Ready at Dawn explained

Ready At Dawn Studios LLC
Type:Subsidiary
Founder:Ru Weerasuriya
Andrea Pessino
Didier Malenfant
Fate:Closed
Key People:Ru Weerasuriya (CCO)
Andrea Pessino (CTO)
Industry:Video game industry
Products:Daxter
God of War series
Lone Echo series
Num Employees:20+
Parent:Oculus Studios (2020–2024)
Foundation:2003
Location:Irvine, California, United States
Num Locations:2 studios
Num Locations Year:2018
Homepage:readyatdawn.com

Ready At Dawn Studios LLC (RAD) was an American video game developer located in Irvine, California, and is composed of former members of Naughty Dog[1] and Blizzard Entertainment.[2] Formed in 2003, the company was closely affiliated with Sony Computer Entertainment, developing games in the God of War series and Daxter. Ready At Dawn had a satellite campus in Portland, Oregon, to assist with future PC and console game development, but closed the office in 2022 as they adapted a hybrid work model. The studio was acquired by Oculus Studios as of June 2020. On August 7, 2024, Ready at Dawn was closed by Reality Labs (formerly Oculus Studios).

History

Ready At Dawn was founded in 2003 in Irvine, California, United States by Ru Weerasuriya, Andrea Pessino, Didier Malenfant, and former members of the Sony Computer Entertainment subsidiary Naughty Dog.[1] They released their first game, Daxter, in 2006. The company finished working on their second PSP game, [3] as well as a Wii port of Ōkami, with added motion controls.[4] In June 2008 it was confirmed that the company had ceased developing games for the PSP, and that they had returned the relevant development kits to Sony.[5] However, reports claim that the developer received new development kits after returning. Their next game was , collaboratively developed with Santa Monica Studio for the PSP, with their new proprietary engine. Ready At Dawn released the for the PlayStation 3 on September 13, 2011. This collection is a port of their two God of War games for the PSP, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, to the PS3 with high-definition graphics, DualShock 3 support, Trophies, and Stereoscopic 3D, the first God of War release to support this feature.

In October 2009, Ready At Dawn began working on a new game engine. The Ready At Dawn Engine is said to be a wholly console-centric platform, integrated with a suite of third-party tools that require no additional license. These tools include 3D content editing, audio, user interface, and asset management systems.[6] In July 2010, it was announced that Ready At Dawn had made thirteen employees redundant, citing difficulties in finding funding between projects behind the redundancies.[7] In early 2012, the company began hiring for the development of a third-person action-adventure game for a "next generation home console game system."[8] Ready At Dawn and Sony later revealed the game at E3 2013 as .

In June 2015, Ru Weerasuriya, the founder of the company, announced that his position as CEO will be replaced by Paul Sams and will step down to become the company's president and chief creative officer.[9]

In April 2017, Ready At Dawn was in attendance at the large Chinese game publisher, Tencent’s UP Conference, this was to announce a partnership to bring Ready At Dawn games into China. This partnership was headlined by bringing the game Deformers to China, although it was short lived due to the Deformers servers being shut down in August 2018.

In July 2017, Ready At Dawn released Lone Echo and Echo Arena[10] exclusively for the Oculus Rift. Echo Arena has since been included in the VR League,[11] a VR esports segment of ESL, since Season 1. In November 2018, Ready At Dawn released Echo Combat,[12] a first-person shooter DLC using the same zero-g movement found in Echo Arena, and announced that the company had opened a satellite studio in Portland, Oregon.[13] It is to be believed that this new satellite studio is a part of the development of Ready At Dawn’s new project that was teased back in February 2018.

In June 2020, Oculus Studios, under Meta Platforms, acquired Ready At Dawn to develop VR titles for the platform.[14]

In January 2023, Ready At Dawn announced they would be shutting down Echo VR (Echo Arena & Echo Combat) on August 1, 2023, to focus on future projects.[15]

In April 2023, the studio was hit by layoffs, which resulted in roughly a third of the employees being laid off.[16]

In August 2024, the studio was closed.[17]

Games developed

Game title North American release date Platform Metacritic score
Daxter March 14, 2006 85/100[18]
March 4, 2008 91/100[19]
Ōkami April 15, 2008 90/100[20]
November 2, 2010 PlayStation Portable 86/100[21]
September 13, 2011 84/100[22]
February 20, 2015 63/100[23]
Deformers[24] April 21, 2017 60/100[25]
Lone Echo July 20, 2017 89/100[26]
Echo Arena July 20, 2017 87/100[27]
Echo Combat November 15, 2018 Oculus Rift80/100[28]
Lone Echo II[29] October 12, 2021 Oculus Rift78/100[30]

References

Wawro, A. (n.d.). Ready at Dawn joins list of devs working with Tencent to launch games into China. Retrieved from http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/296511/Ready_At_Dawn_joins_list_of_devs_working_with_Tencent_to_launch_games_into_China.php

Kidwell, E. (n.d.). Ready at Dawn shuts down Deformers servers. Retrieved from https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/324451/Ready_at_Dawn_shuts_down_Deformers_servers.php

