Xbox game devs – where are they now?

The Xbox launched in the UK on March 14, 2002. It’s strange to think that before then Microsoft was seen more or less as the company that made computers work – via Windows. Now it’s impossible to imagine a games industry without the Xbox, such is the success of the second system, the Xbox 360. Here we look back at some of the original Xbox’s best games and where those developers are now.

RalliSport Challenge 2 – DICE

Before DICE became the studio known primarily for FPS series Battlefield it was a dab-hand at creating superb racing games. The second game in particular is still fondly remembered as one of the system’s true greats, combining what were cutting-edge visuals with genre-leading online integration.

Before EA fully acquired DICE in 2006 the studio worked on a wide variety of titles, including Shrek and the excellent Midtown Madness 3 for the Xbox. Now the studio is almost entirely focused on creating new titles in the Battlefield and Bad Company series, although it did divert its attentions to Mirror’s Edge a few years back. A follow-up to RalliSport Challenge seems like a pipe dream (although Microsoft still owns the IP), but thankfully the DiRT series has picked up where it left off.

Ninja Gaiden – Team Ninja

There’s a reason Ninja Gaiden has just been released on the Vita, some eight years after it first appeared on the Xbox – it’s bloody brilliant. The tweaked Ninja Gaiden Black was even better. At the time Team Ninja was headed by eccentric video game rockstar Tomonobu Itagaki, who also took charge of the Xbox 360 sequel. These days Team Ninja is a very different beast, with Itagaki having left to form Valhalla Game Studios, where he’s currently working on third-person action title Devil’s Third for THQ – a game we’ve seen very little of since its debut showing at E3 2010, but is due early in 2013. Team Ninja has just finished work on the Itagaki-less Ninja Gaiden 3.

Halo – Bungie

Halo wasn’t just a great Xbox game, it was the Xbox game. Without it the Xbox simply wouldn’t be what it is today, and that is in no small part down to developer Bungie. Sure, Microsoft was able to push the game into the minds of millions of gamers thanks to its financial muscle, but the game had to be good enough to live up to the massive billing. Bungie’s most recent release, Halo: Reach, proved to be one of the best games in the series, and was largely regarded as one of the most impressive games of 2010.

While Halo is still going strong, Bungie is no longer its master, with Microsoft’s 343 Industries handling development on Halo 4 and all future Halo titles and services. A number of ex-Bungie staff are at 343, including franchise director Frank O’Connor, but Bungie as a whole is now separated from Microsoft and currently tied into a 10-year publishing deal with Activision – the first game under the new publisher yet to be revealed.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 – Ubisoft Montreal

For a large group of Xbox LIVE players Rainbow Six 3 was one of the best online experiences on the Xbox, its cooperative play offering some of the most memorable moments of the generation. Rainbow Six evolved into the Vegas series, and is due to make another comeback next year as Rainbow Six: Patriots. The dev team at Ubisoft Montreal has gone on to create some of the best and most successful games of the past 10 years, including Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Assassin’s Creed, while it’s currently working on Far Cry 3 alongside Patriots and Assassin’s Creed 3.

Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge – FASA Interactive

This Xbox exclusive sequel to the hit PC original went down a storm with Xbox gamers back in 2003, but a follow-up never arrived. Developer FASA moved on to troubled online shooter Shadowrun, which bombed on the Xbox 360 and PC in 2007. FASA was shut down by Microsoft after the release of Shadowrun, with founders then forming Smith & Tinker, who licensed from Microsoft the rights to previously developed games including Crimson Skies, MechWarrior and Shadowrun – no games in any of these series have been seen by the company.

Project Gotham Racing 2 – Bizarre

PGR2 pushed racing games into a new dimension thanks to developer Bizarre Creations’ excellent integration of Xbox LIVE. It also helped that the game is one of the most instantly playable and enjoyable titles ever to grace a console. It was no surprise that the studio was tasked with creating an Xbox 360 launch title in the shape of the gorgeous PGR3, and then followed that with the brilliant PGR4. In between all that they managed to create the fun, but sadly poor-selling The Club for SEGA, as well as retro gaming classic Geometry Wars 2.

After PGR4 failed to sell in the numbers it deserved, Activision swooped in for the developer, with social network integrated racer Blur set as the studio’s first title for the Call of Duty publisher. Despite being one of the best racers released in 2010, sales didn’t meet expectations, and after putting out the dull 007 Blood Stone the firm was closed down. Bizarre has since splintered into numerous small studios (Lucid Games, Hogrocket, Grubby Hands, and Totem Games), while Microsoft has sat on PGR without any new titles since PGR4 in 2007 – rumours of a sequel have persisted but nothing has ever materialised. A small number of ex-Bizarre staff now work at Playground Games, the studio developing Forza Horizon for Xbox 360.

