Certain Affinity
 | |
| Video game developer | |
| Industry |
Computer and video games Interactive entertainment |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Key people |
Max Hoberman (president) Paul Isaac (engineering lead) Phil Wattenbarger (production lead) |
| Products | Video games |
Number of employees | 95+[1] |
| Website | http://www.certainaffinity.com/ |
Certain Affinity is an American video game development studio based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2006 by Max Hoberman and a small number of other ex-Bungie employees and other industry veterans.
History
Certain Affinity's creation was announced in December 2006. The studio was founded by ex-Bungie employee Max Hoberman. In addition to staff from Bungie, it also includes ex-members of companies such as Microsoft, Red Storm, Origin, Electronic Arts, Digital Anvil, NCSoft, and the now-defunct Midway Austin.[2]
The studio's first work was in creating two additional multiplayer levels for the popular Xbox game Halo 2. These maps, called "Tombstone" and "Desolation" (which comprised the "Blastacular Map Pack") were the last Halo 2 maps to be released; they are remakes of levels form the original Halo, called "Hang 'Em High" and "Derelict" respectively.[3] They were released for Halo 2 on the Xbox Live on April 17, 2007. These maps were not released for Halo 2 Vista, but were replaced with two new maps exclusive to Halo 2 Vista: "District" and "Uplift". Certain Affinity worked closely with members of Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios during the development of these two maps.
Certain Affinity started working on another project in November 2006, which was revealed to be an unannounced original IP game in the action role-playing game genre.[4] The game's title, platform, and release date have not yet been announced. However, Certain Affinity stated in a interview that it had "spoken with most of the major publishers and there’s serious interest, so our goal is to continue self-funding the company until we're ready to sign a publishing deal and move everyone full time onto this project."
Certain Affinity's first original game was Age of Booty, a downloadable real-time strategy game released on Steam, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The title was published by Capcom on October 15, 2008.[5][6]
Certain Affinity created Call of Duty: World at War multiplayer maps for the retail release as well as maps for the 2nd downloadable map pack.
The company helped Valve port Left 4 Dead to the Xbox 360.[7]
In 2009, the company announced the completion of Halo Waypoint, developed in conjunction with 343 Industries.[8]
In 2010, Certain Affinity collaborated on maps and game modes with Treyarch and Activision for Call of Duty: Black Ops and First Strike Map Pack 1.
The company worked on the "Defiant Map Pack" for Halo: Reach, released on March 15, 2011.[9]
The company announced its new game, due to release in summer 2011, called Crimson Alliance, at RTX 2011.[10][11]
Certain Affinity also partnered with 343 Industries again for the development of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which was released exclusively for Xbox 360 on November 15, 2011.[8]
At RTX 2012, Certain Affinity announced that the studio was working with 343 Industries again on developing the Forge map-making tools for Halo 4.[12]
Games
| Title | Additional Information | Year | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halo 2 | Multiplayer DLC (Blastacular Map Pack) | 2007 | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 |
| Age of Booty | 2008 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade | |
| Call of Duty: World at War | Multiplayer and Multiplayer DLC | 2008 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 |
| Left 4 Dead | Assisting development | 2008 | Xbox 360 |
| Halo Waypoint | Co-developed with 343i | 2009 | Xbox 360 |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | Multiplayer DLC | 2010 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Halo Reach | Multiplayer DLC (Defiant Map Pack) | 2011 | Xbox 360 |
| Crimson Alliance | 2011 | Xbox Live Arcade | |
| Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary | Co-developed with 343i | 2011 | Xbox 360 |
| Halo 4 | Co-developed with 343i | 2012 | Xbox 360 |
| Call of Duty: Ghosts | Multiplayer and Multiplayer DLC | 2013 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One |
| Halo: The Master Chief Collection | Multiplayer | 2014 | Xbox One |
References
- ↑ "Certain Affinity number of employees".
- ↑ "Certain Affinity about page".
- ↑ "Certain affinity Maps revealed".
- ↑ "Mapmakers to the Stars".
- ↑ Faylor, Chris (2008-03-04). "Certain Affinity Making Pimps at Sea, Sorta". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
- ↑ Age of Booty Release Date
- ↑ Cat Outta The Bag
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 11, 2012). "Meet Certain Affinity, the Halo 4 Developer You've Never Heard Of". Eurogamer. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ↑ Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack Announced!
- ↑ Crimson Alliance Announced
- ↑ Current website for Crimson Alliance
- ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (2012-07-08). "Halo 4's Forge Mode Developed By Certain Affinity". Game Informer. Retrieved 2012-07-08.