Heavy Iron Studios, Inc. is an American

video game developer A video game developer is 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 large business with em ...

based in

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Coastal California, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north ...

. It was founded in August 1999 within

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

after the publisher acquired Steve Gray's Chemistry Entertainment. As part of a series of

cost reduction Cost reduction is the process used by organisations aiming to reduce their costs and increase their profits, or to accommodate reduced income. Depending on a company’s services or products, the strategies can vary. Every decision in the produ ...

s within THQ, Heavy Iron Studios was spun off as an independent company in June 2009. Keywords Studios acquired the developer in January 2021.

History

Early during his career, Steve Gray worked for the

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

companies

Robert Abel and Associates Robert Abel and Associates (RA&A) was an American pioneering production company specializing in television commercials made with computer graphics. Founded by Robert Abel and Con Pederson in 1971, RA&A was especially known for their art direction ...

Rhythm & Hues Rhythm & Hues Studios was an American visual effects and animation company founded in 1987, that received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1995 for '' Babe'', in 2007 for '' The Golden Compass'', and in 2012 for '' Life of Pi''. It a ...

, and

Digital Domain Digital Domain (also known as Digital Domain Media Group or DDMG) is an American visual effects, computer animation and digital production company headquartered in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California. Digital Domain has produced visual effects ...

. As Digital Domain was trying to get into the

video game industry The video game industry is the tertiary industry, tertiary and quaternary industry, quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the video game development, development, marketing, distribution (marketing), distribution, ...

, Gray and the company's

chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

, 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 EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Burnaby, then EA Canada) is a Canadian video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened as Distinctive Software in January 1983, and is also Electronic Arts's largest a ...

, which both accepted. Gray quickly discovered his dislike the studio's

sports game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such ...

s 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. In 1997, Gray established Chemistry Entertainment. The studio worked on several unreleased games, including a ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

'' game for

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

. Chemistry Entertainment was briefly part of Rainmaker Entertainment Group, which also housed Rainmaker Digital Effects, as Rainmaker Interactive. Eventually, the studio landed a deal with

for a game based on the ''

Evil Dead ''Evil Dead'' is an American horror franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series follows various characters as they battle demonic forces unleashed by an ancient book called the ''Necrono ...

'' franchise. Gray sold his studio to THQ, which then established Heavy Iron Studios as an internal developer on August 31, 1999. The finished game, '' Evil Dead: Hail to the King'', was released in late 2000. Following significant financial losses at THQ, the company announced that it would spin off several of its developers, including Heavy Iron Studios. The studio's independence was effective on June 1, 2009. Through a series of layoffs, its headcount was reduced from 120 to 60 by December. In September 2020, Keywords Studios announced that it had agreed to acquire Heavy Iron Studios with its 43 employees for . The acquisition was complete on January 13, 2021.

Games developed

Games co-developed

Cancelled games

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1999 establishments in California 2021 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1999 American subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Los Angeles Keywords Studios THQ Video game companies established in 1999 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies