Offset Software Explained
Offset Software was a video game development company based in Newport Beach, California. It was founded by Sam McGrath, Travis Stringer, Trevor Stringer and Rod Green; except for Green, they had worked for S2 Games developing ,[1] which won the grand prize at the Independent Games Festival in 2004.[2]
The company had one game under development, a first-person shooter with the working title "Project Offset". (Some official preview videos have shown third-person views for close-quarters combat.) The game featured a detailed high fantasy world. It was showcased on Attack of the Show! in 2005.[3]
In February 2008, Intel acquired Offset Software,[4] having purchased the Havok engine in 2007.[5]
Intel canceled the game in mid-2010, citing "recent changes in our product roadmap" (possibly meaning the failure of Larrabee as a consumer product).[6] The founders of Offset Software have moved to a new game development studio named Fractiv LLC.[7]
The Offset Engine was licensed by Red 5 Studios in 2006 to create their MMOFPS game Firefall. Intel shutting down the Offset team did not mean Red 5 could no longer use the engine. The game used a heavily modified engine originally based on the Offset Engine.[8]
Notes and References
- News: Project Offset Article . Jon . Peplinski . SFFWorld.com . September 3, 2005 . December 22, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090218155919/http://sffworld.com/mul/124p0.html . dead . February 18, 2009 .
- Web site: The 12th Annual Independent Games Festival - 2004 Finalists & Winners . https://web.archive.org/web/20100210085907/http://www.igf.com/2004finalistswinners.html . . February 10, 2010 . dead . December 22, 2009 .
- Web site: Project Offset, The Lush, Chris Gore . https://web.archive.org/web/20120531064155/http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/episodes/4643/Project_Offset_The_Lush_Chris_Gore.html . . October 25, 2005 . May 31, 2012 . dead . December 22, 2009 .
- News: Intel Acquires Offset Software, Project Offset Engine . . February 25, 2008 . December 22, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100510092434/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17599 . live . May 10, 2010 .
- News: Why Intel bought Project Offset and the Offset Engine . Joel . Hruska . . February 25, 2008 . December 22, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091208162406/http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/02/why-intel-bought-project-offset-and-the-offset-engine.ars . live . December 8, 2009 .
- News: Project Offset officially shut down at Intel; founders launch Fractiv LLC . John . Callaham . Big Download . July 1, 2010.
- Web site: Home . fractiv.com.
- Web site: Callaham . John . 2010-07-07 . Offset Engine still being used by Red 5 Studios . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100711052322/http://news.bigdownload.com/2010/07/07/offset-engine-still-being-used-by-red-5-studios/ . 2010-07-11 . Big Download.
