Radiant Entertainment Explained

Radiant Entertainment, Inc.
Type:Subsidiary
Industry:Video games
Hq Location City:Los Altos, California
Hq Location Country:US
Parent:Riot Games (2016–present)

Radiant Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Los Altos, California. Founded by twin brothers Tom and Tony Cannon in 2011, the company has developed Stonehearth, a city-building game, which was released in July 2018 after three years in early access. Radiant was acquired by Riot Games in March 2016 and Radiant's second game, Rising Thunder, was canceled during its alpha phase. The game was later replaced by a freeware "community edition" in January 2018.

History

Radiant Entertainment was founded by twin brothers Tom and Tony Cannon. They had previously launched the Evolution Championship Series (Evo), an esports tournament for fighting games, and developed GGPO, a fighting game middleware platform. They were most recently employed as software engineers for VMware but quit their jobs in 2011 to develop video games full-time, founding Radiant in Los Altos, California.[1] [2] [3] The studio launched a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter for Stonehearth, a city-building game, in 2013, initially seeking . The funding concluded one month later with a total of pledged by backers.[4] [5] Stonehearth was made available in early access in June 2015 and released in July 2018, although many development goals from the Kickstarter campaign were left unfulfilled.[6] [7] In a June 2015 round of seed funding, Radiant raised from investors Andreessen Horowitz, London Venture Partners, and General Catalyst.[8]

Radiant's second game, Rising Thunder, was announced in July 2015.[9] [10] It was a fighting game created by Seth Killian, who had joined the studio after departing Santa Monica Studio.[11] A "technical alpha" was opened to a handful of players at the end of the month and to the general public in August.[12] [13] [14] On March 8, 2016, Radiant announced that it had been acquired by Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, for an undisclosed sum. The studio was subsequently absorbed by Riot, becoming their San Francisco Bay Area studio.[15] [16] [17] Alongside the acquisition, Rising Thunder was canceled and consequently shut down later that month.[18] The development team behind Rising Thunder was re-allocated to a new, unannounced project.[19] A freeware version of Rising Thunder, dubbed the "community edition", was released in January 2018 with open-source servers.[20]

In August 2019, Tom Cannon announced that Riot Games was developing another fighting game, revealed in October to be set in the League of Legends universe and codenamed "Project L".[21] [22] In February 2024, the game was announced to be titled "2XKO" and set for a 2025 release.[23]

Games developed

YearTitlePlatform(s)
2015Rising ThunderWindows
2018Windows
StonehearthmacOS, Windows
20252XKOWindows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Notes and References

