Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American

video game company The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. ...

based in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers

Backbone Entertainment Backbone Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Emeryville, California. The company was formed in 2003 as the result of a merger between developers Digital Eclipse and ImaginEngine. In 2005, Backbone merged with The Collect ...

and The Collective.

History

Foundation 9 Entertainment was founded on March 29, 2005, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, through the merger of video game developer

and The Collective. The company's initial management board consisted of Jon Goldman (

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

), Andrew Ayre and Douglas Hare (co-

presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

), Gary Priest and Mark Loughridge (co-

chairmen The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

), Richard Hare (

chief creative officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated with ...

), Jeff Vavasour (

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of Canadian operations), Steven Sardegna (

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

), and Larry Kelly (

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

). Shortly after the merger, on April 12, Foundation 9 acquired and integrated

Pipeworks Software Pipeworks Studios is an American video game developer based in Eugene, Oregon. The company was founded in November 1999 by Dan White and Dan Duncalf and works to provide full development, co-development, and live operations to video game publis ...

. Subsequently, Dan Duncalf, the company's president and co-founder, joined Foundation 9's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. In May, Foundation 9 acquired an

equity stake In finance, equity is ownership of assets that may have debts or other liabilities attached to them. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets. For example, if someone owns a car worth $2 ...

in Circle of Confusion, a Hollywood management company, to establish a strategic partnership. On June 1, 2006, investment firm

Francisco Partners Francisco Partners is an American private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in technology and technology-enabled services businesses. Founded in August 1999 and based in San Francisco with offices in London and New York City, Francis ...

(as advised by UBS Securities) agreed to provide in funding to Foundation 9 over a time frame of several years, with additional funding to be provided when needed. The investment was followed by the acquisitions of

Shiny Entertainment Shiny Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, California. Founded in October 1993 by David Perry (game developer), David Perry, Shiny was the creator of video games such as ''Earthworm Jim (video game), E ...

from

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

in October 2006,

Amaze Entertainment Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game company based in Irvine, California. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers Backbone Entertainment and The Collective. History Foundatio ...

and related studios in November 2006, and

Sumo Digital is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

and its Indian sub-studio in August 2007. Under the terms of Shiny's acquisition, the studio would co-locate and merge with The Collective. The merger was formally announced in October 2007, at which point both studios had moved to new offices in

. The amalgam was named

Double Helix Games Double Helix Games was an American video game developer based in Irvine, California, founded in October 2007 through the merger of The Collective and Shiny Entertainment, two studios owned by Foundation 9 Entertainment. Double Helix was acquir ...

in March 2008. In January 2008, Foundation 9 promoted David Mann (previously

), Chris Charla and Jack Brummet to president, vice-president of

business development Business development entails tasks and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities within and between organizations. It is a subset of the fields of business, commerce and organizational theory. Business development is the creation of ...

, and vice-president of

quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to ensure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

, respectively, followed by James North-Hearn, one of Sumo Digital's founders, becoming the chief executive officer of the company in March. In July 2008, Foundation 9 reinstated

Griptonite Games Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...

and

Fizz Factor Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game company based in Irvine, California. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers Backbone Entertainment and The Collective. History Foundation ...

, two studios absorbed into Amaze in 2005, under their original brandings. However, in July 2009, Fizz Factor was closed down entirely, while Amaze was merged into Griptonite and Double Helix suffered staff cuts. FXLabs, based in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, India, was acquired by Foundation 9 in October 2010 and became part of Griptonite under the name Griptonite India. Griptonite was sold to

Glu Mobile Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...

in August 2011 in exchange for 6 million shares of Glu's

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Com ...

. Backbone's location in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

had been closed in May 2009, and in October 2012, its

ImaginEngine Backbone Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Emeryville, California. The company was formed in 2003 as the result of a merger between developers Digital Eclipse and ImaginEngine. In 2005, Backbone merged with The Colle ...

studio was closed as well, while its primary location in

Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 as o ...

, laid off the majority of its staff. In February 2014, Double Helix was sold to

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. Later that year, under advisory from GP Bullhound, Foundation 9 sold Pipeworks to Italian publisher Digital Bros, and Sumo Digital to its own management, the latter of which was backed by NorthEdge Capital. In 2015, Foundation 9's board of directors elected to dissolve the company.

Subsidiaries

* Amaze Entertainment (2007–2009) – Merged into Griptonite Games *

(2005–2015) – Closed ** Backbone Charlottetown (2006–2007) – Closed ** Backbone Emeryville (2005–2015) – Closed ** Backbone Vancouver (2005–2009) – Closed ** Games2Learn – Closed ** ImaginEngine (2005–2012) – Closed * The Collective (2005–2007) – Merged into

(2007–2014) – Sold to

Amazon Game Studios Amazon Games (formerly Amazon Game Studios) is an American video game company and division of the online retailing company Amazon that primarily focuses on publishing video games developed within the company's development divisions. History I ...

* Fizz Factor (2008–2009) – Closed * Griptonite Games (2008–2011) – Sold to

** Griptonite India (2010–2011) – Sold to

(2005–2014) – Sold to Digital Bros *

(2006–2007) – Merged into

(2007–2014) – Sold back to founders in a management buyout ** Sumo India (2007–2014) – Sold back to founders in a management buyout

References

{{Reflist 2005 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California American companies disestablished in 2015 American companies established in 2005 Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies disestablished in 2015 Video game companies established in 2005 Video game development companies