| Type | Video game developer |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Key people | Andrew Gilmour, Ben Geisler, Jay Balakrishnan, Justin Kovac, Norb Rozek |
| Employees | 24 |
| Website | http://www.frozencodebase.com/ |
Frozen Codebase is an independent video game developer founded in 2006 by Ben Geisler. The company develops games for Microsoft's Xbox 360[1], Microsoft Windows, Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii and WiiWare.
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Frozen Codebase is broken up into two or three independent teams- each comprising 8 to 10 individuals. Traditionally, each of these teams has focused on downloadable distributable games such as Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation 3's PSN, and WiiWare. Although Frozen Codebase has created a variety of titles in many genres, the largest genre of emphasis is that of action games on the console space. Past clients of Frozen Codebase include GarageGames, THQ, Sierra Online and Konami.
At certain times, the various project teams of Frozen Codebase have merged to work on larger projects. Approximately half of the company is composed of industry veterans from other established studios. The company's Art Director is Andrew Gilmour, formerly of Naughty Dog and Ritual Entertainment. Jay Balakrishnan, former Executive Producer of Radical Entertainment (also Wild Tangent and Dynamix serves in this same capacity remotely for Frozen Codebase. Ben Geisler, formerly of Radical Entertainment and Raven Software (Madison, WI) leads the development team and continues to focus on technology issues. Interestingly, although other game development studios exist in Wisconsin, the majority of the initial core team of Frozen Codebase was composed of out-of-state residents including a few former employees of Garage Games (e.g. Justin Kovac). Greg MacMartin, also of Radical Entertainment has spent some time in residence at the studio, and continues to be a strong partner.
The company uses the principles of agile software development and Scrum, although not strictly. In the early days of Frozen Codebase, the development model used was that of a Strike Team, and largely borrowed from Radical Entertainment, which continues to be the largest single source of inspiration for development methodologies. Recent history has seen an evolution in the processes in which Frozen Codebase creates games. With the rising quality bar in downloadable distributable titles, the company has begun adding initiatives to the model and increased its efforts on all fronts.
Frozen Codebase is located in downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin. Sound Design and implementation is done by a famous entertainment export of Green Bay: Reverend Norb. Norb is the former front man of the punk rock band Boris the Sprinkler.
On May 16, 2008, [2] Frozen Codebase and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), announced an exclusive license agreement for Frozen Codebase to produce a video game based upon the sport of Roller Derby.[3]
On July 22, 2009, [4] Konami and Adult Swim announced that Frozen Codebase is the developer of the Metalocalypse game (Metalocalypse: Dethgame), a PS3 and Xbox 360 downloadable game. Dethgame was previewed at Comic Con 2009[5][6]. But in July 2010, the game was confirmed to be cancelled by publisher Konami Digital Entertainment "in light of creative differences".[7]