 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | April 8, 1996; 29 years ago (1996-04-08) |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | January 31, 2006; 20 years ago (2006-01-31) |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Successors | Cloud Imperium Games |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Key people | Alan Hartman (studio head)[1] |
| Products | |
| Parent | Microsoft Game Studios (2000–2006) |
Digital Anvil, Inc. (formerlyDigital Anvil Holdings, Inc.[2]) was an Americanvideo game developer based inAustin, Texas owned byMicrosoft Game Studios (MGS).[3] It was founded in 1996 by brothersChris and Erin Roberts along with Tony Zurovec, Marten Davies, Craig Cox, John Miles, Eric Peterson and Robert Rodriguez, creators of theWing Commander franchise fromOrigin Systems.
Davies held the position ofpresident of the studio from its founding until February 2000, when his departure was announced.[4] In June 2000, Microsoft started talks to buy Digital Anvil. Roberts admitted that his team required large sums of money, which only a huge company could provide. The acquisition of Digital Anvil by MGS was completed in December of that same year.[5]
Digital Anvil was founded in 1996 byChris Roberts, Erin Roberts, Tony Zurovec, Marten Davies, Craig Cox, John Miles, Eric Peterson, and Robert Rodriguez. The name derived from the team's idea to provide "hard work and high tech".[6] Digital Anvil offered profit-related pay to encourage creative drive and give employees a sense of ownership in the company.[7]
Digital Anvil was purchased byMicrosoft in December 2000.[8][9] One of the consequences of Digital Anvil's purchase was a reshuffling of titles being developed.Conquest: Frontier Wars andLoose Cannon were dropped by the company, eventually being picked up byUbisoft.Conquest was released in 2001. Many of the Digital Anvil staff working onLoose Cannon were reassigned to the company's flagshipFreelancer.Brute Force (still unannounced at the time) was switched from a computer game to anXbox exclusive. Of all the projects being produced, onlyFreelancer escaped major change. Co-founder Chris Roberts left the company after the Microsoft takeover, but he still worked as a consultant onFreelancer. Digital Anvil also worked on the visual effects of the 1999 filmWing Commander.[10]
For the next year, Digital Anvil was mostly silent, and many wondered whether any games from the company would see the light of day. Then, in 2001, Digital Anvil revealed a lighterFreelancer to the press. Although some of the more ambitious elements were dropped, this act provedFreelancer was not vaporware. In March 2003,Freelancer was released and immediately became one of the month's top-selling games. In May of the same year, Digital Anvil releasedBrute Force for the Xbox. The game also did quite well, setting first-month sales records for Xbox games. In November 2005, Microsoft redeployed the developer's employees to itsMicrosoft Studios headquarters. Digital Anvil was officially dissolved on January 31, 2006.[6][11]
Hartman, the studio head of Digital Anvil at the time of its closure, was moved from Austin to Redmond as head ofTurn 10 Studios, authors of theForza Motorsport franchise.[1]
| Year | Title | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Starlancer | Windows,Dreamcast |
| 2003 | Freelancer | Windows |
| Brute Force | Xbox |
