Editing Westwood Studios

{{Short description|American video game developer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{infobox company
| name = Westwood Studios, Inc.
| logo = Westwood Studios 1994.svg
| fate = Merged into [[EA Los Angeles]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1985}}
| founders = [[Brett Sperry]]<br />[[Louis Castle]]
| defunct = {{end date|2003|03|31}}
| location = [[Las Vegas, Nevada]]
| former_name = Brelous Software (1985)<br>Westwood Associates (1985-1992)
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| key_people = {{ubl|[[Brett Sperry]]|[[Louis Castle]]|[[Joseph D. Kucan]]}}
| products = {{ubl|''[[Eye of the Beholder (video game)|Eye of the Beholder]]'' series|''[[The Legend of Kyrandia]]'' series|''[[List of games based on Dune|Dune]]'' series|''[[Lands of Lore series|Lands of Lore]]'' series|''[[Command & Conquer]]'' series}}
| owner = 
| parent = [[Virgin Interactive]] (1992–1998)<br />[[Electronic Arts]] (1998–2003)
| homepage = [https://web.archive.org/web/20000304145203/http://www.westwood.com/newindex.html westwood.com] (archived homepage on March 4, 2000)
}}

'''Westwood Studios, Inc.''' was an American [[video game developer]] based in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]]. It was founded by [[Brett Sperry]] and [[Louis Castle]] in 1985 as Brelous Software, but got changed after 2 months into '''Westwood Associates''' and was renamed to Westwood Studios when [[Virgin Interactive|Virgin Games]] (later Virgin Interactive Entertainment) bought the company in 1992. The company was bought by [[Electronic Arts]] alongside Virgin Interactive's North American operations in 1998.<ref name="wwbuyout" /> In January 2003, it was announced that Westwood, alongside Westwood Pacific (EA Pacific), would be merged into [[EA Los Angeles]]. The main studio location closed in March of that year.

Westwood is best known for developing video games in the [[real-time strategy]], [[Adventure game|adventure]] and [[Role-playing video game|role-playing]] genres. It was listed in ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' for selling 30 million copies of ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' games worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Best-selling real-time videogame series |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/88441-best-selling-real-time-strategy-videogame-series |access-date=November 26, 2023 |publisher=[[Guinness World Records]] |language=English}}</ref>

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2019}}

===Early history and company name===
[[File:Westwood Studios-former office.jpeg|thumb|Westwood Studios former office]]
[[Brett Sperry]] and [[Louis Castle]] met in late 1983 in Las Vegas. Sperry had a background in architecture and psychology and was already working in the gaming industry. Both Sperry and Castle worked as contract programmers. The two eventually became friends and decided to form a company together and named it Brelous Software.<ref name="web.stanford.edu">{{cite web| url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/htgg/sts145papers/adevkar_2003_1.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214093635/https://web.stanford.edu/group/htgg/sts145papers/adevkar_2003_1.pdf | archive-date=2021-12-14| title=Command and Conquer in the Development of Real-Time Strategy}}</ref> It was later renamed Westwood Associates.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p14.html |title=GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins, Page 14 of 19 |first=John |last=Keefer |date=March 31, 2006 |website=[[GameSpy]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609133020/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p14.html |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="cgw199308">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=109 |title=Westwood Studios Partnership Hits Jackpot |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |date=1 August 1993 |access-date=12 July 2014 |pages=32 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714154744/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=109 |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref>

According to Louis Castle, the company was named after the "entertainment meets professional" character of the [[Westwood, Los Angeles|Westwood neighborhood in Los Angeles]].

