inXile Entertainment, 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 ...

and a studio of

Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...

based in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city does not include the unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated communit ...

. Specializing in

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s, inXile was founded in 2002 by Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo. The studio produced the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

games ''

The Bard's Tale ''The Bard's Tale'' is a fantasy role-playing video game franchise created by Michael Cranford and developed by Brian Fargo's Interplay Productions (1985–1992) and inXile Entertainment (2004–present). The initial title of the series was ...

'' and '' Hunted: The Demon's Forge'', along with various games for

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

such as '' Fantastic Contraption'' in its first decade of development. In 2014, inXile released the post-apocalyptic game ''

Wasteland 2 ''Wasteland 2'' is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game developed by inXile Entertainment and published by Deep Silver. It is the sequel to 1988's '' Wasteland'', and was successfully crowdfunded through Kickstarter. After the postponeme ...

'', following a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign. Following the game's critical success, the studio went on to raise a then-record US$4 million on Kickstarter to develop '' Torment: Tides of Numenera'', a

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...

to Interplay's '' Planescape: Torment''. The studio was purchased by Microsoft and became part of Xbox Game Studios in 2018, just as they were developing ''

Wasteland 3 ''Wasteland 3'' is a role-playing video game developed by inXile Entertainment and published by Deep Silver. It is a sequel to '' Wasteland 2'' (2014) and was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 28, 2020. A Linu ...

'', which they released in 2020. The studio is currently developing ''

Clockwork Revolution ''Clockwork Revolution'' is an upcoming action role-playing video game developed by InXile Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is scheduled to be released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S. Gameplay ''Clockwork Revolution'' ...

'' for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

History

inXile Entertainment was founded on October 26, 2002, by Brian Fargo in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

. In an interview with

Joystiq ''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog which was part of the Weblogs, Inc. family later owned by AOL. It was active from 2004 to 2015, acting as the primary video game blog for the group, and operating alongside ''Engadget'' and sister blogs such ...

, inXile's President Matthew Findley shared some of the company's history: "I worked with Brian Fargo at Interplay for a number of years and we both left Interplay at the same time. We knew we wanted to stay in video games, so starting a company seemed like a good idea -- he spent 20 years at Interplay and I was there for 13. When we were first out there, trying to figure out what to do next, we kinda felt like we were in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

, and we made fake cards with a fake company name just to have a card to go to E3 with. And before we ever thought of the name "inXile", Brian put as his job description on the cards: "Leader in exile." People got such a kick out of that card, we kept saying "in exile, in exile, in exile" so much that we just thought, "Why not make up a new word?" And so we did." In May 2008, inXile announced the creation of SparkWorkz, an online business division with a focus on user-generated content, using their experience with ''Line Rider'' as base for the venture. David Heeley, a former executive for

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, was hired to oversee the creation of the division. In April 2012, inXile launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund ''

'', the sequel to Interplay's '' Wasteland'', with most of the original team on board. The crowdfunding drive raised more than 300% of its initial goal of $900,000, ending at $2,933,252. In March 2013, inXile returned to Kickstarter to crowdfund '' Torment: Tides of Numenera''. The Kickstarter for ''Torment: Tides of Numenera'' broke the record of fastest Kickstart drive to $1 million, raising that amount in seven hours and two minutes. During a Kickstarter campaign for the game ''

'', Brian Fargo developed the Kicking it Forward program. Under this program, inXile Entertainment pledged to use 5% of post-launch

net profit In business and Accountancy, accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and Amortization (a ...

s to back future Kickstarter projects. In October 2015, inXile opened inXile New Orleans as a second studio based in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. The Newport Beach office was moved to

Tustin Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city does not include the unincorporated community of North Tustin. History Pres ...

by January 2021. In November 2018,

Microsoft Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...

announced they were in the final stages of acquiring InXile, as well as

Obsidian Entertainment Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California and part of Xbox Game Studios. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquh ...

, another studio known for its role-playing games. According to Fargo, they were approached in April 2018 by Noah Musler, one of Microsoft's business development executives that had former ties to the studio, who suggested the possibility of acquisition. Fargo believed the acquisition was beneficial for the studio, as at the time, they were in the "uncanny valley" between more independent game development and high-budget AAA games where there was a significant difference in expectations on quality and pricing of the game. Microsoft's support would help them make games that are closer to AAA games and better compete in the current state of the industry. In June 2023, inXile unveiled their new game ''Clockwork Revolution'' during the Xbox Games Showcase 2023.

Games developed

Cancelled games

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2002 establishments in California 2018 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 2002 Companies based in Newport Beach, California First-party video game developers Microsoft subsidiaries Video game companies based in California Video game companies established in 2002 Video game development companies Xbox Game Studios