''Loot Drop'' was a

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

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 ...

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

that was started in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

. It was created by

John Romero Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967) is an American video game developer. He co-founded id Software and designed their early games, including ''Wolfenstein 3D'' (1992), ''Doom (1993 video game), Doom'' (1993), ''Doom II'' (1994), ''Hexen ...

and

Brenda Romero Brenda Louise Romero (née Garno; born October 12, 1966), previously known as Brenda Brathwaite, is an American game designer and video game developer, developer. She was born in Ogdensburg, New York and is a graduate of Clarkson University. R ...

with veteran

game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

Tom Hall Tom Hall (born September 2, 1964) is an American video game designer best known for his work with id Software on titles such as '' Doom'', '' Wolfenstein 3D'' and ''Commander Keen''. He has also been the co-founder of Ion Storm, together wit ...

heading up his own game. Its tagline was "Believe in fun".

Formation

After creating the megahit social game, Ravenwood Fair, John and Brenda Romero left Lolapps to co-found Loot Drop and begin making social games. Due to the success of ''Ravenwood Fair'', several companies were interested in signing a game development and publishing deal with them. RockYou was the first publisher to get to contract. The game that John Romero was developing was titled ''Cloudforest Expedition''. Four months into development, RockYou signed a second development deal with Loot Drop. The studio got funding for ''Cloudforest Expedition'' from social game publisher RockYou in 2011. Within a year, Loot Drop had four titles in development with multiple social game publishers. Romero stated that he wanted to focus on

game design Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

rather than monetizing players. The studio was stated to have four teams that would grow to 10 or 11 employees each.

Studio closing

The studio encountered financial trouble in 2012, with the game '' Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Commander'' being cancelled only five months after launch. This resulted in that development team being laid off. They failed to fund a

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 for an "Old-School RPG". Loot Drop continued developing games until the end of 2015. In its existence, it had developed games for RockYou,

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 ...

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

, Mogol, and

Zynga Zynga Inc. () is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher known for its social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile an ...

References

External links

*{{official, rome.ro/loot-drop Video game development companies Video game companies based in California Video game companies established in 2010 Video game companies disestablished in 2015 2010 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California Companies based in San Mateo, California Privately held companies based in California Defunct video game companies of the United States