Rainbow Studios 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

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, best known for developing

offroad racing Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.). North America Desert racing Desert ...

games, such as '' Motocross Madness'' and the ''

MX vs. ATV ''MX vs. ATV'' is an American racing video game franchise developed by Rainbow Studios and published by THQ Nordic that focuses on off-road racing, as a crossover between THQ's ''MX'' trilogy and Sony's ''ATV Offroad Fury'' series. Early games ...

'' series. It was established by Earl Jarred in 1986 under the name Rainbow Multimedia Group and rebranded as Rainbow Studios in 1992. In January 2002, the company was acquired by

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...

, under the ownership of which it was renamed THQ Digital Studios Phoenix in February 2010 and closed in August 2011. The studio was re-instated as Rainbow Studios in 2013 by

Nordic Games The Nordic Games were the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and were held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organized by Sweden's Swedish Central Association for the Promotion of ...

(later known as THQ Nordic), a publishing company that had purchased most assets of the then-bankrupt THQ earlier that year.

History

Rainbow Studios, originally named Rainbow Multimedia Group, was founded by Earl Jarred in 1986. In 1992, the company shifted its focus towards developing video games and was rebranded Rainbow Studios. On November 8, 2001, video game publisher

announced that it had agreed to acquire the studio in exchange for 1 million shares of

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 ...

. An agreement of merger was signed between the two companies on December 21, 2001, and THQ announced that the deal had been completed on January 3, 2002, at which point THQ had issued 858,203 shares and expected to issue further 106,259 at a later point in time. In 2005, Jarred, alongside

vice chairman 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 ...

Jeff Padden and employees Rick Baltman and Robb Rinard, left Rainbow Studios to form a new video game studio,

2XL Games ''2XL Games'', founded in 2005, is a video game development studio based in Phoenix, Arizona. List of games References {{reflist 2XL Games ...

. Three further Rainbow Studios veterans—Brad Ruminer, Dennis Booth, and Glenn O'Bannon—announced the formation of their studio, TimeFly Studios, in April 2008. In mid-April 2008, Rainbow Studios laid off a team of 30 people working on an unannounced game. Because the team was "a minority" in the studio's multi-team setup, development on the game was able to continue despite the staff reduction. Further layoffs were instigated in November 2008 and February 2009 as part of larger restructurings within THQ. To push THQ's vision for digitally distributed games as part of its core portfolio, effective on February 3, Rainbow Studios and sister studio

Juice Games THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

were rebranded as THQ Digital Studios Phoenix and THQ Digital Studios Warrington, respectively. As a result of the restructuring, both studios collectively lost 60 employees. On August 9, 2011, THQ announced that, as part of another larger restructuring, THQ Digital Studios Phoenix would be closed down. The closure led to the elimination of 48 jobs at the Phoenix studio. THQ planned to retain a

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 ...

department on-site. THQ later filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

, and many of its assets, including the Rainbow Studios-developed ''

'' franchise, were auctioned off to publisher

(later known as THQ Nordic) in 2013. As Nordic Games planned to start developing new titles in that franchise, the company opted to resurrect Rainbow Studios under the former name and in its former location. The move was announced in December that year, at which point the new Rainbow Studios had hired many people previously employed by the former Rainbow Studios, including Ken George, Dave Dwire, Mike Mamula, Brad Bowling, Scott Hofmann, Justin Walsh, David Knudsen, and Lenore Gilbert. By June 2019, Rainbow Studios had 41 employees. As of October 2019, Gilbert serves as Rainbow Studios'

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 ...

Games developed

References

External links

* {{Embracer Group 1986 establishments in Arizona 2002 mergers and acquisitions 2011 disestablishments in Arizona 2013 establishments in Arizona American companies established in 1986 American subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona Re-established companies THQ Nordic divisions and subsidiaries Video game companies disestablished in 2011 Video game companies established in 1986 Video game companies established in 2013 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies