Hi-Rez Studios

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Hi-Rez Studios, Inc.
Privately Held
Industry Video game industry
Founded 2005
Headquarters Alpharetta, Georgia, United States
Key people
 Erez Goren
Todd Harris
Stew Chisam
Mike Dudgeon
Products Global Agenda
Tribes: Ascend
Smite
Number of employees
 200+[1]
Website hirezstudios.com

Hi-Rez Studios is an independent, privately held video-game developer based in Alpharetta, Georgia, United States. The company was established in 2005 by Erez Goren and Todd Harris, and is now one of the largest video-game studios in the southeast United States.[citation needed] Hi-Rez Studios' games include the squad-based shooter Global Agenda, the critically acclaimed Tribes: Ascend, and the third-person MOBA Smite (stylized as SMITE).[2] In 2012, Hi-Rez Studios was recognized as a Top 30 Video-Game Developer by Game Developer Magazine and Gamasutra.[3] Hi-Rez are the current owners of the Metaltech license, including Battledrome, Earthsiege, Starsiege, the Cyberstorm series, and the Tribes Series. The vast majority of the Metaltech series (with the notable exception of Battledrome, and the Cyberstorm games) were recently released as freeware by Hi-Rez.[4]

About

Erez Goren, a successful entrepreneur and video-game enthusiast, founded Hi-Rez Studios with Todd Harris in 2005. They hired experienced game developers from other successful titles, including City of Heroes, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Call of Duty.[1] Today, Hi-Rez Studios employs more than 200 people at its development facility in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta.[1]

Games Developed

Global Agenda

Global Agenda is an online team-based game. The game went live on February 1, 2010. In April 2011, Global Agenda became the first free-to-play game released on the Steam platform, introducing Elite and Free Agents and an in-game cash shop featuring Agenda Points.[5]

Tribes Universe

Tribes Universe was a massively multiplayer online shooter developed by Hi-Rez Studios based on the Tribes series. The game, along with Hi-Rez Studios' Tribes IP acquisition from InstantAction, was first announced on October 23, 2010. While alpha testing was said to begin at the start of 2011, development on Tribes Universe was halted when Hi-Rez Studios decided to start working on Tribes: Ascend.[6]

Tribes: Ascend

Tribes: Ascend is a free-to-play multiplayer-only first-person shooter and part of the Tribes franchise. It was announced by Hi-Rez Studios on March 11, 2011, at the PAX East, and released on April 12, 2012. Tribes: Ascend earned a metascore of 86, and PC Gamer ranked it at #8 in an article on the Best Shooters of All Time.[7] Aspects from previous Tribes games such as jetpacks and skiing are featured in the game.[8]

Hi-Rez Studios representative Todd Harris announced the company's abandonment of the game on July 12, 2013, to community disappointment. [9]

Smite

Smite is a free-to-play third-person (dubbed 3D Action) MOBA. Players take on the visage of mythological deities from different pantheons and take part in arena combat, using powers and team tactics against other player-controlled deities and non-player controlled minions. Hi-Rez Studios announced Smite on April 21, 2011, at PAX East, and began its closed beta period in May 31, 2012. An open beta followed in January 24, 2013. The beta process produced more than 74 million hours of playtime and a large competitive community.[10] Throughout the beta, Hi-Rez Studios also hosted a series of LAN and online events with cash prize pools.[11] Smite was officially released in North America and western Europe on March 25, 2014.

The weekend following its release, Hi-Rez hosted a Smite Launch Tournament in Atlanta where the eight best teams from Europe and North America played for a prize pool of over $200,000 USD, half of which was raised by the community from sales of a character skin.[12] Team Solo Mid from Europe won first place, with Team Dignitas from North America taking second place. Viewers at home could make their own predictions for a chance to win various prizes.[13] According to Hi-Rez, the event drew more than 400,000 unique viewers worldwide.[14] After the event, Hi-Rez added a custom-branded skin in honor of Team Solo Mid's victory.[15]

In May 2014, Hi-Rez announced the Smite World Championship Series (SWC). The SWC began with three months of regional qualifiers, which culminated into two separate $50,000 regional LAN events for Europe and North America.[16] The Smite World Championship took place January 9–11, 2015 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, and featured a prize pool of $2,612,260; Hi-Rez provided a $600,000 starting pool, while the remainder was raised through community contributions and exclusive content sales.[17] Prior to the event, Hi-Rez revealed that the World Championship will feature teams from North America, Europe, China, Brazil, and Spanish-speaking Latin America.[18] Cognitive Prime from North America won first place and 50% of the pool, while Titan from Europe took second and 20% of the pool.[19]

Paladins: Champions of the Realm

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Paladins: Champions of the Realm (Paladins as a shorthand) is an upcoming free-to-play online team-based game, a hero-based and objective-focused first-person shooter. One of the main draws of the game is the card system: as a player progresses through a match, they will randomly draw and select cards from their character's "deck" to augment their health, damage and abilities. The closed beta started on 17 November 2015.

Jetpack Fighter

Jetpack Fighter is a free-to-play high speed platformer for mobile. Players swipe to move & attack, or press and hold to do a Super move. After clearing each level of enemy robots the player progresses on a Campaign map and can earn better equipment as well as new Fighters. Players can also challenge other players for Leaderboard position. The game was released first for iOS on January 7, 2016 and Apple editors featured it as a Best New Game. The game has earned a metascore of 83. The developer states that an Android version of the game is currently in development.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ http://www.tribesuniverse.com/ The site where the freeware can be downloaded
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ https://www.vg247.com/2012/01/05/hi-rez-tribes-universe-on-hold-priority-for-now-is-ascend/
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Hi-Rez_Studios&oldid=714786170"