 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | January 22, 2000; 25 years ago (January 22, 2000) |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , Canada |
| Parent | Enad Global 7 (2020–present) |
| Website | piranhagames |
Piranha Games Inc. is a Canadianvideo game developer based inBurnaby,British Columbia.[1] The company was founded by Russ Bullock, President and Executive Producer, and Bryan Ekman, VP and Creative Director.[2] Piranha Games is one of the oldestgame developers in theGreater Vancouver area and was housed in the International Village Mall in the Chinatown area until their relocation to their current Burnaby headquarters. On November 25, 2020, Piranha Games entered into an agreement to be acquired byEnad Global 7.[3]
In the Autumn of 1999, three entrepreneurs – Bullock, Ekman, and Jason Holtslander – set out to create aHalf-Life mod calledDie Hard: Nakatomi Plaza (DH:NP). After working together for a few months, the team received a letter fromFox Interactive requiring all work on the mod cease and desist. The three used this event as a catalyst to pursue their dreams of starting a new development studio and turningDie Hard: Nakatomi Plaza into a full product for thePC platform.
Piranha Games Inc. was officially founded in early 2000 by Bullock, Ekman, and Holtslander, with an initial infusion of private funding. After an 8-month period of creating demos forFox Interactive, a deal was struck in August 2000, andDie Hard: Nakatomi Plaza was officially under production.
On November 25, 2020, Swedish companyEnad Global 7 acquired Piranha Games for $31.4M CAD, the acquisition was finished on March 1, 2021.[citation needed]
Work began in earnest onDH:NP mid August 2000. The team doubled in size from six developers to twelve and moved into its new office location inDowntownVancouver. Production onDH:NP moved along steadily through the winter and into 2001 in preparation forE3 2001. After a modestE3 showing,DH:NP continued development, targeting a fall release date. Crunching hard for the next 6 months, with the team exhausted and the ownership at odds with each other, the game's ship date slipped into spring 2002. During the summer and fall of 2001, Jason Holtslander was bought out by the remaining principals.[citation needed]
With the departure of Holtslander, Piranha refocused its energy towards finishingDH:NP and expanding the business into the casual space through the creation of a new label and company called Jarhead Games. In the spring of 2002DH:NP was released.
In the summer of 2005 Piranha Games began working on an unannounced next generation title which was later revealed to be a new Mechwarrior game.[4] In the spring of 2007,Piranha Games was contracted to work onEA Playground for theNintendo DS andMedal of Honor: Heroes 2 for the PSP. Piranha Games has also worked withGearbox Software to develop thePS3[5] andXbox 360 versions ofDuke Nukem Forever, along with the multiplayer[6] component.
In 2011, after failing to work with former rights holders Smith & Tinker to fund a new MechWarrior game, Piranha Games bought the rights to the series from them.[7]
After a lengthy period without news regarding the new MechWarrior game, Piranha announced that the game, after some 'false starts', had becomeMechWarrior Online, and had been transformed into a mech-basedMMO. MechWarrior Online ended Closed Beta phase in 2012, and officially launched following an Open Beta in fall of 2013 to mediocre reviews from critics, and poor reception with fans of the franchise.[8]
PGI continues live iterative development ofMechwarrior Online. On December 5, 2016, Piranha announced their development ofMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, a single-purchase single player campaign title for the franchise using the Unreal 4 engine, with a playable demo due to be rolled out at the company's annual Vancouver Mech-Con event in December 2017[9] and full release rescheduled for September 2019 (Originally December 2018).[10]
On July 25, 2019, it was announced thatMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries would be delayed again with a launch date of December 10, 2019. The game would also be an Epic Games Store exclusive for 1 year,[11] although it was also released for Xbox Game Pass.
| Year | Title | Platforms | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza | Windows | Sierra Entertainment/Vivendi Universal Games | |
| 2007 | Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 | PSP | Electronic Arts | PSP version only |
| 2008 | Need for Speed: Undercover | PSP | Electronic Arts | |
| 2009 | Bass Pro Shops: The Strike | Windows, Xbox 360, Wii | XS Games/Psyclone | |
| 2010 | Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt | Windows, Xbox 360, Wii | XS Games | |
| 2011 | Duke Nukem Forever | Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, macOS | 2K Games | Additional development |
| Days of Thunder | PS3, Xbox 360 | Paramount Digital Entertainment/505 Games | ||
| 2013 | MechWarrior Online | Windows | Piranha Games/Infinite Game Publishing | |
| 2019 | MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries | Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | Piranha Games | |
| 2024 | MechWarrior 5: Clans | Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X/S | Piranha Games |
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)A media franchise byElectronic Arts | |||||
| Games |
|  | |||
| Developers |
| ||||
| Related | |||||
