Bend Studio (formerly Blank, Berlyn & Co., Inc. and Eidetic, Inc.) is an American
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for 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 ...
based in
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...
. Founded in 1992, the studio is best known for developing ''
Bubsy 3D
''Bubsy 3D'' (also known as ''Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet'' or ''Bubsy is 3D in "Furbitten Planet"'') is a platform game developed by Eidetic and published by Accolade. It is the first 3D game in the ''Bubsy'' series, and the fourth game in ...
'', the ''
Syphon Filter
''Syphon Filter'' is a third-person shooter stealth video game series developed by Bend Studio (formerly Eidetic) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (previously 989 Studios), for PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portab ...
'' series, and ''
Days Gone
''Days Gone'' is a 2019 action-adventure video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. A Windows port was released in May 2021.
The game is set in post-apocalyptic Oregon two years ...
''. Since 2000, Bend Studio is a
first-party developer
A video game developer is a broad term for 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 ...
for
PlayStation Studios
PlayStation Studios (formerly SCE Worldwide Studios and SIE Worldwide Studios) is a Division (business), division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was est ...
.
History
Marc Blank
Marc Blank is an American game developer and software engineer. He is best known as part of the team that created one of the first commercially successful text adventure computer games, ''Zork''.
Career
Blank first encountered Don Woods and Will ...
and
Michael Berlyn
Michael Berlyn (born 1949) is an American video game designer and writer. He is best known as an implementer at Infocom, part of the text adventure game design team.
Brainwave Creations was a small game programming company started by Michael Ber ...
founded Bend Studio as Blank, Berlyn & Co. in 1992.
Blank had been a founder and the product development director for
Infocom
Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''.
...
, while Berlyn, an author of
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 video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
s, had previously worked at Infocom before moving to
Accolade
The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...
.
Blank was approached by a California company after an employee had used
Cornerstone
The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
Over time ...
, a software package by Infocom, and remembered that the company also developed games. That company was looking to release a "sound-oriented game machine for cars", for which Blank suggested a series of
sports game
A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (s ...
s that would sound like radio broadcasts. The project never went into production and Blank repurposed the idea for an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
video game with an ambiance resembling a TV broadcast. In 1992, he pitched the idea to Berlyn, wondering whether Accolade would be interested in such a title.
A few months after the 1993 release of ''
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
''Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind'', often shortened to ''Bubsy'', is a platform game first released for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Accolade in 1993. It is the first entry in the ''Bubsy'' series ...
'', when Berlyn was on hiatus at Accolade, they began developing games under the Blank, Berlyn & Co. name. Blank became the
president
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 ...
of the new company.
The company's first games were the
puzzle video game
Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion.
H ...
s ''Columbo's Mystery Capers'' and ''Dell Crossword Puzzles'' for the
Apple Newton
The Newton is a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed and marketed by Apple Computer, Inc. An early device in the PDA category (the Newton originated the term), it was the first to feature handwriting recognition. Apple started ...
. Both were released in November 1993 by StarCore,
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's publishing label for the Newton.
Two further such games, ''Dell Crossword Puzzles and Other Word Games'' and ''Motile'', followed by June 1994.
According to Arnie Katz of ''
Electronic Games
An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...
'', these releases proved Blank, Berlyn & Co. "tremendously successful".
Thereafter,
Russ Wetmore
Russ Wetmore is an American computer programmer and video game designer best known for writing commercial games and applications for the Atari 8-bit family in the early to mid 1980s. His ''Frogger''-inspired '' Preppie!'' was published by Adventu ...
, the developer of ''
Preppie! II
''Preppie! II '' is a video game written by Russ Wetmore for the Atari 8-bit family and published by Adventure International in 1983. Subtitled "The continuing saga of Wadsworth Overcash," it is a sequel to 1982's ''Frogger''-inspired '' Preppie!' ...
'', joined the developer after a seven-year tenure at Apple. They realized Blank's football game idea as ''Live Action Football'' using
ScriptX
ScriptX was a multimedia-oriented development environment created in 1990 by Kaleida Labs; it was discontinued as a product by the time Kaleida Labs went out of business in 1996. Unlike packages such as Macromedia Director, ScriptX was not an auth ...
, which allowed for a simultaneous release on
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
Macintosh System Software
Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. T ...
