GarageGames

:"Garage Games" redirects here. For InstantAction game platform, see InstantAction."Infobox Company
company_name = GarageGames
company_
company_type = Video game developer, Video game publisher
foundation = 2000
location = Eugene, Oregon, USA
key_people = Josh Williams (CEO & CTO)
Joe Maruschak (GM GG Studios)
Brett Seyler (VP Bizdev)
Andy Yang (GM InstantAction)
Randy Dersham
Jeff Tunnell (founder)
Rick Overman (founder)
Mark Frohnmayer (founder)
Tim Gift (founder)
industry = Interactive entertainment
products = Video games, Web Portals, Game Engines, Game Publishing
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees = 90
homepage = http://www.garagegames.com/

GarageGames is located in Eugene, Oregon and on the web at GarageGames.com. As the makers of Torque game development technology, they have provided professional level cross-platform technology and tools since 2000. The Torque Game Engine was the original technology behind the Tribes series of games, and has been used since to develop countless games on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. GarageGames' own Marble Blast Ultra is a best-selling hit on Xbox Live Arcade. [ [http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/arcadehits/default.htm Xbox.com | Xbox LIVE Arcade - Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits ] ]

History

In 2007, the company received a majority investment by Barry Diller and Interactive Corporation (NASD: IAC). [ [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15537 Gamasutra - GarageGames CEO Talks IAC Deal ] ] GarageGames was founded by four industry veterans Jeff Tunnell, Tim Gift, Rick Overman, and Mark Frohnmayer. The founders literally worked in their garage on severance checks and released Torque Game Engine in August 2001. The name GarageGames is intentionally similar to the term "garage band", and is meant to evoke a similar concept in game development. The stated goal of GarageGames is to offer licensing of game engines and publishing to virtually anyone, in contrast to leaving would-be game makers at the mercy of large publishers driven by sales in the retail channel. To that end, in 2007, GarageGames also announced the development of a new game platform called InstantAction at InstantAction.com. [ [http://www.gamedevelopment.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15813 Gamasutra - IGC: GarageGames On The Future Of InstantAction, Torque ] ]

Game Development Technology

Licensing

GarageGames originally offered the Torque Game Engine for sale in 2000. Eschewing industry standards for game engine licensing, they offered the technology under a per-seat "Indie" license for a much more affordable price than available alternatives. [ [http://www.devmaster.net/engines/engine_details.php?id=3 DevMaster.net - Torque Game Engine - Engine Details ] ] The Indie licensing model (available to individuals and companies with less than $250,000 in annual revenues) and the affordable price endure today. GarageGames also offers affordable "Commercial" licensing options to companies with more than $250,000 in annual revenues. Estimates based on the size of the GarageGames community (100,000+) put the number of Torque licensees in the 50,000 range.

Products

Torque Game Builder

Torque Game Engine

Torque Game Engine Advanced

Torque X

Torque for Wii

Torque 360

Torque Networking Library (open source)

* GarageGames.com also sells more than 100 3rd party game development products.

Release Timeline

=Torque Game Engine=

=Torque X=

Applications

Torque is primarily a game development technology. Various versions of the engine have been used to develop more that 200 published games. [ [http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque/powered/ Products : Torque : Powered :. GarageGames ] ] . It has been licensed by Electronic Arts, NC Soft, Sony, Disney, Vivendi Universal, Hasbro, and many other game teams and publishers and it's officially supported middleware for Microsoft and Nintendo. Minions of Mirth and Dreamlords are successful Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) implementations. Games like Think Tanks, Marble Blast Ultra, Screwjumper and others are more core, or action-oriented.