{{blockquote|We really liked the "entertainment meets professional" character of Westwood CA (in L.A.) and the attraction of the area to teens and young adults felt like the perfect fit for a new company specializing in entertainment software. Even back then we recognized that it took a team of people to make great products so we appended the "Associates" to emphasize that aspect of product development. We were not really sure if we could make a go at game development so the original name "Westwood Associates" also gave us the ability to get into more traditional business software if necessary.<ref name="GameSpy">{{cite web|last=Keefer|first=John|url=http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p14.html|title=GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins|publisher=[[GameSpy]]|date=March 31, 2006|access-date=October 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610051448/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p14.html|archive-date=June 10, 2007}}</ref>}}

The company's first projects consisted of contract work for companies like [[Epyx]]<ref name="web.stanford.edu"/> and [[Strategic Simulations, Inc.]] (SSI), porting [[8-bit]] titles to [[16-bit]] systems like [[Amiga|Commodore Amiga]] and [[Atari ST]]. Proceeds from contract work allowed the company to expand into designing its own games in-house. Their first original title was ''[[Mars Saga]]'', a game developed for [[Electronic Arts]] and released in 1988.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/lets-pour-one-out-for-westwood-studios-creators-of-the-5820685|title=Let's Pour One Out for Westwood Studios, Creators of the Real-Time Strategy Genre|last=Plunkett|first=Luke|website=[[Kotaku]]|date=July 13, 2011|access-date=October 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223053/https://kotaku.com/lets-pour-one-out-for-westwood-studios-creators-of-the-5820685|archive-date=January 23, 2019}}</ref> They laid the foundations for the [[real-time strategy]] genre with the release of [[real-time tactics]] game ''[[BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge]]'', one of the more literal translations of the tabletop game ''[[BattleTech]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blackgate.com/2013/12/06/vintage-bits-battletech-the-crescent-hawks-inception/|title=Vintage Bits: BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception|last=ONeill|first=John|website=[[Black Gate (magazine)|Black Gate]]|date=December 6, 2013|access-date=October 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211014300/https://www.blackgate.com/2013/12/06/vintage-bits-battletech-the-crescent-hawks-inception/|archive-date=December 11, 2013}}</ref>

===Later success and acquisition by Virgin Games===
One of the company's first great successes was ''[[Eye of the Beholder (video game)|Eye of the Beholder]]'' (1991), a real-time [[role-playing video game]] based on the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' license, developed for SSI. Other publishers of early Westwood games included [[Infocom]] and [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]. Their company was eventually acquired by [[Virgin Interactive|Virgin Games]] in 1992.<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9LN5DQAAQBAJ&q=Mars+saga+westwood+studios&pg=PT174| title=Playing at the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games| isbn=9781476625577| last1=Horowitz| first1=Ken| date=27 October 2016| publisher=McFarland| access-date=21 October 2020| archive-date=8 October 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008205502/https://books.google.com/books?id=9LN5DQAAQBAJ&q=Mars+saga+westwood+studios&pg=PT174| url-status=live}}</ref>

The company in the late 1980s was known for shipping products late, but by 1993 it had so improved that, ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' reported, "many publishers would assure [us] that a project was going to be completed on time ''because'' Westwood was doing it". The magazine added that it "not only has a solid reputation for getting product out on time, but a reputation for ''good'' product", citing ''Eye of the Beholder'', ''[[The Legend of Kyrandia]]'', and ''[[Dune II]]'' as examples. By then Westwood had about 50 employees, including up to 20 artists.{{r|cgw199308}} Other Westwood titles from the early 1990s include ''[[Lands of Lore series|Lands of Lore]]'', ''[[The Lion King (video game)|The Lion King]]'' and ''[[Young Merlin]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine| first=Nicholas | last=Petreley | date=December 20, 1993| page=85 | magazine=InfoWorld | volume=15 | issue=51| title=Lands of Lore | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA85| accessdate=October 30, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/how-westwood-made-the-lion-king-one-of-gamings-finest-1674603516|title=How Westwood Made ''The Lion King'', One Of Gaming's Finest Platformers|last=Fahey|first=Mike|website=[[Kotaku]]|date=December 23, 2014|access-date=July 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224064113/http://kotaku.com/how-westwood-made-the-lion-king-one-of-gamings-finest-1674603516|archive-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15613|title=Young Merlin - Allgame|website=[[Allgame]]|access-date=November 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114234840/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15613|archive-date=November 14, 2014}}</ref> Westwood's greatest commercial success would start in 1995 with the real-time strategy game ''[[Command & Conquer (1995 video game)|Command & Conquer]]''. Building on the gameplay and interface ideas of ''Dune II'', it added pre-rendered 3D graphics for gameplay sprites and video cinematics, an alternative pop/rock soundtrack with techno elements streamed from disk, and [[online game|online]] play. ''Command & Conquer'', ''Kyrandia'', and ''Lands of Lore'' spawned several sequels.

