Hidden Path Entertainment, Inc. is an American

video game development Video game development (sometimes shortened to gamedev) is the process of creating a video game. It is a multidisciplinary practice, involving programming, design, art, audio, user interface, and writing. Each of those may be made up of more speci ...

company based in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

, United States.

History

Hidden Path was founded in 2006 by Michael Austin, Jim Garbarini, Dave McCoy, Jeff Pobst, and Mark Terrano. In 2008, Hidden Path released its first original title, '' Defense Grid: The Awakening'' for Windows and in 2009 for Xbox. A downloadable title, ''Defense Grid'' garnered high acclaim with its twist on tower defense and has sold over half a million units since its release. In 2009, Hidden Path began working with

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

to update and maintain '' Counter-Strike: Source'', first released in 2004. Hidden Path worked with Valve developing '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''. ''CS:GO'' debuted at PAX Prime 2011 and released on August 21, 2012. ''CS:GO'' is no longer available for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

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

(PlayStation Network), and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

(Xbox Live Arcade). Continuing the company's trend of revisiting older series, Hidden Path released '' Age of Empires II: HD Edition'' on Valve's

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platform in 2013, which serves as an updated version of '' Age of Empires II'', released in 1999 by

Ensemble Studios Ensemble Studios was an American video game developer. It was founded by Tony Goodman in 1994 and incorporated the following year. It borrowed the name of Ensemble Corporation, a consulting firm founded by Goodman in 1990. It was acquired by ...

and

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. In addition to updating the graphics and multiplayer capabilities of the base game and its original expansion, Hidden Path paved the way for a new expansion after 14 years called '' The Forgotten''. According to Valve, the reason they are often collaborating with Hidden Path Entertainment is that they have known them for a while and their offices are "right around the corner". Hidden Path has also contributed model work on '' Left 4 Dead 2''. They also collaborated with Valve on the ''You Monster!'' expansion pack for ''Defense Grid'' which features the character GLaDOS from the '' Portal'' video game series. In March 2021, it was announced that Hidden Path was developing "a AAA, third-person, open-world" ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' game with Whitney "Strix" Beltrán as the narrative director. Jason Schreier, ''

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'', commented that the cancellation of multiple unnamed video game projects by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

in January 2023 led to a small layoff at the company and that "the reorganization will land hard for several independent studios such as Boston-based OtherSide Entertainment and Bellevue, Washington-based Hidden Path Entertainment, both of which were working on games for Wizards of the Coast". However, ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'' reported that "Beltrán confirmed in a tweet that the studio's D&D game is still in development, and that it is actively hiring for the project". On February 7, 2024, CEO Jeff Pobst announced on

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that the company would be laying off 44 employees after it was unable to secure funding for an unannounced RPG project.

List of video games

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.hiddenpath.com/ Companies based in Bellevue, Washington Video game companies established in 2006 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Video game publishers 2006 establishments in Washington (state)