Torque is also a popular solution for non-game applications like Serious Games and virtual worlds. It's been licensed by NASA, L3, Lockheed Martin and it has been used successfully for dozens of virtual worlds applications like Doppleganger's vSide (formerly the Music Lounge) and by IBM for internal and external training simulations. [ [http://eightbar.co.uk/2007/05/08/the-ibm-innovate-quick-internal-metaverse-project/ eightbar » Blog Archive » The IBM Innovate Quick internal metaverse project ] ] Torque is currently used for education in more than 200 schools and universities worldwide. [ [http://www.garagegames.com/solutions/education/ Solutions : Education :. GarageGames ] ]

Future

Last year at the annual Indie Games Con 2007, GarageGames announced a new component-based merge of their game engine technology slated for a 2008 release. [ [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15813 Gamasutra - IGC: GarageGames On The Future Of InstantAction, Torque ] ] GarageGames' online platform InstantAction.com makes use of a browser plugin technology that allows any arbitrary graphics application to run inside the browser. It has been rumored that this plugin technology may be integrated with Torque and made available to Torque owners in the future allowing game publishing on demand.

Game Development

Marble Blast Series

Originally released in 2002, the cross-platform game Marble Blast was created with Torque Game Engine and has been published on Shockwave.com, Yahoo Games and Real Arcade. Marble Blast Gold available on GarageGames' website and Marble Blast Ultra is currently an Arcade Hit title on Xbox LIVE Arcade. [ [http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/arcadehits/default.htm Xbox.com | Xbox LIVE Arcade - Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits ] ] The newest in the series, Marble Blast Online, is appearing exclusively on InstantAction.com.

Think Tanks

GarageGames acquired Bravetree Studios, the original developers of the Think Tanks series of games in 2005. [ [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=5684 Gamasutra - GarageGames Acquires BraveTree ] ] Think Tanks was features on Xbox LIVE Arcade and currently sells on GarageGames' website. The newest version of Think Tanks is appearing exclusively on InstantAction.com.

Orbz

Released in 2003, Orbz was an early hit on the Mac platform. Orbz is currently available on GarageGames' website and rumored to make an updated appearance on InstantAction.com.

Z.A.P.

Released in March 2008, Z.A.P., also known as Zero All Productivity, was developed in collaboration between GarageGames and Bad Habit Software, a newly formed game studio comprised of games industry veterans who have worked on smash-hit console and PC titles including Syphon Filter, Warhawk, Ratchet&Clank, and Tribes. In Z.A.P. each player pilots a spaceship through a vibrant top-down maze in a variety of rapid fire team games. Modes include Capture the Flag, Hunters, Zone Control, Retrieve, and the "every man for himself" annihilation of Z.A.P. Match. The game demands lightning reflexes and strategic team play.

Fallen Empire: Legions

Legions is GarageGames' spiritual successor to the hugely popular Tribes series of games. Noted for its fast-paced, multiplayer action, the Tribes series of games were developed by Dynamix (later purchased by Vivendi and later again by Universal) from whence the founders and many current employees at GarageGames came. Recent news articles point to an exclusive 2008 release of Fallen Empire: Legions on InstantAction.com. The game is now in open beta. [ [http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=750 Fallen Empires: Legion Interview - Shacknews - PC Games, PlayStation, Xbox 360 and Wii video game news, previews and downloads ] ]

Rokkitball

Rokkitball is a futuristic team-based game that's best described as football with rocket launchers and magno-beams. Launched on InstantAction.com in April 2008 with support for up to eight players, Rokkitball puts players on an ultramodern playfield with multiple goals. The tactics reward a combination of precision fire and team positioning to disrupt the enemy and control the field. Challenging bot players can be used to fill out games if there are too few humans, or to practice your skills when friends aren't available.

Game Publishing

Early in the company's history, GarageGames offered publishing terms to independent developers for distribution through its website game store that appealed to many small and independent game studios. To date GarageGames has published more than 100 titles in their game store. GarageGames has also self-published a number of titles on console platforms.

InstantAction.com

With the 2007 majority investment from IAC, GarageGames announced the development of a new online gaming platform called InstantAction. The platform is said to offer console quality games in a streaming play experience inside a web browser. InstantAction.com launched with a closed beta in January 2008. On February 2008, the beta became invitation based. As of March 6 2008, InstantAction.com is now in full open beta.

References

External links

* [http://www.garagegames.com/ GarageGames website]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/company/garagegames-inc "GarageGames"] profile on MobyGames