2015 Games, LLC.

2015 Games, LLC (formerly 2015, Inc.), also known as 2015, is an American video game development company, best known for developing the highly successful video game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, published by Electronic Arts.

2015 Games, LLC
Private
IndustryVideo game development
Founded1997 (1997)
FounderTom Kudirka
Headquarters
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Omaha, Nebraska
Key people
Tom Kudirka (CEO)
ProductsMedal of Honor: Allied Assault
SubsidiariesTrainwreck Studios
Website2015games.net

History

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 via ICQ instant messenger his team created a Quake mod as a playable demo to show off their talent. Kudirka sent the demo to Activision who was so impressed with their work they awarded 2015 a contract developing the expansion pack to their upcoming game entitled SiN, developed by Ritual Entertainment.

Kudirka moved all of his team members to Tulsa, Oklahoma to begin work on the expansion pack SiN: 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 from Tasmania Australia to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

SiN: Wages of Sin
Main article: SiN: Wages of Sin

Wages of Sin was the official expansion pack for Ritual Entertainment's game SiN. The game was published by Activision and released for the Windows platform in February 1999.[9]

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Main article: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Following the release of the film Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg wanted to produce a World War II-themed video game, which was established by the Medal of Honor series, initially produced by DreamWorks Interactive, a joint venture between DreamWorks and Microsoft. While the first two Medal of Honor games were successful, DreamWorks Interactive had also produced the lackluster Trespasser in 1998, which left Spielberg unsure about continuing a video game division. DreamWorks Interactive was sold to Electronic Arts in 2000.[10]

Spielberg was still interested in the Medal of Honor series, and his staff initially approached id 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 on Medal 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 from Katowice, Poland.

The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Windows platform[19][20] on 22 January 2002 in North America and on 15 February 2002 in Europe. The game was a critical and financial success with many considering Medal of Honor: Allied Assault to have pioneered the cinematic first person shooter genre. The game provided a substantial push for Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor series.[21][22][23]

Following the release, a group of developers left 2015 to form Infinity Ward, a studio that would become known for the Call of Duty series based around the same concept.[4][24]

Men of Valor
Main article: Men of Valor

In 2002, 2015 began development on its own intellectual property, Men of Valor, a first person shooter simulating infantry combat 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 the Vietnam War, including missions at the height of the Tet 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 by Vivendi Universal and released for Xbox on 19 October 2004 in North America and on 5 November 2004 in Europe. The game was released for Windows on 29 October 2004 in North America and 12 November 2004 in Europe.

On 14 April 2015, it was announced that Nordic Games had closed an asset purchase agreement with 2015 to acquire the Men of Valor IP.[29][30]

Trainwreck Studios

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 then Time Ace in 2007 for the Nintendo DS.[31]

Games developed
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 First-person shooter Yes No No No
2001 CIA Operative: Solo Missions (as Trainwreck Studios) ValuSoft First-person shooter Yes No No No
2002 Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Electronic Arts First-person shooter Yes Yes No No
2004 Men of Valor Vivendi First-person shooter Yes No Yes No
2007 Time Ace (as Trainwreck Studios) Konami Combat flight simulator No No No Yes
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References
  1. Takahashi, Dean (7 March 2010). "The making and unmaking of Infinity Ward". VentureBeat. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  2. Evatt, Robert (24 March 2009). "Tornado Studios looking past stereotypical Gamers". NewsOK. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  3. "Ken Turner Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  4. Dring, Christopher (1 November 2013). "The Medal of Honor killer: A Call of Duty story". MCV. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. "Carl Glave Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  6. "Benson Russell Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  7. "Paul Jury Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  8. "Michael Boon Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  9. Coldberg, Sonya (12 June 2000). "Somebody's gotta do it". Tulsa World. Berkshire Hathaway. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  10. Takahashi, Dean (7 March 2010). "The making and unmaking of Infinity Ward". Venture Beat. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  11. Lynn Thompson, Tara (July 2009). "Powering up with Tornado Studios. A Tulsa-based company creates video games to attract a different set of players". TulsaPeople. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  12. "Nathan Silvers Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  13. McWhertor, Michael (14 April 2010). "Today's Update On The Great Modern Warfare Developer Bailout". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  14. "Keith Bell Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  15. "Mackey McCandlish Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  16. Pettite, Omri (5 November 2012). "Infinity Ward animator talks FPS design, animations in Reddit AMA". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  17. Gardner, Eriq (31 May 2012). "Activision Settles Huge 'Call of Duty' Litigation on Eve of Trial". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  18. MOH Center (2 January 2010). "Medal of Honor Allied Assault Interview with producer". MOH Center. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  19. Wolpaw, Erik (23 January 2002). "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  20. Adams, Dan (28 January 2002). "Very few games leave you breathless and gaping in wide-eyed wonder. EA's latest is one of them". IGN. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  21. Walker, Trey (6 March 2002). "Allied Assault unstoppable: EA's popular World War II action game, retains the top spot on NPD's latest list of best-selling games". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  22. GameSpot Staff (1 June 2004). "Medal of Honor Pacific Assault Designer Diary #1". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 June 2015. 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.
  23. Fahs, Travis (6 November 2009). "IGN Presents: The History of Call of Duty". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  24. McWhertor, Michael (22 December 2010). "The Modern Warfare Fight: Your Guide to Activision Vs. Infinity Ward". Kotaku. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  25. Crowley, Hillary (23 January 2003). "Vivendi Universal Games and 2015 Announce Development of Men of Valor: Vietnam". PR Newswire. UBM plc. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  26. Aihoshi, Richard (18 October 2004). "Action Preview — Men of Valor. The PC version of 2015's game about a young Marine and his squad during part of the controversial Vietnam War". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  27. Torres, Ricardo (24 February 2004). "Men of Valor: Vietnam Updated Impressions". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  28. Park, Andrew (24 May 2004). "Men of Valor Profile Preview #1 - The Characters of Men of Valor". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  29. McWhertor, Michael (14 April 2015). "Vietnam War shooter Men of Valor snapped up by Nordic Games". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  30. Makuch, Eddie (14 April 2015). "Vietnam Shooter Men of Valor Goes to Darksiders Publisher. Nordic Games acquires rights to Men of Valor from 2015 Games". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  31. "Trainwreck Studios". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
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