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 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video game development |
| Founded | 1997; 28 years ago (1997) |
| Founder | Tom Kudirka |
| Fate | Defunct |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Tom Kudirka(CEO) |
| Products | Medal of Honor: Allied Assault |
| Subsidiaries | Trainwreck Studios |
2015, Inc. was an Americanvideo game developer based inTulsa, Oklahoma. The studio is best known for developingMedal of Honor: Allied Assault. As of 2025[update], the company has dissolved.
2015, Inc. was founded by Tom Kudirka in 1997.[1][2] He assembled a team of developers by researching people who were participating in the FPS mod community. After months of working online and mostly only communicating viaICQ instant messenger, his team created aQuake mod as a playable demo to show off their talent. Kudirka sent the demo toActivision who was so impressed with their work they awarded 2015 a contract developing theexpansion pack to their upcoming game entitledSiN, developed byRitual Entertainment.
Kudirka moved all of his team members toTulsa, Oklahoma, to begin work on the expansion packSiN: Wages of Sin. The seven developers who spent over six months online creating the demo met one another for the first time. Three of the seven developers lived in a house rented by Kudirka where the living-room made up the development studio. The team was Tom Kudirka, Ken Turner,[3] Zied Reike,[4] Carl Glave,[5] Benson Russel,[6] Paul Jury,[7] and Michael Boon,[8] who Kudirka relocated fromTasmaniaAustralia.
Wages of Sin was the official expansion pack for Ritual Entertainment's gameSiN. It was published by Activision and released forWindows in February 1999.[9]
Following the release of the filmSaving Private Ryan,Steven Spielberg wanted to produce aWorld War II-themed video game, which was established by theMedal of Honor series, initially produced byDreamWorks Interactive, a joint venture betweenDreamWorks andMicrosoft. While the first twoMedal of Honor games were successful, DreamWorks Interactive had also produced the lacklusterTrespasser in 1998, which left Spielberg unsure about continuing a video game division. DreamWorks Interactive was sold toElectronic Arts in 2000.[10]
Spielberg was still interested in theMedal of Honor series, and his staff initially approachedid Software about the project. id was at capacity at that time, but the id executives pointed them to 2015 as a possible candidate.[10] Spielberg's staff made contact with 2015 in May 2000 about their interest in the series.[11] Development began onMedal of Honor: Allied Assault soon after. To assist in the development of such a high-profile title, Kudirka hired additional developers such as Nathan Silvers,[12] Paul Messerly,[13] Keith Bell,[14] Mackey McCandlish,[15] Chance Glasco,[16] Jason West[17] and Radomir Kucharski,[18] who Kudirka relocated fromKatowice, Poland.
The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for theWindows platform[19][20] on January 22, 2002, in North America and on February 15, 2002, in Europe. The game was a critical and financial success with many consideringMedal of Honor: Allied Assault to have pioneered the cinematic first person shooter genre.[who?] The game provided a substantial push for Electronic Arts'Medal of Honor series.[21][22][23]
Following the success ofMedal of Honor: Allied Assault,Electronic Arts ended its contract with 2015, Inc. to develop the franchise in-house.Activision then approached key members of 2015, Inc., includingVince Zampella,Jason West, and Grant Collier, offering them a contract to createInfinity Ward. Under Activision, Infinity Ward developedCall of Duty, a competitor to Electronic Arts' series.[4][24] The remaining members of 2015, Inc. continued working on projects likeMen of Valor and other titles under the Trainwreck Studios division.
In 2002, 2015 began development on its own intellectual property,Men of Valor, a first person shooter simulatinginfantrycombat during the Vietnam era.[25][26]Men of Valor follows Dean Shepard and his squad of Marines from the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Division through 13 missions of theVietnam War, including missions at the height of theTet Offensive.[27][28] In historically-based scenarios, the player assumes a variety of roles in which they man the door gun on a Huey helicopter, steer a riverboat along enemy-infested shores, battle their way through enemy tunnel complexes, and call down fire as a forward observer. Mission types include pilot rescues, recon patrols, POW rescue, and search-and-destroy ops.
Men of Valor was published byVivendi Universal and released forXbox on October 19, 2004, in North America and on November 5, 2004, in Europe. The game was released for Windows on October 29, 2004, in North America and November 12, 2004, in Europe.
On April 14, 2015, it was announced thatNordic Games had closed an asset purchase agreement with 2015 to acquire theMen of Valor IP.[29][30]
In late 1999, Kudirka created a separate development division of 2015 called Trainwreck Studios, a subsidiary specializing in mid-price to budget games. Under that name, a few titles were created:Laser Arena in 2000,CIA Operative: Solo Missions in 2001, and thenTime Ace in 2007 for theNintendo DS.[31]
Tornado Studios is a video game company that is located inTulsa, Oklahoma.[32][33] Founded by Kudirka, it was staffed by veterangame designers from video game companies that includeSquare Enix,Ubisoft andElectronic Arts.
The first video game Tornado Studios released wasProject Runway. Based on thereality television series of the same name, the game was published byAtari and released for theWii on March 2, 2010. In the last years, Tornado Studios has been focusing on developing photorealistic 3D models for games, movies, presentations, architectural visualizations and designs. They are a team of 3D artists.[34]
| Year | Game | Publisher | Genre | Platform(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Mac OS | Xbox | Nintendo DS | |||||
| 1999 | SiN: Wages of Sin | Activision | First-person shooter | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 2000 | Laser Arena(as Trainwreck Studios) | ValuSoft | Yes | No | No | No | ||
| 2001 | CIA Operative: Solo Missions(as Trainwreck Studios) | Yes | No | No | No | |||
| 2002 | Medal of Honor: Allied Assault | Electronic Arts | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2004 | Men of Valor | Vivendi | Yes | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2007 | Time Ace(as Trainwreck Studios) | Konami | Combat flight simulator | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Year cancelled | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Half-Life: Hostile Takeover | — | Sierra Entertainment |
Rick Giolito: Following the release of Medal of Honor Underground for the PlayStation, I was encouraged to expand the franchise, and with this, Medal of Honor Allied Assault was borne. The centerpiece for the product would be the Allied assault on the beaches of Normandy, more commonly known as D-Day. The vision for the product was cemented in the acronym D.I.C.E (Deep Interactive Cinematic Experience). Copious use of scripted events and moment-by-moment storytelling took the first-person shooter genre to a new level. Allied Assault went on to become one of the best-selling PC products in history. It even outsold Half-Life--something deemed impossible at the time.
