Inscape (stylized as iNSCAPE), was an innovative

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

in the mid-1990s.

Michael L. Nash Michael L. Nash is a media executive and the executive vice president and chief digital officer at Universal Music Group. Career Nash founded and served as CEO of Inscape, an interactive entertainment and games publishing joint venture with WMG ...

founded the company, which was jointly funded by two

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

subsidiaries,

Home Box Office Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

and

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

, with $5 million in startup money. The company was a blend of talent from the entertainment and programming industries.

History

executive produced ''Freak Show'' (published by Voyager in 1993) in cooperation with San Francisco-based

art collective An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vid ...

, calling it "a cross between '

Sim City ''SimCity'' is an Open-ended (gameplay), open-ended City-building game, city-building video game franchise originally designed by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity (1989 video game), SimCity'', ...

' and '

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

.'" After Nash founded Inscape in 1994, the group worked with him again to create Inscape's first game in 1995, '' Bad Day on the Midway'', a game ''

CD-ROM Today ''CD-ROM Today'' was an American magazine targeted at computer users. Published from 1993 to 1996 by Imagine Publishing (now Future US), the magazine was initially issued once every other month, before becoming a monthly. Each issue included soft ...

'' called "One of the Top Ten Discs of All Time". ''Bad Day on the Midway'' was something of a sequel to ''Freak Show'', with both games taking place at traveling carnival. Inscape's next game, ''

The Dark Eye Dark Eye(s) or The Dark Eye may refer to: Film, television, theater, and audio drama * Dark Eyes (1935 film), ''Dark Eyes'' (1935 film), a 1935 French drama film * Dark Eyes (play), ''Dark Eyes'' (play), a 1943 play by Elena Miramova in collabo ...

'', was released in 1995. At the

Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...

in May 1996, the company was set to release a new slate of upcoming games: ''The Egyptian Jukebox'';

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

''Assassin 2015'';

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

-themed

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

'' Drowned God''; 3-D

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and ...

''Squeezils (Demo)''; and ''Ravage D.C.X.'', a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

action adventure game. The company also planned to show two previously announced games, adventure game '' Devo Presents: Adventures of the Smart Patrol'' and '' Where's Waldo?: Exploring Geography''. In February 1997, it was announced that Inscape would be acquired by and become a division of Graphix Zone, after which Inscape was known as Ignite. While four other company executives, vice presidents Rob Sebastian, David Boss, Brock LaPorte and project director Rebekah Behrendt moved with the merger, Nash went his own way. In a June 1997 interview about

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

and his company, Nash said: Graphix Zone itself ceased operations in November 1997.

References

{{Authority control Video game publishers Video game companies established in 1994 Video game companies disestablished in 1997 Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Companies based in Los Angeles 1994 establishments in California