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Heavy Iron Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Manhattan Beach, California. It was founded in August 1999 within THQ after the publisher acquired Steve Gray's Chemistry Entertainment. As part of a series of cost reductions within THQ, Heavy Iron Studios was spun off as an independent company in June 2009. Keywords Studios acquired the developer in January 2021.
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessor | Chemistry Entertainment |
| Founded | August 31, 1999 |
| Headquarters | , US |
Key people | Lyle Hall (president, CEO) |
| Products | |
Number of employees | 43 (2020) |
| Parent |
|
| Website | heavyiron |
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Early during his career, Steve Gray worked for the visual effects companies Robert Abel and Associates, Rhythm & Hues, and Digital Domain. As Digital Domain was trying to get into the video game industry, Gray and the company's chief financial officer, Chris McKibbin, pitched their services to various larger video game companies. Although they were turned down due to Digital Domain's lack of experience in the field, Gray and McKibbin were offered positions at the game developer, EA Canada, which both accepted. Gray quickly discovered his dislike the studio's sports games and soon switched to Square USA, where he managed the development team for Parasite Eve. As the game was completed, Gray and several of the game's developers believed they could easily obtain publishing contracts from outside companies if they set up their own studio.[1] In 1997, Gray established Chemistry Entertainment.[2] The studio worked on several unreleased games, including a Godzilla game for Electronic Arts.[1][3] Chemistry Entertainment was briefly part of Rainmaker Entertainment Group, which also housed Rainmaker Digital Effects, as Rainmaker Interactive.[1][4] Eventually, the studio landed a deal with THQ for a game based on the Evil Dead franchise.[1] Gray sold his studio to THQ, which then established Heavy Iron Studios as an internal developer on August 31, 1999.[2][5] The finished game, Evil Dead: Hail to the King, was released in late 2000.[6]
Following significant financial losses at THQ, the company announced that it would spin off several of its developers, including Heavy Iron Studios.[7] The studio's independence was effective on June 1, 2009.[5] Through a series of layoffs, its headcount was reduced from 120 to 60 by December.[8] In September 2020, Keywords Studios announced that it had agreed to acquire Heavy Iron Studios with its 43 employees for US$13.3 million.[9] The acquisition was complete on January 13, 2021.[10]
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| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights | PlayStation | Early version of the game with a different plot and gameplay style.[13] |
| 2007 | Toy Story 3 | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii | Early rejected version. Final game was developed by Avalanche Software.[14][15][16] |
| 2008 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Happiness Squared | PlayStation 2, Wii | Altered and retooled into SpongeBob's Truth or Square.[17] |
| 2010 | Saints Row: The Cooler | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | Fighting game spin-off of the Saints Row series that required the Kinect/PlayStation Move.[18][19] |
| Disney’s E-Ticket | Xbox 360 | Early rejected version of what eventually became Kinect: Disneyland Adventures, developed by Frontier Developments.[20][21][22] | |
| Family Guy: Road to Death | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | Altered and retooled into Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse.[23][24][25] | |
| 2011 | Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse | Wii, Nintendo 3DS | Alternative versions of the game for Nintendo consoles with a different gameplay style.[26] |
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