Conker: Live and Reloaded – Rare

Oh Rare, how we loved you. Rare didn’t get to create many titles for the original Xbox, but Conker: Live and Reloaded (its second game for the chunky black console) is also one of the system’s best. While it’s a port of the N64 original, it was given a spectacular graphical makeover that to this day still impresses. On the Xbox 360 the studio pumped out launch titles Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo, then produced two of the finest 360 games in the shape of Viva Pinata and the sequel Trouble in Paradise. The inventive Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts arrived late in 2008, and sadly that’s where Rare as we knew it seemed to end.

While rumours of sequels to Perfect Dark persist, and fans are forever asking for a new game in the Killer Instinct series, Rare was put to work on creating the Xbox 360 Avatar system and became a studio largely focused on Kinect development. Kinect Sports and Kinect Sports: Season 2 are among the best titles for the peripheral and the studio’s future looks set to be Kinect heavy.

Psychonauts – Double Fine

If there’s such as thing as a cult classic in video games, Psychonauts is it. Originally Double Fine’s title was set to be published by Microsoft, but that deal fell through and publisher Majesco picked the game up for the American market – the game released on Xbox in April 2005 to masses of critical acclaim. It was later ported to PS2 and PC, while gamers in the UK had to wait until February 2006 to get their mitts on it. It was obviously worth the wait, but sales didn’t follow the glowing reviews, and as such the game never saw a sequel.

Double Fine, already with a large fan following due to the involvement of Tim Schafer (creator of hits such as Full Throttle and Grim Fandango), went on to produce the disappointing Brutal Legend, before moving on to smaller titles such as Costume Quest, Stack, Iron Brigade, Sesame Street, and Happy Action Theater. The studio is currently working on a fan-funded project dubbed “Double Fine Adventure”, a point and click adventure title for which it has raised $3 million.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay – Starbreeze

Escape from Butcher Bay released towards the end of the Xbox life-cycle and managed to go beyond what we thought was possible on the system. It featured next-gen graphical effects such as normal mapping, and gave us a glimpse into what the future of gaming held. Starbreeze had established itself as something of a graphical powerhouse, having shipped gorgeous hack ‘n’ slash title Enclave on the Xbox two years earlier.

After Butcher Bay the studio switched to developing for this generation of consoles, pumping out the impressive The Darkness and semi-remake The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. It recently released Syndicate for EA, although the game failed to live up to fan expectation and performed poorly at retail.

Knights of the Old Republic – BioWare

Few would disagree that Knights of the Old Republic is one of the Xbox greats. It set a new benchmark for morality systems in games, shaping the way RPGs would go in the years to follow. BioWare had been known primarily as a PC developer, but KotoR managed make the studio a force on home consoles – a market they expanded into in the years ahead.

The success of KotoR saw the studio sign a deal with Microsoft to create Xbox exclusive RPG Jade Empire, following that with sci-fi epic action RPG Mass Effect – a game that would elevate the studio into the upper echelons of the industry. While the developer has continued to see success, some fans have grown to be upset at the studio’s direction since being acquired by EA in 2007, particularly the ‘dumbed down’ Dragon Age 2. BioWare also released the hugely expensive MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, a follow-up of sorts to KotoR. While an MMO, the game features fully voice-overed dialogue and can be soloed more easily than the majority of other MMOs.

Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta – SEGA Smilebit

Smilebit churned out some tremendous games in the Xbox days, giving Microsoft’s console some of the best titles SEGA has ever produced. Jet Set Radio Future was followed by GunValkyrie, and then the classic Panzer Dragoon Orta. All three titles provided hardcore gaming experiences that couldn’t be found on rival consoles, and demonstrated Microsoft’s desire to try and gain a foothold in Japan – something it never managed to do.

In 2004 Smilebit was closed, with the new SEGA Sports Japan studio being formed entirely of ex-Smilebit employees. After working on such classics for the original Xbox, it’s a shame that the studio is now responsible for the casual-friendly Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games titles. Hardcore gamers everywhere are crying.

Unreal Championship 2 – Epic/Midway

Epic Games released this excellent Xbox LIVE third-person/first-person action hybrid in 2005 exclusively for the Xbox – proving that the developer was on the leading edge of video game graphics and online functionality. What happened next for the developer couldn’t be more different to the fortunes of publisher Midway.

While the two companies worked together again, on the release on Unreal Tournament 3 and the use of the Unreal Engine 3 in many Midway titles, Midway collapsed after a series of flops. Epic Games on the other hand created one of the Xbox 360’s leading franchises in Gears of War, and its Unreal Engine has become the most popular amongst game developers – even on mobile devices thanks to the success of iOS title Infinity Blade.