Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American

video game company The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. ...

based in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers

Backbone Entertainment Backbone Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Emeryville, California. The company was formed in 2003 as the result of a merger between developers Digital Eclipse and ImaginEngine. In 2005, Backbone merged with The Collec ...

and The Collective.

History

Foundation 9 Entertainment was founded on March 29, 2005, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, through the merger of video game developer

and The Collective. The company's initial management board consisted of Jon Goldman (

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

), Andrew Ayre and Douglas Hare (co-

presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

), Gary Priest and Mark Loughridge (co-

chairmen The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

), Richard Hare (

chief creative officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated wit ...

), Jeff Vavasour (

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of Canadian operations), Steven Sardegna ( chief financial officer), and Larry Kelly (

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

). Shortly after the merger, on April 12, Foundation 9 acquired and integrated Pipeworks Software. Subsequently, Dan Duncalf, the company's president and co-founder, joined Foundation 9's board of directors. In May, Foundation 9 acquired an

equity stake In finance, equity is ownership of assets that may have debts or other liabilities attached to them. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets. For example, if someone owns a car worth $2 ...

in Circle of Confusion, a Hollywood management company, to establish a strategic partnership. On June 1, 2006, investment firm

Francisco Partners Francisco Partners is an American private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in technology and technology-enabled services businesses. Founded in August 1999 and based in San Francisco with offices in London and New York City, Francis ...

(as advised by UBS Securities) agreed to provide in funding to Foundation 9 over a time frame of several years, with additional funding to be provided when needed. The investment was followed by the acquisitions of

Shiny Entertainment Shiny Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, California. Founded in October 1993 by David Perry, Shiny was the creator of video games such as ''Earthworm Jim'', '' MDK'' and ''Enter the Matrix''. Perry ...

from Atari in October 2006,

Amaze Entertainment Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game company based in Irvine, California. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers Backbone Entertainment and The Collective. History Foundatio ...

and related studios in November 2006, and

Sumo Digital is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

and its Indian sub-studio in August 2007. Under the terms of Shiny's acquisition, the studio would co-locate and merge with The Collective. The merger was formally announced in October 2007, at which point both studios had moved to new offices in

. The amalgam was named

Double Helix Games Double Helix Games was an American video game developer based in Irvine, California, founded in October 2007 through the merger of The Collective and Shiny Entertainment, two studios owned by Foundation 9 Entertainment. Double Helix was acquir ...

in March 2008. In January 2008, Foundation 9 promoted David Mann (previously

), Chris Charla and Jack Brummet to president, vice-president of business development, and vice-president of quality assurance, respectively, followed by James North-Hearn, one of Sumo Digital's founders, becoming the chief executive officer of the company in March. In July 2008, Foundation 9 reinstated

Griptonite Games Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...

and Fizz Factor, two studios absorbed into Amaze in 2005, under their original brandings. However, in July 2009, Fizz Factor was closed down entirely, while Amaze was merged into Griptonite and Double Helix suffered staff cuts. FXLabs, based in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, India, was acquired by Foundation 9 in October 2010 and became part of Griptonite under the name Griptonite India. Griptonite was sold to

Glu Mobile Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...

in August 2011 in exchange for 6 million shares of Glu's

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Comm ...

. Backbone's location in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

had been closed in May 2009, and in October 2012, its ImaginEngine studio was closed as well, while its primary location in

Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 ...

, laid off the majority of its staff. In February 2014, Double Helix was sold to

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

. Later that year, under advisory from GP Bullhound, Foundation 9 sold Pipeworks to Italian publisher Digital Bros, and Sumo Digital to its own management, the latter of which was backed by NorthEdge Capital. In 2015, Foundation 9's board of directors elected to dissolve the company.

Subsidiaries

* Amaze Entertainment (2007–2009) – Merged into Griptonite Games *

(2005–2015) – Closed ** Backbone Charlottetown (2006–2007) – Closed ** Backbone Emeryville (2005–2015) – Closed ** Backbone Vancouver (2005–2009) – Closed ** Games2Learn – Closed ** ImaginEngine (2005–2012) – Closed * The Collective (2005–2007) – Merged into

(2007–2014) – Sold to Amazon Game Studios * Fizz Factor (2008–2009) – Closed * Griptonite Games (2008–2011) – Sold to

** Griptonite India (2010–2011) – Sold to

* Pipeworks Software (2005–2014) – Sold to Digital Bros *

(2006–2007) – Merged into

(2007–2014) – Sold back to founders in a management buyout ** Sumo India (2007–2014) – Sold back to founders in a management buyout

References

{{Reflist 2005 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California American companies disestablished in 2015 American companies established in 2005 Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies disestablished in 2015 Video game companies established in 2005 Video game development companies