New World Interactive LLC 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 ...
founded by Andrew Spearin and Jeremy Blum in 2010. The company is primarily known for ''
Insurgency
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...
'' (2014), ''
Day of Infamy'' (2017), and ''
Insurgency: Sandstorm'' (2018).
History
In 2002, Andrew Spearin started the development of what would become
Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat. It was a total conversion
mod
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
for
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
’s
Source Engine
Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve. It debuted as the successor to GoldSrc in 2004 with the release of '' Counter-Strike: Source'' and '' Half-Life 2''. Updates to Source were released in incremental versions, with the engine being su ...
which depicted a conflict between the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
, and a group of rebel
Insurgents
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irreg ...
, with a focus on realism and authenticity. The project was inspired by Spearin’s experiences in the Canadian army. Three years later, in 2005, Jeremy Blum and other Red Orchestra Mod developers joined Andrew Spearin to work on the Modern Infantry Combat, which ended up releasing in 2007.
In 2010 Andrew Spearin and Jeremy Blum co-founded New World Interactive. Four years later, Insurgency - the standalone sequel to the Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat mod - was released by the company and saw massive success in the video game industry. Selling 400,000 copies in the first 8 months and ending up with approximately 3.76 million copies sold up to July 2017.
After the major success of Insurgency, NWI started development on Day of Infamy, another Hardcore Tactical FPS. Taking the Insurgency skeleton, Day of Infamy was set in the European theatre during WWll, featuring locations such as Sicily, Germany, France, United Kingdom and many more. On top of the already impressive number of maps, weapons and gadgets the game also featured a 'Fire Support' option. This new addition allowed for defensive, offensive and supportive assets to be called in such as: strafing runs, artillery barrages, supply crates and more. Development on Day of Infamy started in 2016, with the game starting as a mod for Insurgency and further developed as a standalone game.
Not too far after the development for Day of Infamy began, NWI took on a new, more ambitious project— to bring the Insurgency experience to a modern engine, Unreal Engine 4. It released after a long delay and various beta stages on December 12, 2018.
In February 2019, New World Interactive announced it would be expanding with a new development studio known as 'New World North' in Calgary, AB. In July 2019, NWI Calgary proudly announced their hiring of Michael Grills (formerly of
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
; hired into the newly formed position of Art Director) and Derek Czerkaski (hired as the also newly formed position of Head of Production).
In March 2020, it was announced that former company President Keith Warner would take over as CEO with Founder Jeremy Blum acting as Strategic and Creative Advisor.
In August 2020, New World Interactive was acquired by
Embracer Group
Embracer Group AB (formerly Nordic Games Licensing AB and THQ Nordic AB) is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company was established under the name Nordic Games Licensing in 2011 as part of Nordic Games Gro ...
for undisclosed terms and placed as a subsidiary under their
Saber Interactive
Saber Interactive Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded in 2001 with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Saber was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2020, making the studio a direct subsidiary. The company ...
operational division.
Games
Insurgency
Production on the first-person shooter video game ''Insurgency'' began in September, 2011 using the Source engine. A year later, ''Insurgency'' was on display at
PAX Prime
PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX was ...
where hundreds of people got to try the game for the first time. On the 1st of March 2013, the game launched into
early access
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...
. The game was officially released on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
on the 22nd of January 2014. Insurgency went on to win second place in both IndieDB's Indie of the Year 2014 Editor's Choice and Indie of the Year 2014 Player's Choice.
Day of Infamy
''Day of Infamy'' is a
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
tactical
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
made in the Source engine. It was scheduled for early access release on Steam on the 28th of July, 2016. Closed alpha keys were available for numerous days before hand. Day of Infamy released out of Early Access on the 23rd of March, 2017. Day of Infamy draws a lot of gameplay elements from the studio's previous title (and the mod before it). The game has a minimalist
HUD
Hud or HUD may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman
* ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film
* ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program
Places
* Hud, Fa ...
, uses a “free aim” system that doesn’t depend on random bullet spread upon hip firing, and lacks a
crosshair
A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscope, ...
when not aiming down a weapon's iron sight or using a supplied scope. The game also carries over the same supply system from Insurgency, used for new weapons, extra ammo or other equipment.
Insurgency: Sandstorm
''Insurgency: Sandstorm'' was officially announced in February 2016 for the PS4, Xbox One, Windows, OS X and Linux, and was released in December 2018.
It serves as a sequel to ''Insurgency.'' The game features co-op capability and multiplayer, but will have a dedicated singleplayer campaign. However, New World Interactive announced in January 2018 that focus would be temporarily shifted solely to multiplayer to speed up a polished release.
The game entered closed alpha testing in early 2018. On September 11, 2018, NWI announced that it had delayed the release of Insurgency: Sandstorm and that it would subsequently not meet its original September 2018 release date for Windows. The game's new release date was then set for December 12, 2018, while console releases will be delayed until a later date.
(Unannounced IPs)
In July 2019, along with their new hirings, NWI said that the Art Director job position was hired to work on their “as-yet unannounced new IP being developed by New World
n Calgary” This was the first public mention of a new title.
Since, then it has been revealed that there are at least 2 unannounced IPs that are being worked on, also through a job listing - "This person will activelt contribute to work on our hit FPS Insurgency: Sandstorm, in addition to a couple unannounced new projects. (Yes, couple.)"
We also know that one of the titles is likely going to be a first-person looter-shooter with an in-game economy - "If you’re interested, you’ll need these skills or experiences: - Experience designing, implementing, and tuning systems/economies - such as progression, AI behaviors, player leveling, rewards, inter-systems dependencies, and so on - Can critically approach, breakdown and explain key variables of game mechanics - Understand the moment-to-moment gameplay loops of first-person and loot shooters and what makes the genre’s fun."
With the other being a cover-based shooter - "We are looking for a Senior Al Programmer to join our expanding team! Are you a fan of FPS, with an emphasis on "inspired by realism" and tactical play vs. arcade control? Do you have a passion for cooperative compound interactions between networks of Al characters?Do cover-based shooters excite you? Do you have an interest in developing Al for a live-service title? Does Unreal Engine excite you? If so, New World Interactive would like to speak with you!"
References
External links
*
*
{{Embracer Group
2010 establishments in Colorado
Companies based in Denver
American companies established in 2010
Video game companies established in 2010
Video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies
Saber Interactive
2020 mergers and acquisitions