Armature Studio

Armature Studio, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedSeptember 2008; 16 years ago (September 2008)
Founder
HeadquartersAustin, Texas, US
Key people
Number of employees
50
ParentMeta Platforms (2022–present)
Websitearmature.com

Armature Studio, LLC is an American video game development studio in Austin, Texas. The studio, founded by former Retro Studios directors Mark Pacini, Todd Keller and Jack Mathews in September 2008, developed Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (2013) and ReCore (2016).

History

Previous logo

In April 2008, after completing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption in 2007 for Nintendo, former game director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller, and principal technology engineer Jack Mathews left Retro Studios to start Armature, which was founded in September 2008.[1] Armature's first game was porting Metal Gear Solid HD Collection to the PlayStation Vita in 2012.[2] In April 2013, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate would be developed by Armature as their first new work and released for both the PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo 3DS on October 25, 2013.[1] The third game developed was the PlayStation Vita edition of Injustice: Gods Among Us.[3]

The studio was originally responsible to handle porting Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to the PlayStation Vita and Wii U. This included porting Unreal Engine 4 to both platforms, as they are not supported by the engine officially.[4] Armature was going to make their engine code available to licensed PS Vita and Wii U developers after Bloodstained finished.[5] However, the game has since been cancelled on both platforms for various reasons as the game's development extended to 2019.[6][7]

In October 2015, the studio announced its first original intellectual property, Dead Star, a space-themed multiplayer online multidirectional shooter.[8] It was released on April 5, 2016, for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4, but online functionality was disabled on November 1, 2016, and the game is no longer available for purchase.[9]

Armature has since collaborated with Epic Games in providing development support for Fortnite,[10] and made three games for virtual reality headsets, with Fail Factory for the Gear VR[11], Sports Scramble for the Oculus Quest.,[12] and Resident Evil 4 VR for the Oculus Quest 2.

In October 2022, Armature was acquired by Meta Platforms.[13][14]

Games developed

Year Title Platform(s) Notes
2012 Metal Gear Solid HD Collection PlayStation Vita Port
2013 Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360 Developed by Armature
2013 Injustice: Gods Among Us PlayStation Vita Port
2014 The Unfinished Swan PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita Port
2015 Borderlands: The Handsome Collection[15] PlayStation 4, Xbox One Port
2016 ReCore Windows, Xbox One Original IP created and co-developed by Armature with Microsoft and Comcept
2016 Dead Star Windows, PlayStation 4 Original IP
2017 Fail Factory![16] Meta Quest 2, Oculus Rift Original virtual reality IP
2017 Fortnite Xbox One, PlayStation 4, MacOS, PC Development partner for features and UI
2019 Duck Game Nintendo Switch Port
2019 Sports Scramble[17] Meta Quest 2, Oculus Rift Original virtual reality IP
2020 Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary[18] PlayStation 4, Xbox One Port
2020 Ark: Genesis Part 1 PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Live game and DLC
2021 Where the Heart Leads PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Original IP
2021 Resident Evil 4 Meta Quest 2 Port

References

  1. ^ a b Kollar, Philip (June 12, 2013). "A tale of two Batmen: the dueling philosophies of WB Montreal and Armature Studio". Polygon. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. ^ JC Fletcher (March 11, 2012). "Armature Studio assisting with Metal Gear Solid: HD Edition on Vita". Joystiq. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  3. ^ "Injustice: Gods Among Us on Vita feels like a faithful port". Polygon. August 1, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  4. ^ "Update 21: Update 21: $4mm, Armaturity, Ending Stream, New Game Plus · Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night". Kickstarter.
  5. ^ Nutt, Christian (June 10, 2015). "Bloodstained port house Armature to freely offer its UE4 Wii U/Vita code base".
  6. ^ Bloodstained announced for Switch, cancelled for Wii U
  7. ^ Development Update – An important message from IGA
  8. ^ Albaraa Fahmy (October 6, 2015). "Armature Studio is working on a new game called Dead Star for PS4 and PC". Digital Spy. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  9. ^ "Online functionality (including multiplayer) for Dead Star will cease". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  10. ^ Fortnite at Armature
  11. ^ Frantic Fun: Introducing 'Fail Factory' from Armature Studios, Coming Soon to Gear VR
  12. ^ Oculus Gaming News: First Playables for Rift S, New Titles, Cross-Platform Play, and More
  13. ^ Lyles, Taylor (October 11, 2022). "Meta Acquires Resident Evil 4 VR Developer Armature Studio". IGN.
  14. ^ Rousseau, Jeffery (October 11, 2022). "Meta acquires Camouflaj, Armature Studio, and Twisted Pixel". GamesIndustry.biz.
  15. ^ "The Handsome Collection' Of 'Borderlands 2' and "The Pre-Sequel' Is Coming To PS4 And Xbox One". Inquisitr. January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  16. ^ "Fail Factory! A wacky VR game of escalating failure".
  17. ^ "Sports Scramble Mixing it up on Oculus Quest".
  18. ^ "Bayonetta + Vanquish 10th Anniversary Edition".