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Naughty Dog director lured to Ready at Dawn by new IP . joystiq.com . August 3, 2007 . June 10, 2014 . July 14, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140714194429/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/03/naughty-dog-director-lured-to-ready-at-dawn-by-new-ip/ . live .
  2. Web site: E3 2014: Game developer Ready at Dawn rolls the dice with 'The Order: 1886′ . Los Angeles Times . June 10, 2014 . June 10, 2014 . August 11, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170811134132/http://herocomplex.latimes.com/games/e3-2014-game-developer-ready-at-dawn-rolls-the-dice-with-the-order/#/0 . live .
  3. Web site: Roper, Chris . March 13, 2007 . God of War for PSP Confirmed . IGN . February 28, 2012 . July 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110723191544/http://au.psp.ign.com/articles/772/772154p1.html . live .
  4. Web site: Bramwell, Tom . October 18, 2007 . Okami confirmed for Wii . . February 28, 2012 . October 19, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071019230818/http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=85578 . dead .
  5. Web site: Ready at Dawn officially finished with PSP development . . gamesindustry.biz . Martin, Matt . June 10, 2008 . February 28, 2012 . February 7, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120207194235/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ready-at-dawn-officially-finished-with-psp-development . live .
  6. Web site: Ready at Dawn declares war with new engine . Crossley, Rob . October 12, 2008 . Intent Media . . February 28, 2012 . February 25, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120225142721/http://www.develop-online.net/news/33038/Ready-At-Dawn-declares-war-with-new-engine . live .
  7. Web site: Thorsen, Tor . July 14, 2010 . God of War PSP studio axes 13 . . . July 14, 2010 . July 19, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100719133028/http://www.gamespot.com/news/6269051.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;6 . live .
  8. Web site: Spencer . February 28, 2012 . Ready at Dawn Ramping Up For New Third Person Action/Adventure Game . Siliconera . February 28, 2012 . December 28, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141228090856/http://www.siliconera.com/2012/02/28/ready-at-dawn-ramping-up-for-new-third-person-actionadventure-game/ . live .
  9. Web site: The Order: 1886 Developer Ready at Dawn Expanding In New Directions. Matthew. Kato. Game Informer. June 8, 2015. June 8, 2015. June 9, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150609212814/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/06/08/the-order-1886-developer-ready-at-dawn-expanding-in-new-directions.aspx. dead.
  10. Web site: Lone Echo multiplayer is Ender's Game meets ultimate frisbee in VR (update). June 12, 2017. Polygon. January 21, 2019. January 22, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190122094548/https://www.polygon.com/virtual-reality/2017/5/22/15677058/lone-echo-multiplayer-echo-arena-enders-game-ultimate-frisbee-vr. live.
  11. Web site: Compete in the World's First VR Esports League: VR Challenger Brackets Now Open!. July 12, 2017. Oculus Blog. January 21, 2019. January 22, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190122044400/https://www.oculus.com/blog/compete-in-the-worlds-first-vr-esports-league-vr-challenger-brackets-now-open/. live.
  12. VR shooter Echo Combat has the best movement of any FPS I've played. December 17, 2018. PC Gamer. January 21, 2019.
  13. Web site: Ready at Dawn Expands Operations into the Pacific Northwest. November 8, 2018. November 9, 2018. November 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181109070924/http://www.readyatdawn.com/ready-at-dawn-expands-operations-into-the-pacific-northwest/. live.
  14. Web site: Facebook Buys Creators Of The Order: 1886 . Ethan . Gach . June 22, 2020 . June 22, 2020 . . June 23, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200623081200/https://kotaku.com/facebook-buys-creators-of-the-order-1886-1844123560 . live .
  15. Web site: Stockdale . Henry . January 31, 2023 . Echo VR Shuts Down On August 1, Ready At Dawn Announces . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230131231559/https://uploadvr.com/echo-vr-shut-down-ready-at-dawn/ . January 31, 2023 . February 1, 2023 . en-US.
  16. News: Wales . Matt . April 20, 2023 . Ready at Dawn reportedly heavily impacted by latest Meta layoffs . July 19, 2023 . Eurogamer.net . en.
  17. Web site: Sutrich . Nicholas . 2024-08-07 . Meta is closing a beloved first-party Quest studio . 2024-08-07 . Android Central . en.
  18. Web site: Daxter for PSP . . . February 28, 2012 . June 13, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200613080251/https://www.metacritic.com/game/psp/daxter . live .
  19. Web site: God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP . . . February 28, 2012 . March 14, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120314220114/http://www.metacritic.com/game/psp/god-of-war-chains-of-olympus . live .
  20. Web site: Okami for Wii . . . February 28, 2012 . February 12, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230212231147/https://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/okami . live .
  21. Web site: God of War: Ghost of Sparta for PSP . . . February 28, 2012 . December 28, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111228152002/http://www.metacritic.com/game/psp/god-of-war-ghost-of-sparta . live .
  22. Web site: God of War Origins Collection for PlayStation 3 Reviews - Metacritic . April 16, 2020 . June 13, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200613130531/https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/god-of-war-origins-collection . live .
  23. Web site: The Order: 1886 for PlayStation 4 Reviews - Metacritic . April 16, 2020 . August 20, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150820120855/http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/the-order-1886 . live .
  24. Web site: Prepare for an Epic Battle! . Ready at Dawn . June 2, 2016 . June 17, 2016 . June 23, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160623164940/http://www.readyatdawn.com/prepare-for-an-epic-battle/ . live .
  25. Web site: De-Formers for PlayStation 4 Reviews - Metacritic . April 16, 2020 . March 3, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200303225737/https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/de-formers . live .
  26. Web site: Lone Echo for PC Reviews - Metacritic . April 16, 2020 . September 9, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200909021236/https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/lone-echo . live .
  27. Web site: Echo Arena for PC Reviews - Metacritic . December 15, 2018 . July 27, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180727024748/http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/echo-arena . dead .
  28. Web site: Echo Combat. March 26, 2019. July 1, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200701094509/https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/echo-combat. live.
  29. Web site: Lone Echo II Trailer. Oculus VR. December 15, 2018. December 15, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215174549/https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/2069106006465690/. live.
  30. Web site: Lone Echo II. October 28, 2021. October 26, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211026061715/https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/lone-echo-ii. live.

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