Factor 5 GmbH is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

and

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 ...

. The company was co-founded by five former

Rainbow Arts Rainbow Arts Software GmbH was a German video game publisher based in Gütersloh. The company was founded in 1984 by Marc Ullrich and Thomas Meiertoberens and acquired by Rushware in 1986. The company's decline began in the early 1990s: The dist ...

employees in 1987 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name. In order to have a stronger relationship with Factor 5's North American partners like

LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game brand licensing, licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as ...

, Factor 5, Inc. was established in the United States in May 1996 with legal support from LucasArts, and in late 1996 the core of the development team in Germany was relocated to the North American company headquarters in San Rafael,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

.FACTOR 5
/ref>

Julian Eggebrecht Julian Eggebrecht is a German video game businessman. He is notable for having been one of the founding members and creative director of Factor 5, a German-American game development company. Career Eggebrecht co-founded Factor 5 in Germany in 198 ...

, one of the five initial co-founders, served as President of Factor 5's U.S. branch. The U.S. company closed in May 2009, following the closure of

Brash Entertainment Brash Entertainment LLC. was an American video game publisher focused on licensed games. The company was co-founded in 2007 by Thomas Tull, Bert Ellis, President and COO Nicholas Longano, and CEO and Chairman Mitch Davis. Of the first three gam ...

, with which the company had multiple contracts. The original German company, headed by CEO Achim Moller, remained active due to its unrelated business policy and operations with the North American company. However, in January 2011, Moller liquidated Factor 5 GmbH, and all game licenses were transferred to "Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR". On March 15, 2017, Factor 5 co-founder Julian Eggebrecht had announced that the company has returned and re-acquired the rights to the ''Turrican'' franchise.

History

The programming group which would eventually become Factor 5 had originally formed in the 1980s, in what cofounder

described as a culture of hacking and multimedia programming on the local

demo scene The demoscene is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off programming, visual ...

. Eggebrecht attended the Filmhochschule in Munich to become a movie director, and all the other members studied

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

. While its founders were still university students, Factor 5 started out in game development as a part-time activity under partnership with

for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

computer. There, they had their earliest moderate success with ''

Katakis ''Katakis'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts in 1987, and converted to the Amiga by Factor 5 in 1988. It was re-released as ''Denaris'' in 1989. The name Katakis has a Greek origin and was found in ...

'', an ''

R-Type is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful a ...

'' clone of impressive technical performance. Due to the game's obvious similarity to ''R-Type'', rights holder Activision Europe delivered an ultimatum: either Factor 5 accept a contract to perform the official ''R-Type'' conversion for the

home computer, or receive a lawsuit for rights infringement. According to Julian Eggebrecht, this was because "Activision couldn't find any programmers" however the opportunity was "a dream come true". Their first important success, however, came with ''

Turrican ''Turrican'' is a 1990 video game developed by Manfred Trenz. It was developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts, and was ported to other systems later. In addition to concept design and character creation, Trenz programmed ''Turrican'' on th ...

'', a game designed by Rainbow Arts designer

Manfred Trenz Manfred Trenz (born 29 November 1965 in Saarbrücken) is a German video game developer. He is the developer of the ''Turrican'' video game series as well as the Commodore 64 version of the game ''R-Type''. He also made ''The Great Giana Sister ...

. Factor 5 handled the Amiga and

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

versions of the game; and together with the original

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

version and several others, ''Turrican'' was a major hit across Europe in 1990. In 1991, faced with the prospect of corporate formalities imposed by the video game console industry, the company founders quit school in favor of full-time corporate careers. Eggebrecht explained, " e moment you go into console programming, you won't get a development system from Nintendo unless you have a reputable company." After they finished work on '' Turrican II: The Final Fight'' for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1991, Factor 5 built their own development kits and software environments for the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

and

Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

, codenamed Pegasus SNES and Pegasus Mega Drive. Subsequently, they decided to focus their efforts towards console game development in 1992 with several projects for the SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis, including new ''Turrican'' games and other titles contracted by companies like

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

and

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

, the latter of which had also

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

development contracts with them. In 1993, Factor 5 produced their last Amiga effort, an Amiga conversion of ''

Mega Turrican ''Mega Turrican'' is a shooter game, developed by Factor 5 in 1993 and marketed by Data East in 1994. This game of the ''Turrican'' series was initially designed for the Mega Drive/Genesis, and later followed by an Amiga port converted by Kaiko ...

'' handled with programming support from fellow company Neon Studios. They would develop games for the SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, and Game Boy until 1996, when they switched their efforts to 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 ...

. With the development of PlayStation games for LucasArts, the personnel located in Germany experienced communication difficulties in working with their North American partner due to the distance between both countries and the Internet speeds of that time being insufficient for the requirements of console development. This, together with legal assistance offered by LucasArts, resulted in a new Factor 5 branch in California. There, the core of the development team from Germany was established after they finished work on their PlayStation games in late 1996. For a long time, the North American branch of Factor 5 was an exclusive, prominent development partner with both LucasArts and

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

, developing both game titles for the former and

middleware Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement co ...

tools for the latter. During that time, the studio gained considerable critical and commercial praise for its technical proficiency, producing what are often cited as some of the most visually advanced titles on the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

and

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

, all based on LucasArts properties. Two high-profile middleware tools were also developed by the company for Nintendo: MusyX, a sound system produced in cooperation with

Dolby Laboratories Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in Noise reduction#In audio, audio noise reduction, Audio data compression, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and ...