  1. Web site: They Changed Fighting Games, Now They're Making Something New . Evan . Narcisse . April 30, 2013 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707201548/https://kotaku.com/they-changed-fighting-games-forever-now-theyre-making-486133988 . July 7, 2018 . live .
  2. Web site: Stonehearth studio nets $4.5M to keep making PC games . Alex . Wawro . June 25, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172611/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/247082/Stonehearth_studio_nets_45M_to_keep_making_PC_games.php . July 7, 2018 . live .
  3. Web site: EVO founders Kickstart first game, Stonehearth . Brenna . Hillier . April 30, 2013 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707173648/https://www.vg247.com/2013/04/30/evo-founders-kickstart-first-game-stonehearth/ . July 7, 2018 . live .
  4. Web site: Evo founders launch Kickstarter for new game Stonehearth . Jordan . Devore . April 29, 2013 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160507141432/http://www.destructoid.com/evo-founders-launch-kickstarter-for-new-game-stonehearth-252703.phtml . May 7, 2016 . live .
  5. Web site: Stonehearth Kickstarter gets successfully funded, and then some . Perry . Vandell . June 3, 2013 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172906/https://www.pcgamer.com/stonehearth-kickstarter-gets-successfully-funded-and-then-some/ . July 7, 2018 . live .
  6. Web site: Stonehearth is out now on Steam Early Access . Alessandro . Fillari . June 6, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160521160430/http://www.destructoid.com/stonehearth-is-out-now-on-steam-early-access-293233.phtml . May 21, 2016 . live .
  7. Web site: Stonehearth's development will end this month, without meeting all its Kickstarter stretch goals . Austin . Wood . July 6, 2018 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707160348/https://www.pcgamer.com/stonehearths-development-will-end-this-month-without-meeting-all-its-kickstarter-goals/ . July 7, 2018 . live .
  8. Web site: Radiant Entertainment raises $4.5m in seed funding . Rachel . Weber . June 25, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707173202/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-06-25-radiant-entertainment-raises-USD4-5m-in-seed-funding . July 7, 2018 . live .
  9. Web site: Rising Thunder is a new fighting game from Seth Killian . Matt . Leone . July 20, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707201559/https://www.polygon.com/2015/7/20/8996977/rising-thunder-new-fighting-game-seth-killian . July 7, 2018 . live .
  10. Web site: Rising Thunder is a F2P fighting game for PC from the founders of EVO . Fraser . Brown . July 21, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707201529/https://www.pcgamesn.com/rising-thunder/rising-thunder-is-a-f2p-fighting-game-for-pc-from-the-founders-of-evo . July 7, 2018 . live .
  11. Web site: Seth Killian joins Radiant to pitch in on new F2P fighting game . Alex . Wawro . July 20, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172548/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/248996/Seth_Killian_joins_Radiant_to_pitch_in_on_new_F2P_fighting_game.php . July 7, 2018 . live .
  12. Web site: Rising Thunder Technical Alpha Opens . Jaz . Rignall . July 31, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707201536/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/rising-thunder-technical-alpha-opens . July 7, 2018 . live .
  13. Web site: Fighting game Rising Thunder's alpha is now open to all . Michael . McWhertor . August 10, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707201429/https://www.polygon.com/2015/8/10/9128633/rising-thunder-alpha . July 7, 2018 . live .
  14. Web site: The Rising Thunder technical alpha is now open to all . Tyler . Wilde . August 10, 2015 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172757/https://www.pcgamer.com/the-rising-thunder-technical-alpha-is-now-open-to-all/ . July 7, 2018 . live .
  15. Web site: Riot Games acquires Rising Thunder and Stonehearth studio Radiant Entertainment . Michael . McWhertor . March 8, 2016 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030142/https://www.polygon.com/2016/3/8/11181204/riot-games-acquires-radiant-entertainment . June 26, 2018 . live .
  16. Web site: Riot acquires Radiant . Brendan . Sinclair . March 8, 2016 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172655/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-03-08-riot-acquires-radiant . July 7, 2018 . live .
  17. Web site: League of Legends Publisher Picks Up Stonehearth/Rising Thunder Studio . Mike . Williams . March 8, 2016 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707173141/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/league-of-legends-publisher-picks-up-stonehearthrising-thunder-studio . July 7, 2018 . live .
  18. Web site: Acquired by Riot, Radiant shuts down Rising Thunder . Alex . Wawro . March 8, 2016 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172310/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/267541/Acquired_by_Riot_Radiant_shuts_down_Rising_Thunder.php . July 7, 2018 . live .
  19. Web site: Riot Games acquires Radiant Entertainment, Rising Thunder no more . Andy . Chalk . March 8, 2016 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172815/https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-games-acquires-radiant-entertainment-rising-thunder-alpha-ends/ . July 7, 2018 . live .
  20. Web site: The free, open source edition of cancelled fighter Rising Thunder is now available . Dustin . Bailey . January 18, 2018 . . July 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172825/https://www.pcgamesn.com/rising-thunder/rising-thunder-free-open-source . July 7, 2018 . live .
  21. Web site: Riot Games and Radiant Entertainment developing new fighting game . Sal . Romano . August 2, 2019 . Gematsu . July 4, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200518223612/https://www.gematsu.com/2019/08/riot-games-and-radiant-entertainment-developing-new-fighting-game . May 18, 2020 . live .
  22. Web site: League of Legends fighting game is Riot's 'Project L' . Michael . McWhertor . October 15, 2019 . . July 4, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191208215803/https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/15/20915736/league-of-legends-fighting-game-project-l-riot-games . December 8, 2019 . live .
  23. Web site: February 22, 2024 . Project L is now 2XKO: Year in Preview 2024 . March 29, 2024 . Riot Games.

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