4A Games

4A Games

Type	Private
Industry	Video game industry
Founded	2005
Headquarters	Kyiv, Ukraine (2005–2014) Malta (2014–present)
Key people	Dean Sharpe (CEO)
Products	Metro series
Number of employees	80
Website	www.4a-games.com

4A Games is a video game developer company based in Malta.^[1] It is known for developing the Metro video game franchise (Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light.)^[2]

History

The company was formed in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2005 and started developing software in 13 February 2006. It was founded by former employees of GSC Game World a year before that company released its flagship title, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Notable founding members of 4A Games were Oles Shyskovtsov and Oleksandr Maksymchuk, the programmers who worked on the development of the X-Ray Engine used in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.^[3] After working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R's X-Ray Engine, they utilized the tools and knowledge gained from this experience to build their signature 4A Engine and became the chief technical officers of 4A Games. The 4A Engine was created for game creation on seventh generation consoles and high-end PCs, and granted the company a certificate from the State Department of Intellectual Property of Ukraine to the property rights of the program on 28 November 2006.^[4] The 4A Engine was used in the company's first game, Metro 2033.

Metro series

The company's first game was Metro 2033, an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. Work on the project began in 2006, which was first unveiled to the public during the 2009 Games Convention in Leipzig.^[4] The game was announced to the press via THQ, the game's publisher, and Nvidia, who worked with the developers to integrate state-of-the-art PhysX functionality.^[5] The game was released in March 2010 on the Xbox 360 and Windows to generally favorable reviews.^[6]

Following their initial success, 4A Games began work on the sequel, Metro: Last Light, which was announced during the 2011 E3 convention.^[7] The game faced several issues during its production, whose release date was delayed from 2012 to 2013.^[8] The most significant setback for the company occurred in January 2013, when the game's publisher, THQ, closed down after declaring bankruptcy and auctioning off its intellectual properties. The publishing rights to the Metro 2033 franchise, including the sequel, were sold to Koch Media for $5.8 million on 22 January, allowing the company to finish making the game.^[9] Metro: Last Light was finally released on 14 May 2013, and was published by Deep Silver, Koch Media's video game label. ^[10]

On 30 March 2014, it was leaked of a re-release of both Metro games titled Metro: Redux. The next day, 4A Games confirmed only of the game's existence, but said that the leaks are not indicative of the product as it is or will be. It was also stated that a more formal announcement will come before the 2014 E3 Show.^[11] The game was released on 26 August in North America and 29 August in Europe.

Expansion

On 12 May 2014, 4A Games announced to expand their studios by opening a new studio in Malta, making this their new headquarters. The existing studio will continue to operate in Kiev, Ukraine.^[12]

List of video games

References

External links

• Official website