Eolith (company)

''Neolith Co., Ltd.'' (), formerly known as ''Eolith Co., Ltd.'' () is a South Korean based video game company, best known for co-developing '' The King of Fighters 2001'' with BrezzaSoft and '' The King of Fighters 2002: Challenge to Ultimate Battle'' with Playmore, as well as their ''Hidden Catch'' series.

History

The company was founded as Eolith in April 30, 1996. They developed '' The King of Fighters 2001'' and ''The King of Fighters 2002'' after SNK was bankrupted. Their last title released as Eolith was ''Chaos Breaker'', for the arcade system Taito Type X. Although the company was founded as an independent company, Kum Gang initially published their early arcade games. In 2000, they started a small chain of arcades called G-Park. On June 7, 2000, they registered at KOSDAQ as the first Korean arcade game maker. Besides video games, their redemption games ''El Dorado'' won the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Game of the Month June 2001 award, and ''Mugunghwa Kkot-i Pieosseumnida'' (English: ''The roses of Sharon have blossomed'', known as ''Hide and Seek'' outside of Korea) won the Game of the Month November 2001 and Arcade Game of the Year 2001 awards.

In 2000, the company M-Dream was founded by a former Eolith employee. M-Dream specialized in developing mobile games. They also developed several online games, and localized and published a number of PS2 and PC games. In November 2002, the subsidiary M-Dream China was formed. In 2003, Eolith merged with M-Dream, and Choe Jeongho became the new CEO. On June 3, 2005, Eolith was bought out by Netbrain, who was later integrated into the pharma company Neurotech and thoroughly restructured. Neurotech was renamed to Neurotech Pharma on November 8, 2006, and that same day, Eolith shut down. M-Dream became a separate company again, and continued to publish mobile games until 2007 when they were also shut down. Although M-Dream was shut down, M-Dream China was still active, but their website disappeared in 2018.

In May 16, 2008, the company was rebranded as Neolith and it was formed from the remnants of Eolith. Neolith received government support of 160,000,000 won but never showed much as a result.

List of games

As Eolith/M-Dream

Classic series

* ''Screaming Hunter'' (1996)
* ''Grand Prix Derby'' (1997)
* ''Ksana'' (1997)
* ''Hidden Catch'' nown as ''Find the Wrong Picture '98'' in Korea(1998)
* ''Iron Fortress'' (1998)
* ''Linky Pipe'' (1998)
* ''Puzzle King: Dance & Puzzle'' (1998)
* ''Raccoon World'' (1998)
* ''Candy Candy'' (1999)
* ''Hidden Catch 2'' nown as ''Find the Wrong Picture 2'' in Korea(1999)
* ''Hidden Catch 2000'' nown as ''Find the Wrong Picture 2000'' in Korea(1999)
* ''KlonDike+'' (1999)
* ''Land Breaker'' (1999)
* ''Music Station'' (1999)
* ''New Hidden Catch'' nown as ''New Find the Wrong Picture '98'' in Korea(1999)
* ''Penfan Girls: Step1. Mild Mind'' nown as ''Ribbon: Step1. Mild Mind'' in Japan(1999)
* ''Hidden Catch 3'' nown as ''Find the Wrong Picture 3'' in Korea(2000)
* ''Steal See'' (2000; developed by Moov Generation)
* '' Fortress 2 Blue Arcade'' (2001)
* ''Hidden Catch 3 Plus'' nown as ''Find the Wrong Picture 3 Plus'' in Korea(2001)
* '' The King of Fighters 2001'' (2001; published by SNK) - co-developed with BrezzaSoft
* ''Crazy War'' (2002)
* ''The King of Fighters 2002'' (2002; published by Playmore) - co-developed with Playmore
* '' BnB Arcade'' (2003; developed by Nexon)
* ''Burning Striker'' (2003)
* ''Hidden Catch Movie: Wonderful Days'' nown as ''Find the Wrong Picture Movie: Wonderful Days'' in Korea(2003)
* ''Chaos Breaker'' nown as ''Dark Awake: The King Has No Name'' on PlayStation 3(2004; co-developed with Taito)
* ''Snow Fighter'' (2004; developed by Cenozoic Entertainment)
* ''X-Monster'' (2004, cancelled)

Redemption series

* ''Dance Machine 18'' lso known as ''DM 18''(2000)
* ''Mugunghwa Kkot-i Pieosseumnida'' nglish: ''The Roses of Sharon Have Blossomed'', known as ''Hide and Seek'' outside of Korea(2001)
* ''Dream Shoot'' (2002)
* ''El Dorado'' (2002, distributed by Skee-Ball in the USA)
* ''Rolling Blues'' (2002)
* ''Shooting Master'' (2002)
* ''Alice in Cardland'' (2003)

For mobile phones

As Neolith

* ''CupSong Master'' (2008)
* ''PangPang Mini'' (2009)
* ''Chuck E's Ball Blast'' (2009, Chuck E. Cheese's version of PangPang Mini)
* ''Hidden Catch 5'' nown as ''Find the Wrong Pictures 5'' in Korea(2010)
* ''Treasure Quest'' (2011, licensed from ICE)

References

External links

*
Eolith Co., Ltd.
profile on Arcade-History.com

history on Hardcore Gaming 101

{{Authority control

Defunct video game companies of South Korea
Video game companies established in 1996
Video game companies disestablished in 2005
South Korean companies established in 1996
2005 disestablishments in South Korea
Video game companies of South Korea