Looking Glass Studios
 | |
| Defunct | |
| Industry | Interactive entertainment |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Defunct | May 24, 2000 |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States |
Key people |
Paul Neurath (co-founder) Ned Lerner (co-founder) Doug Church Warren Spector |
| Website | www.lglass.com (archived, last version of 2000-06-20) |
Looking Glass Studios was a computer game development company during the 1990s. Their games demonstrated innovative gameplay, pioneering physics simulation, and well-written, engaging stories. Their best known game franchises were Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Thief 1 and 2.
History
The company originally formed as Looking Glass Technology in 1992, when Blue Sky Productions and Lerner Research merged.[1] Originally based in Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1994 the company moved to Cambridge. A significant number of Looking Glass personnel were MIT graduates. Looking Glass also had satellite offices in Redmond, Washington,[2] Austin, TX and Huntington Beach, California. Looking Glass gained industry renown for their 3D engine used in Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss and System Shock.[1] In 1997, the company was renamed to Looking Glass Studios.
In 1997, the company merged with Intermetrics, Inc[3] to become Intermetrics Entertainment Software, LLC. Intermetrics became AverStar after it acquired Pacer Infotech in February 1998. In March 1999, Intermetrics divested Looking Glass Studios Inc.[4]
The company went out of business on May 24, 2000 during a financial crisis related to their publisher at the time, Eidos Interactive. Warren Spector managed to move many Looking Glass Studios employees over to Ion Storm Austin.
After the company folded, people from Looking Glass went on to work at Ion Storm, Irrational Games, Harmonix, Mad Doc Software, Arkane Studios, Westwood Studios, Valve, and to found Floodgate Entertainment and Digital Eel, amongst other later studios.
Ion Storm Austin developed Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War, the first two games in the Deus Ex series, and Thief: Deadly Shadows, the third game in the Thief series.
Arkane Studios went on to develop Arx Fatalis (a dungeon crawling game that bore heavy resemblance to Looking Glass' cult series Ultima Underworld), Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (co-designed by Floodgate) and Dishonored.
List of titles
As Lerner Research
- Car and Driver (1992)
As Blue Sky Productions
- Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (1992)
- John Madden Football '93 (Genesis) (1992)
As Looking Glass Technologies
- Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (1993)
- System Shock (1994)
- Flight Unlimited (1995)
- Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (1996)
- British Open Championship Golf (1997)
As Looking Glass Studios
- Flight Unlimited 2 (1997)
- Thief: The Dark Project (1998)
- Command & Conquer (N64) (1999)
- System Shock 2 (1999)
- Flight Unlimited 3 (1999)
- Destruction Derby 64 (1999)
- Thief II: The Metal Age (2000)
- Jane's Attack Squadron (2002)
References
- 1 2 "Looking Glass". Next Generation. Imagine Media (4): 60–64. April 1995.
- ↑ "Company Fact Sheet". Looking Glass Studios, Inc. Archived from the original on 2000-03-08. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
- ↑ Nicholas Valtz. "Intermetrics and Looking Glass Studios Merge Computer Game Operations to Form Multimedia Powerhouse". Intermetrics, Inc. Archived from the original on 1999-11-03. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
- ↑ "Averstar Inc · S-1/A". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 1999-07-16. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
External links
- Looking Glass Studios profile from MobyGames
- An illustrated history of Looking Glass Studios from the-nextlevel.com
- To all the fans and supporters of LookingGlass: Final message from Looking Glass Studios website, from Archive.org
- Article on the closure of Looking Glass from IGN PC
- Through The Looking Glass: Honoring the Legacy of Looking Glass Studios from TTLG.com
- "Reasons for the Fall: A Post-Mortem On Looking Glass Studios" from TTLG.com
- Final Days a photographic tribute to LGS employees, particularly on the last day of the company's existence