1997), which was published by GT Interactive. By 1998, Monolith graduated to self-publishing status, releasing several games in various genres. The company then primarily focused on first-person shooters, such as No One Lives Forever series, Aliens Versus Predator 2 and others.

While still developers at Edmark, Monolith's founders decided to enter into the fiercely competitive European 'demo' scene with a Windows-based programming showcase that demonstrated the kind of gaming graphics that, at the time, were believed possible only by using DOS. This demo caught the eye of Microsoft, with whom the Monolith founders worked on an early version of what eventually became the LithTech 3D engine. The company retained strong links with Microsoft for a long time, and was one of the first companies to incorporate Microsoft's API technology into a product, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (1998).

In 2000, the company LithTech was established to handle development and sales for the engine. After the initial version, many enhanced versions of the engine were created: Lithtech Talon, Lithtech Jupiter and Lithtech Jupiter EX. That company was renamed Touchdown Entertainment in 2003.

In 2004, Monolith was acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc. There, the studio created the F.E.A.R. and Condemned series, as well as licensed games such as Gotham City Impostors (2012), Guardians of Middle-earth (2012), Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014) and Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017).

In 2012, Snowblind Studios was merged into Monolith Productions.

Credited on 38 Games from 1996 to 2023

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Mortal Kombat 1 (2023 on Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5...)
Hogwarts Legacy (2023 on Windows, Xbox Series, Xbox One)
Hogwarts Legacy (2023 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5)
Blood: Fresh Supply (2019 on Windows)
Mortal Kombat 11 (2019 on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One...)
Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017 on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One...)
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Guardians of Middle-earth (2012 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Gotham City Impostors (2012 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Condemned 2: Bloodshot (2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate (2007 on Windows)
F.E.A.R. Combat (2006 on Windows)
Kapitan Pazur: Drapieżna Edycja (2006 on Windows)
Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005 on Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon (2005 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
The Matrix Online (2005 on Windows)
Contract J.A.C.K. (2003 on Windows)
Tron 2.0 (2003 on Windows, Xbox, Macintosh)
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way (2002 on Windows, Macintosh)

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History +

September 2008

The development studio and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc. re-acquire the rights to the F.E.A.R. series.

June 21, 2005

The company lays off 80 employees after transferring The Matrix Online and an unannounced DC Comics MMO to Sony Online Entertainment. About 25 of them are hired by Sony.

January 15, 2004

Samantha Ryan named CEO.

January 14, 2004

CEO Jason Hall leaves to become VP of Operations at the Warner Brothers Entertainment games division.

January 2004

The company is acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc., but the name F.E.A.R. and the technology behind the game stays with publisher Sierra Entertainment.

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Trivia +

Awards

  • The Game Awards
    • 2014 — Developer of the Year — Nominated

During the late 90's, Monolith split in 2 halves. Lithtech would focus on developing game operating systems. Monolith would focus on making games on the game OS. Most notable is the Jupiter engine used for Nolf 2 and the Triton engine used for Tron 2.0.

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