. Accolade published the game in November 1994 as the first in a series of sports games that Blank, Berlyn & Co. was to develop for the publisher. The next of these was to be a
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
game.
Following these releases, Blank, Berlyn & Co. looked to expand further, changing its name to Eidetic in April 1995 and recruiting
technical director
A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. This person usually has the highest level of skill within a specific technical f ...
Christopher Reese.
Under the new name, Eidetic developed ''
Bubsy 3D
''Bubsy 3D'' (also known as ''Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet'' or ''Bubsy is 3D in "Furbitten Planet"'') is a platform game developed by Eidetic and published by Accolade. It is the first 3D game in the ''Bubsy'' series, and the fourth game in ...
'' with a team of approximately eight people. It was the studio's first
console
Console may refer to:
Computing and video games
* System console, a physical device to operate a computer
** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device
** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...
game and first 3D game; Reese described the transition to 3D as "difficult". Released in 1996 for the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
, ''Bubsy 3D'' was unsuccessful, which Reese attributed to its competition with
''Crash Bandicoot''.
Thereafter,
989 Studios
989 Studios was a division of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) that developed games for PlayStation consoles and Windows personal computers. Their games include ''EverQuest'', '' Twisted Metal III'', ''Twisted Metal 4'', ''Syphon Filter ...
. a division of
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
(SCE), approached Eidetic with a one-page pitch for
''Syphon Filter'', an
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
and
stealth game
A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses ''stealth'' to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in the genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. Some games allow th ...
.
According to
creative director
A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
John Garvin, who was hired during the game's development, SCE had had faith in Eidetic because it had experience in PlayStation development and already had an engine that the game could be built on.
The development of ''Syphon Filter'' was difficult because Eidetic had no experience making a stealth-action game.
The company expanded to thirteen people, while Berlyn left the company due to his dissatisfaction with the state of the
video game industry
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. , ...
and the nature of ''Syphon Filter''.
Due to missing deadlines and making changes to the game's structure, story and mechanics, ''Syphon Filter'' was almost canceled several times. Despite the difficulties, 989 Studios producer Connie Booth had great faith in the project. ''Syphon Filter'' was released in 1999 and sold over one million units.
Eidetic continued developing ''Syphon Filter'' games for SCE, creating six further until 2007, uninterrupted by any other release.
SCE acquired the studio in 2000, renaming it Bend Studio.
Beyond the ''Syphon Filter'' series, Bend Studio wanted to develop games for a different franchise and decided to develop a ''
Resistance
Resistance may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm:
** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title
** ''T ...
'' game for the
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
due to similarities between ''Resistance'' and ''Syphon Filter''. Bend Studio create a demo for the game and showed it to SCE producers and the original ''Resistance'' developer,
Insomniac Games
Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is mo ...
, and was approved to begin development of ''
Resistance: Retribution''. After the game's 2009 release, Bend Studio dedicated nine employees to ''
Uncharted: Golden Abyss'' for the
PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...
. After several ideas for the project were rejected by franchise developer
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gav ...
, the developer ultimately agreed to Bend Studio's vision and had the project approved. Bend Studio worked closely with Naughty Dog and was allowed to use all assets from ''
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'' and ''
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves''.
Bend Studio also worked on ''
Uncharted: Fight for Fortune'' in conjunction with One Loop Games.
Bend Studio's first original
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
(IP) after ''Syphon Filter'' was ''
Days Gone
''Days Gone'' is a 2019 action-adventure video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. A Windows port was released in May 2021.
The game is set in post-apocalyptic Oregon two years ...
'', released in April 2019 for the
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
.
Garvin and the game's director, Jeff Ross, left the studio by December 2020.
However, Garvin claims the company fired him for having "a disruptive personality". Bend Studio has distanced itself from Garvin after his rant on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
where he blamed "woke" gamers for the middling critical reception of ''
Days Gone
''Days Gone'' is a 2019 action-adventure video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. A Windows port was released in May 2021.
The game is set in post-apocalyptic Oregon two years ...
''. As of June 2021, the studio is working on a new IP that builds on the open-world systems from ''Days Gone''.
On June 7, 2022, Bend Studio unveiled their new logo.
Games developed
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1992 establishments in Oregon
2000 mergers and acquisitions
American companies established in 1992
Companies based in Bend, Oregon
First-party video game developers
PlayStation Studios
Video game companies established in 1992
Video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies