Big Huge Games

Big Huge Games

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Computer and video games
Founded	February 2000 (2000-02)
Headquarters	Timonium, Maryland, United States
Key people	Brian Reynolds Tim Train David Inscore Jason Coleman Ken Rolston Grant Kirkhope
Products	Rise of Nations series
Parent	THQ (2008–2009) 38 Studios (2009–2012) Independent (2014–present)
Website	BigHugeGames.com

Big Huge Games is a video game developer located in Timonium, Maryland. The company was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game industry developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds (lead designer of Alpha Centauri, et al.). Their first game, Rise of Nations, was a critical and commercial hit. The original studio became defunct in May 2012, but the name "Big Huge Games" was later reacquired by Reynolds and Train for their new venture (previously known as SecretNewCo). The revived studio released the mobile game DomiNations on Android and iOS in April 2015.

History

Reynolds at E3 in 2003

Although Brian Reynolds was a founding member of Firaxis Games, he and the others left Firaxis to found a new company based on their desire to apply the complexity and concepts of the turn-based strategy genre to the real-time strategy genre.

In February 2007, Big Huge Games announced that Ken Rolston, the lead designer behind The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, had come out of retirement to join the company as lead designer on an untitled role playing game (RPG). Later that May it was announced that THQ would publish the title in 2009. This marked the first title from Big Huge Games that was not distributed by Microsoft.

Acquisition by THQ

On January 15, 2008, THQ acquired the developer.

On July 30, 2008, Grant Kirkhope joined the Big Huge Games team as an audio director. He had previously worked for Rare, composing for the Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark games (among others).

On March 18, 2009, THQ announced that due to declining economic conditions, it would close Big Huge Games unless an outside buyer could be found in the next 60 days.

Acquisition by 38 Studios

On May 27, 2009, 38 Studios announced that they were acquiring Big Huge Games and retaining 70 employees out of approximately 120 who were at THQ.

From mid-2009 to January 2012, Big Huge Games developed a single player role playing game titled Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which was released in early February 2012 and published by Electronic Arts (EA) and 38 Studios for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game is set in a fantasy world created with input from R A Salvatore and Todd McFarlane.

It was reported on May 24, 2012 that the studio and their parent company 38 Studios had laid off their entire staff.

Formation of Epic Baltimore

In June 2012, Epic Games announced the opening of a new studio in Baltimore called Epic Baltimore. The studio consists of a significant portion of ex-Big Huge developers. It was later renamed Impossible Studios. Impossible Studios was officially closed on February 8, 2013.

Revival of Big Huge Games

In October 2014, it was revealed that Reynolds and Train had acquired the name "Big Huge Games" at auction from the state of Rhode Island, which owned it following the bankruptcy of 38 Studios. This name was given to their new venture founded in 2013, which was formerly known as SecretNewCo. The new studio developed a game for mobile platforms called DomiNations, for release on iOS and Android. DomiNations is described as reminiscent of Rise of Nations and a potential competitor to Clash of Clans. It is published by Nexon's mobile gaming group. DomiNations was released for Android and iOS in April 2015.

Game engine

Big Huge Games made use of their internally developed game engine, the Big Huge Engine, in both Rise of Nations and Catan. The engine features support for a variety of applications and technologies, including physics, artificial intelligence, animation, and others.

Games developed

Release Date	Title	Genre	Notes
2003	Rise of Nations	Real-time strategy
2004	Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots	Real-time strategy	Expansion pack
2006	Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends	Real-time strategy
2007	Catan	Turn-based strategy	Xbox Live Arcade
2007	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties	Real-time strategy	Expansion pack
2012	Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning	Action role-playing game	Co-developed with 38 Studios
2015	DomiNations	Turn-based strategy	Co-developed with Nexon

Unreleased

At the time of their move from THQ to 38 Studios, Big Huge Games was working on two large game projects, which are now canceled.

• Ascendant (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows)
• God: The Game (Wii)

External links

• Official website
• Big Huge Games profile on MobyGames

• Gamasutra: THQ Acquires BHG
• Music 4 Games: Grant Kirkhope resigns from Rare, joins Big Huge Games as Audio Director
• Big Huge Games Resurrected as "Epic Games Baltimore"
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