WB Games Boston (formerly Turbine Inc., then Turbine Entertainment Software Corp., and originally CyberSpace, Inc.) is an American video game developer. The studio is best known for its

massive multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character (of ...

s, ''

Asheron's Call ''Asheron's Call'' (AC) was a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows PCs, developed and published by Turbine Entertainment Software. Though it was developed by the Turbine team (with Microsoft's ex ...

'', '' Dungeons & Dragons Online'', and '' The Lord of the Rings Online''. On April 20, 2010, the company was acquired by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for $160 million and became a part of

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE; also known as Warner Bros. Games or WB Games) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the newly-formed Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of ...

(WBIE), the video game division of

Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

History

Turbine was founded as CyberSpace, Inc in April 1994 by Jeremy Gaffney, Jonathan Monserrat, Kevin Langevin, and Timothy Miller, some of whom were students from the Artificial Intelligence Lab at Brown University. In 1995, the company was based in Monserrat's mother's house with 12 staff members. They found an office in Providence,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

but later moved to

Westwood, Massachusetts Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,266 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History Westwood was first settled in 1641 and was part of the town of Dedham, originally called 'West De ...

to better take advantage of the software engineers coming out of Boston's colleges. As CEO, Monsarrat used free food and office pranks to keep staff motivated. In 1995, the company changed its name to Turbine Entertainment Software Corp. In 1999, the company's first game, ''

'', was released. It was notable for being the third 3D MMORPG, following the launch of ''

Meridian 59 ''Meridian 59'' was a 1996 video game developed by Archetype Interactive and published by The 3DO Company. It was the first 3D graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and one of the longest running original online role-p ...

'' and then ''

EverQuest ''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North Amer ...

''. Its most notable feature, designed by Monsarrat, was a "loyalty" system giving new and experienced players incentives to work together. The Olthoi was the first monster developed for ''Asheron's Call'', designed by Joe Angell. After ''Asheron's Call'', the company went on to make a sequel, '' Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings'', which came out in 2002 (just after the first ''Asheron's Call'' expansion). However, after only one expansion, ''Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings'' shut down in 2005. In the same year, Turbine Entertainment Software Corp. changed its name to Turbine, Inc. In 2006, Turbine released '' Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach''. Early reception was positive, but the game was criticised for poor solo play. In 2007, Turbine released '' The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar'', which got positive reviews and was seen as a needed boost for the company. In 2009, ''Dungeons and Dragons Online'' was suffering a low playerbase; in an attempt to save the game, Turbine replaced the traditional monthly subscription model with a

free to play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

one. In 2010, Turbine also moved ''The Lord of the Rings Online'' (which was then on its second expansion) to a free-to-play model. In the same year, Turbine was purchased by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for $160 million. In 2012, Turbine announced that they would bring back ''Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings''. In 2015, it was announced that development of ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'' would end immediately and that the game will be closed on August 14. The company was hit with layoffs for three years consecutively starting from 2014. While Turbine's focus was shifted to develop free-to-play mobile games by Warner Bros. in 2016, the servers for both ''The Lord of the Rings Online'' and ''Dungeons & Dragons Online'' would be maintained and supported. On December 19, 2016, it was announced that Turbine would no longer be involved with the development of ''The Lord of the Rings Online'' or ''Dungeons & Dragons Online'', instead a spin-off studio under the name of ''Standing Stone Games'' was formed to take over further development of the game, with game staff moving from Turbine to the new studio. As part of this transition,

Daybreak Game Company Daybreak Game Company LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. The company was founded in December 1997 as Sony Online Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, but was spun off to an independent investor i ...

would become the new publisher, taking over from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It was announced not long after that, though the ''Asheron's Call'' IP would remain as a property of Turbine, it was confirmed that the servers for both ''Asheron's Call'' and ''Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings'' would close on January 31, 2017. In November 2018, the studio announced it would rebrand and become WB Games Boston.

Games developed

References

External links

Official websiteTurbine, Inc.
entry at MobyGames {{Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Companies based in Norfolk County, Massachusetts American companies established in 1994 Video game companies established in 1994 Needham, Massachusetts Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment 1994 establishments in Massachusetts 2010 mergers and acquisitions