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{{Short description|American video game developer}}

factoids

}}GarageGames was a game technology and software developer. GarageGames was the parent company of GG Interactive, developers of educational technology in the areas of computer science, video game development and programming. In addition, the company has been a video game developer and publisher. GarageGames created several game engines targeted for indie development. Founded in Eugene, Oregon, the company had offices in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States and its headquarters in Vancouver, Washington. In 2007, GarageGames was acquired by IACWEB,weblink IAC/InterActiveCorp Takes Game Designer Stake, Wall Street Journal, 2007-09-18, 2012-06-30, and the company was renamed TorquePowered. In 2011, the company was purchased by Graham Software Development and reverted to the original name GarageGames.

History

{{see also|InstantAction}}GarageGames was founded in Eugene, Oregon in 2000 by Jeff Tunnell, Tim Gift, Rick Overman, and Mark Frohnmayer. Working in their garage on severance checks, the founders derived the name GarageGames as a play off the term "garage band", and is meant to evoke a similar attitude in game development. The stated goal of the original founders of GarageGames was to offer licensing of game engines to virtually anyone, allowing independent game-makers more options in developing and publishing video games. In 2001, GarageGames released the Torque game engine. It was used to create the Tribes game series and was released at an initial price point to allow independent game developers access. Later the company expanded its product lines with additional tools, and more advanced engines and introduced tiered licensing. In 2005, the company introduced Enterprise licenses for large companies and educational institutions available for annual fees ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. In 2006, its developer community surpassed 100,000 users. Over its history, the company launched several of its own games, including Marble Blast Ultra for Microsoft Windows and Xbox Live Arcade.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}In 2006, GarageGames acquired BraveTree Technologies, developers of Think Tanks and real-time networked multiplayer physics technology.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}} In 2007, Barry Diller and InterActive Corporation (NASD: IACI) acquired a majority interest in GarageGames for an estimated $80–100M in cashNEWS,weblink Barry Diller's Web Gaming Play, Bloomberg.com, 20 September 2007, and renamed the company InstantAction.WEB,weblink IAC's Grand Acquisitor, Fast Company, 2007-12-01, 2012-06-30, InterActive Corporation later bought out the remainder of GarageGames' equity for an undisclosed sum and on July 15, 2009, Louis Castle, notable for his Command & Conquer series, would become the CEO of GarageGames and InstantAction.WEB,weblink Lou Castle to Head Up InstantAction as New CEO, Industrygamers.com, 2012-06-30, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120219205625weblink">weblink 2012-02-19, The company headquarters were moved to Las Vegas and some employees relocated to Portland, Oregon. Shortly after the move, the "GarageGames" brand was retired.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}On November 11, 2010 it was announced that IAC was shutting down InstantAction, and the intellectual property for the Torque game engine would be sold off.WEB,weblink November Update | Eric Preisz | Blogs | Community | GarageGames.com, Torquepowered.com, 2012-06-17, On January 20, 2011, the Torque engine and GarageGames brand was purchased and the company was re-launched, as GarageGames again, with new CEO Eric Preisz. The company moved to a new office in Las Vegas, Nevada.WEB,weblink Welcome Back GarageGames!, Garagegames.com, 2011-01-20, 2012-06-30, In 2011, GarageGames began doing game and technology-based service work. The company created the Microsoft Digital Literacy Program for Windows 8 and an undisclosed project for a World Famous Theme Park. The company also created game-based learning courses for online colleges in the areas of criminal justice, customer service and career development.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}In 2014, GarageGames CEO Eric Preisz announced the establishment of GG|Interactive, a subsidiary of GarageGames that would focus on bringing game design, game programming and game development courses to middle schools, high schools and colleges. Under the product name Dev|Pro: Game Development Curriculum, the company offers digital education courses in the areas of computer science, game design and programming. Offices for GG|Interactive were established in Vancouver, Washington while the Las Vegas offices remained open.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}

