| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software Video games |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Espoo, Finland |
| Products | 3DMark PCMark Peacekeeper Shattered Horizon Hungribles |
| Website | www.futuremark.com |
Futuremark Oy is a Finnish software development company, that produces computer benchmark applications for home users and businesses. Company headquarters and R&D department are located in Espoo, Finland. Futuremark also operates Futuremark Games Studio, a game development arm of the company.
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Founded in 1997 as "Futuremark" by members of the former demoscene group Future Crew, the company is the leading producer of computer benchmark applications in the world. Its software is used by over 250 computer magazines and has been equally successful within the gaming community; high scores in its 3DMark benchmarks are considered as bragging rights among computer gamers who use it as a way to gauge their computer's performance relative to that of others'.
Soon after being founded the company altered its trading name to "MadOnion.com"[1] until finally settling on "Futuremark Corporation" in 2002.[2]
The 3DMark series has been the most popular and successful to date.
Futuremark's applications are distributed via the Internet as well as offline media; in addition to the above benchmarks, the company also provides services such as IHV/ISV customised benchmarks, 3D demos as well as online and data services.
During March 2007, Futuremark launched a website specialising in PC games, called YouGamers;[3] Futuremark held a series of launch promotions (including a car-mounted billboard, and hand-outs issued by models) at the GDC 2007 in San Francisco.[4] Aside from features typical of gaming review websites, YouGamers also provides an assessment service called the Game-o-Meter; this online-only tool estimates a PC's performance relative to the type of PC suggested by a game's publisher.[5] This allows the end user to judge whether their PC will be able to play the tested game or not.
In January 2008, Futuremark announced the formation of the Futuremark Games Studio.[6] In August 2008, at the Leipzig Games Convention, Futuremark Games Studio announced details of their first game, Shattered Horizon.[7]
In December 2009, Futuremark's mobile and embedded business unit was spun off and renamed as Rightware.