Neversoft Entertainment, Inc.

Moby ID: 1643

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Neversoft Entertainment Inc. was founded in July 1994 by gaming veterans Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward, and was based in Los Angeles, California. The three founders were previously with Malibu Interactive until they felt the company would go under, which happened as it closed down the same year. They had already left and established their own studio.

The company struggled the first three years, spending too much times on commissioned games that were later cancelled, despite their strict work regime. During those years the studio only released Skeleton Warriors (1996). By Christmas 1997, they could only pay half a paycheck, after that it was a quarter.

Before going under the company finally got a big break when Activision hired them in January 1998 to develop a game using the voice of Bruce Willis. That project became Apocalypse and it was released in November 1998. Impressed with the progress, Activision asked Neversoft in May 1998 to start work on a skateboarding game. They managed to get the endorsement of Tony Hawk and the skateboarding project became Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. At the same time, in October 1999, Activision acquired the company and all members of the studio's management team signed long-term employment contracts.

The game became a smashing hit and would become the company's most important franchise under the name Tony Hawk skateboarding series. It was followed by many sequels that managed to rack up $1 billion in sales over the years.

Over the years the studio also worked on other titles such as the PlayStation port of MDK (1998), Spider-Man (2000) and the western shooter GUN (2005). In 2006 Activision acquired RedOctane and its Guitar Hero franchise, but the development studio Harmonix Music Systems behind the series was acquired by MTV, leaving Activision with no development team for the game. Neversoft took over development on Guitar Hero starting with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007), followed by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (2008) and Guitar Hero: World Tour.

The studio's last skateboarding title was Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (2007), which managed to innovate less than the skate series by Electronic Arts. In January 2009 co-founder Joel Jewett said in an interview the franchise was handed to a different development studio, and that Neversoft would focus on new titles in the Guitar Hero series.

In May 2014, it was announced Neversoft and Infinity Ward would merge into a single Infinity Ward studio headed by Dave Stohl, retiring the Neversoft name. Neversoft studio head Joel Jewett and studio director Scott Pease retired from games after the transition. The studio was finally disbanded on 11 July 2014.

Credited on 31 Games from 1996 to 2014

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Call of Duty: MW3 (2011 on Windows, Xbox 360, Macintosh...)
DJ Hero 2 (2010 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (2010 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (2009 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii...)
Band Hero (2009 on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Guitar Hero 5 (2009 on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Guitar Hero: Metallica (2009 on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3...)
Guitar Hero: World Tour (2008 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360...)
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (2008 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360...)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360...)
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (2007 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Tony Hawk's Project 8 (2006 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, PSP...)
Gun (2005 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox...)
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (2005 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox...)
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (Collector's Edition) (2005 on PlayStation 2)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (2004 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox...)
MTX Mototrax (2004 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox...)

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History +

February 11, 2010

The Los Angeles Times reports that about 50 of the 170 employees are laid off by parent company Activision Blizzard.

October 1999

The company is acquired by Activision.

July 1994

The company is founded.

Trivia +

The German online magazine 4Players named Neversoft as #2 Best Developer of 2009.

Related Web Sites +

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