Zynga Eugene is an American

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

based in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

. The company was founded as Buzz Monkey Software in late 2001 by four former

Dynamix Dynamix, Inc. was an American developer of video games from 1984 to 2001, best known for the flight simulator ''Red Baron'', the puzzle game '' The Incredible Machine'', the ''Front Page Sports'' series, ''Betrayal at Krondor,'' and the online ...

employees:

senior producer Senior producer, also known as supervising producer, is a title given usually to the second most senior person of a computer game, animation, film or television production. Used mainly in the United Kingdom, a senior producer (who would occasionall ...

Randy Thompson, senior engineers Jon Milnes and Steve Cordon, and lead artist Barry Drew. It was acquired by

Zynga Zynga Inc. () is an American developer running social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile and social networking platforms. Zynga states its missio ...

in 2012, becoming Zynga Eugene.

History

Buzz Monkey got its start by developing and co-developing licensed property games for the PlayStation 2 and PC systems for publishers such as Simon & Schuster Interactive, Wild Tangent,

Vivendi Universal Games Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Associ ...

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included '' Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage'', '' Spy Hunter'' ...

, and

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

. Buzz Monkey also provided online game lobby development for developer

Insomniac Games Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is mo ...

for PlayStation 2 titles '' Ratchet: Deadlocked'' and '' Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal''. In June 2006, publisher

Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...

released '' Tomb Raider: Legend'', an action title developed by Buzz Monkey for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...

(PSP). Later that year in November 2006, American publisher

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

released '' NFL Street 3'', an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

-style football title developed by Buzz Monkey for the PlayStation 2 and PSP. ''NFL Street 3'' won "Best Alternative Sports Game" of 2006 from

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

. In June 2007, Eidos Interactive released another Buzz Monkey title, '' Tomb Raider: Anniversary'', for the PlayStation 2 and PSP, which was co-developed with

Crystal Dynamics Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California and part of Embracer Group. The studio developed the ''Gex'', '' Legacy of Kain'', and ''Tomb Raider'' series. Founded in 1992 by Madeline Canepa, Judy ...

. Later that year, Eidos Interactive released the Buzz Monkey-developed

Nintendo Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

and Xbox 360 versions of ''Tomb Raider: Anniversary''. In November 2008, Eidos Interactive published the Buzz Monkey developed title ''

Tomb Raider Underworld ''Tomb Raider: Underworld'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive for Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS in November 2008. Later versions were released for mobile ...

'' for the Wii. Buzz Monkey also provided animation and programming support to

for the development of the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

versions of that same game. On June 4, 2012, the company was acquired by

Video games

*''

Rinth Island ''Rinth Island'' is a third person adventure puzzle game that combines 2D and 3D perspectives. The game is played through either the male character (Gimble) or the female character (Libby) as they help rebuild the town on Rinth Island after a p ...

'' (iPhone/iPad, 2012) *''

Fluid Monkey In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot resist any she ...

'' (iPhone/iPad, 2011) *'' The Tomb Raider Trilogy'' (PS3, 2011) *''

Block Rogue Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

'' (iPhone/iPad, 2011) *''

ESPNU College Town ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hear ...

'' (Facebook, 2010) *'' Army of Two: The 40th Day'' (PSP, 2010) *'' Tony Hawk: Ride'' (Wii, 2009) *'' Tomb Raider: Underworld'' (PS2/Wii, 2008) *'' Tomb Raider: Anniversary'' (PS2/PSP/Xbox 360/Wii, 2007) *'' Tomb Raider: Legend'' (PSP, 2006) *'' NFL Street 3'' (PS2/PSP, 2006) *''

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by George Miller. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, ...

'' (PS2/GameCube/Wii/Windows, 2006) – original game design *''

Outlaw Volleyball ''Outlaw Volleyball'' is a video game based on the sport of volleyball. It was originally published for the Xbox and included a sampler CD of tunes by cover band Diffuser. It was later ported to the PlayStation 2 with two new courts and a handf ...

'' (PS2, 2004) *''

Outlaw Golf ''Outlaw Golf'' is a series of golf video games developed by Hypnotix, that are intended for adults and mature teens. ''Outlaw Golf'' was released for the Xbox (console), Xbox on June 10, 2002; for GameCube on October 29, 2002; and for Microsoft ...

'' (PS2, 2003) *'' Witchblade: The Game'' (PC, 2002) *'' Lilo & Stitch Pinball'' (PC, 2002) The developer had also worked on an unreleased video game version of a '' South Park'' video game for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

References

External links

Buzz Monkey
profile on

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

{{Zynga Video game development companies Video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 2001 Companies based in Eugene, Oregon 2001 establishments in Oregon Zynga 2012 mergers and acquisitions