Torque

GarageGames offered the Torque Game Engine for sale in 2000, offering the technology under a per-seat "Indie" license.WEB,weblink Torque Game Engine - Engine Details, DevMaster.net, GarageGames also offered "Commercial" licensing options to companies with more than $250,000 in annual revenues. In 2012, GarageGames announced that both the Torque 2D Engine and Torque 3D Engine would be offered free as an open-source MIT license.WEB,weblink Torque 3D engine going open-source and free, Alice, O'Conner, Shacknews, 2012-09-11, 2023-03-20, The source code was released on GitHub on September 20, 2012.WEB,weblink GarageGames to Release T3D as Open Source, garagegames.com, 2012-09-20, WEB,weblink It's here! The MIT licensed Torque 3D GitHub repo is ready!, garagegames.com, Torque is primarily a video game development technology. Various versions of the engine have been used to develop more than 200 published games.WEB,weblink Products : Torque : Powered, . GarageGames, 2006-09-21, 2012-06-30, It has been licensed by Electronic Arts, NC Soft, Sony, Disney, Vivendi Universal, Hasbro, and many other game teams and publishers and it has officially supported middleware for Microsoft and Nintendo.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}Torque is also used for non-game applications like serious games and virtual worlds. It has been licensed by NASA, L3, Lockheed Martin and it has been used for dozens of virtual worlds applications like OnverseWEB,weblink The World is your Playground with Onverse, Garagegames.com, 2009-08-31, 2012-06-30, and by IBM for internal and external training simulations.WEB,weblink Blog Archive » The IBM Innovate Quick internal metaverse project, eightbar, 2007-05-08, 2012-06-30, Torque is currently used for education in more than 200 schools and universities worldwide.WEB,weblink Solutions : Education, . GarageGames, 2012-06-30,

Game development

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%"! style="width:36%" | Title! style="width:20%" | System! style="width:17%" | Release date! style="width:17%" | Genre! style="width:3%" class="unsortable" | Ref(s)Caribbean hideaway>Caribbean Hideaway|Windows, Macintosh|January 23, 2008|Casual WEBSITE=WWW.GAMERANKINGS.COMwebsite=www.garagegames.comaccess-date=2017-02-21}}Chain Reaction (video game)>Chain ReactionMicrosoft Windows>Windows| Puzzle game>Puzzle {{citation needed|date=February 2014}} Dark Horizons Lore: Invasion| LinuxFebruary 11, 2005}} Action, mech HTTPS://WWW.GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ/ARTICLES/SATISFY-YOUR-HARDCORE-GAMING-URGES-WITH-DHLORE-INVASION-ON-LINSPIRE>PUBLISHER=GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZDATE=11 FEBRUARY 2005, October 20, 2020, | Microsoft Windows, MacintoshMarch 22, 2005}} HTTPS://WWW.GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ/ARTICLES/DH-LORE-INVASION-BRINGS-THE-BATTLE-TO-GARAGEGAMES>PUBLISHER=GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZDATE=22 MARCH 2005, October 20, 2020, Realm Wars (video game)>Realm WarsMicrosoft Windows>WindowsMarch 1, 2003Action game>ActionWEBSITE=WWW.IGN.COM, 2017-05-11, | (Fallen Empire: Legions)Microsoft Windows>Windows2008}}Action game>Action {{citation needed|date=February 2014}}| (Legions: Overdrive)Microsoft Windows>WindowsDecember 20, 2010}}Action game>Action {{citation needed|date=February 2014}} Marble Blast Gold| Linux {{dts|May 2, 2002}} Platform game, Puzzle game>puzzle {{citation needed|date=February 2014}}| Macintosh {{citation needed|date=February 2014}}Microsoft Windows>Windows {{citation needed|date=February 2014}}| Xbox Live Arcade {{citation needed|date=February 2014}}| Marble Blast Ultra| Xbox 360, WindowsJanuary 25, 2006}}Platform game>Platform, puzzle {{citation needed|date=February 2014}}| Rack'em Up RoadtripMicrosoft Windows>Windows| Sports game>Sport {{citation needed|date=February 2014}}| RokkitballMicrosoft Windows>WindowsApril 2008}}Action game>Action, sport {{citation needed|date=February 2014}} Think TanksMicrosoft Windows>Windows {{dts|2005}} Action HTTP://WWW.IGN.COM/GAMES/THINKTANKS/PC-664193 >PUBLISHER=IGN, ThinkTanks, | Xbox Live Arcade HTTP://WWW.GAMASUTRA.COM/PHP-BIN/NEWS_INDEX.PHP?STORY=5684 >TITLE=GARAGEGAMES ACQUIRES BRAVETREE ACCESS-DATE=2012-06-30, | Z.A.P.Microsoft Windows>WindowsMarch 2008}}Action game>Action HTTP://WWW.IGN.COM/GAMES/ZAP/PC-14345198 >PUBLISHER=IGN, Z.a.p. - Ign,

References

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External links

• {{Official websiteweblink}}
• GarageGames on MobyGames

{{GarageGames}}