; and the DivX For Games SDK, integrating the functionality of the popular video codec into Nintendo's development tools. In late December 2008, several online media outlets reported that

(Factor 5's publisher of their current project) would close at the end of the month after encountering financial problems. This sudden interruption in funding left Factor 5 with their own funding difficulties, eventually causing its closure in May 2009. Factor 5 had been involved in litigation with its former employees in the defunct North American Factor 5 company. The suit alleges that Factor 5 did not pay its employees for work during November and December, that employees were laid off without the required notice by law, that employees did not receive their vacation pay, and that the company misled the employees. The suit was filed in Marin Superior Court.

Games

Factor 5 GmbH

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

*1988: ''

'' *1989: ''

'' *1990: ''

Masterblazer ''Masterblazer'' is a video game developed by Rainbow Arts and published by Lucasfilm Games Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by ...

'' (intro only) *1991: '' Turrican II: The Final Fight'' *1991: '' The Adventures of Quik & Silva'' (under the pseudonym ''New Bits on the RAM'') *1992: ''Metal Law'' (under the pseudonym ''New Bits on the RAM'') *1992: ''

BC Kid ''Bonk's Adventure'', known as in Japan and ''PC Kid'' in Europe, is a scrolling platform game developed by Red Company and Atlus and released in 1989 in Japan and 1990 in North America for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. The Japanese title ''PC ...

'' *1993: ''

Turrican 3 ''Mega Turrican'' is a shooter game, developed by Factor 5 in 1993 and marketed by Data East in 1994. This game of the ''Turrican'' series was initially designed for the Mega Drive/Genesis, and later followed by an Amiga port converted by Kaiko a ...

'' (conversion program by Neon Studios) *1994: ''Tony & Friends in Kellogg's Land''

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

*1990: ''

'' *1991: '' Turrican II: The Final Fight'' *1991: '' The Adventures of Quik & Silva'' (under the pseudonym ''New Bits on the RAM''; port of Amiga version)

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

*1993: '' Super Turrican'' *1994: '' Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures'' *1995: ''

Super Turrican 2 ''Super Turrican 2'' is a 16-bit shooter game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by Factor 5 and marketed by Ocean Software in 1995. Part of the '' Turrican'' series, it is the sequel to '' Super Turrican'' for the same platfor ...

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

*1993: ''

'' (released in 1994) *1994: '' Mega Bomberman 8-players'' (unpublished demo) *1995: '' Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures'' (unpublished) *1996: ''

International Superstar Soccer Deluxe ''International Superstar Soccer Deluxe'', known as ''Jikkyou World Soccer 2: Fighting Eleven'' in Japan and also known as ''ISS Deluxe'', is a football video game and the sequel to ''International Superstar Soccer'' developed and published by Ko ...

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

*1994: '' Contra: The Alien Wars'' *1995: ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

*1994: ''Tony & Friends in Kellogg's Land'' TheLegacy
, Retrieved October 30, 2008.

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 ...

*1996: '' Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire'' *1997: '' Ballblazer Champions''

Factor 5, Inc

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

*1998: '' Star Wars: Rogue Squadron'' *1999: ''

Pokémon Stadium ''Pokémon Stadium'', known in Japan as is a strategy video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. First released in Japan on April 30, 1999, it was later released as the first ''Stadium'' title in Western regions the foll ...

'' (Sound Compression Technology) *1999: ''

Resident Evil 2 ''Resident Evil 2'' is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. The player controls Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens are transformed into zom ...

'' (Sound Compression Technology) *1999: ''

Elmo's Letter Adventure There have been a variety of ''Sesame Street'' video games released for video game platforms. Most of the ''Sesame Street'' video games were published and developed by NewKidCo. Video games ''The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland'' ''Alpha Beam ...

'' (Sound Compression Technology) *2000: ''

San Francisco Rush 2049 ''San Francisco Rush 2049'' is a racing video game developed and manufactured by Atari Games for arcades. It was ported to the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, and Dreamcast by Midway Games. The arcade machine was released in 1999; home versions fol ...

'' (Sound Compression Technology) *2000: '' Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo'' *2000: ''

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine ''Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine'' is an action-adventure video game by LucasArts released in 1999. The first 3D installment in the series, its gameplay focuses on solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and completing various platforming sec ...

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 ...

*1999: '' Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D'' *2001: '' Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo''

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

*2001: '' Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader'' *2003: '' Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike''

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

*2007: ''

Lair Lair may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Secret lair * Lair, Kentucky * ''Lair'' (novel), a 1979 novel by James Herbert * ''Lair'' (video game), a 2007 video game * ''The Lair'', 2007-2008 American gay-themed vampire television series * The Lair (Dreamworld ...

Cancelled Games

*''Animal Wars'' (

PS3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

) *''Icarus'' reboot of ''

Kid Icarus ''Kid Icarus'' is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. It was released in Japan in December 1986, in Europe in Feb ...

'' (

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

) *''Untitled Pilotwings project'' (

) *''Star Wars Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leaders Wii'' (completed but unreleased) (

) *''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' (

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

) *'' Thornado'' (

) *'' Turrican: Cyclone'' (

) *''Virus'' (

) *''WeFly'' (

)

Technology

*MusyX: Dolby Sound Tools - Developed for Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance * DivX For Games SDK - Developed for GameCube

References

External links

*
Factor 5
profile at

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

Factor 5
profile at

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

{{Authority control Video game companies of Germany Video game companies of the United States German companies established in 1987 Video game companies established in 1987 Video game companies established in 1996 Video game companies disestablished in 2011 Video game development companies Companies based in San Rafael, California Companies based in Cologne Re-established companies