===Acquisition by EA and liquidation===
In August 1998, Westwood and sister company [[EA Pacific|Burst Studios]] was [[List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts|acquired by Electronic Arts]] for $122.5&nbsp;million from [[Virgin Interactive]]'s North American operations, which EA also acquired. At the time, Westwood games had a 5% to 6% share of the PC game market, especially the ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' franchise was considered very valuable.<ref name="wwbuyout">{{cite web|last=Morris |first=Chris |date=August 17, 1998 |access-date=October 24, 2016 |title=Electronic Arts buys Westwood Studios |url=https://money.cnn.com/1998/08/17/life/q_ea/ |website=[[CNNMoney]] |publisher=[[CNN]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529005517/http://money.cnn.com/1998/08/17/life/q_ea/ |archive-date=May 29, 2016 }}</ref> The 50,000 square foot building in Las Vegas included motion capture facilities, comfortable offices and was considered a showcase for the industry.<ref>Dan Lee Rogers: [https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130449/the_end_game_how_top_developers_.php The End Game: How Top Developers Sold Their Studios - Part One] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923193804/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130449/the_end_game_how_top_developers_.php |date=2017-09-23 }}, March 3, 2004, [[Gamasutra]]</ref> According to Westwood Studios designer and programmer [[Joe Bostic (Game Developer)|Joe Bostic]], Electronic Arts did not interfere with Westwood's operations primarily due to Westwood co-founder Brett Sperry's efforts in keeping the corporate cultures of the two companies separate, but eventually Westwood succumbed to wishes that every game had to be a hit.<ref name="Bostic2018AAInterview">{{cite web |date=August 31, 2018 |access-date=December 16, 2018 |title=Joe Bostic (Westwood Studios) - Interview |url=https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/joe-bostic/ |website=Arcade Attack |archive-date=December 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217023238/https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/joe-bostic/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The last games ''[[Command & Conquer: Renegade]]'' and ''[[Earth & Beyond]]'' did not meet expectations of the publisher.<ref name="GameSpy"/><ref>Chris Morris: [https://money.cnn.com/2003/03/04/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/ Electronic Arts' online folly Gaming powerhouse has been unable to transfer its success to the online world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804090922/https://money.cnn.com/2003/03/04/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/ |date=2020-08-04 }}, March 4, 2003, CNN Money</ref> In January 2003, EA announced their intent to close Westwood, as well as [[EA Pacific]], and merge them into [[EA Los Angeles]] as part of a consolidation plan.<ref name="close">{{cite web|last=Parker|first=Sam|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-consolidates-studios-closes-westwood/1100-2909852/|title=EA consolidates studios, closes Westwood|website=[[GameSpot]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]|date=January 30, 2003|access-date=September 23, 2017|archive-date=June 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612213056/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-consolidates-studios-closes-westwood/1100-2909852/|url-status=live}}</ref> This move included "significant layoffs" for Westwood, which at the time employed 100 people, while the remaining people were given the option to transfer to the Los Angeles studio or EA's headquarters.<ref name="close" /> Most employees were let go by January 31, while some staff stayed with Westwood transitionally until it was fully closed on March 31, 2003.<ref name="close" /> Some formed [[Petroglyph Games]] in April 2003, while another three (Brett Sperry, Adam Isgreen and Rade Stojsavljevic) formed a [[Video game developer|development studio]] called Jet Set Games in 2008, both based in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Callaham|first=John|url=http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/02/02/westwood-games-co-founder-launches-jet-set-games/|title=Westwood Games co-founder launches Jet Set Games|date=February 2, 2009|website=Big Download|
access-date=October 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130103447/http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/02/02/westwood-games-co-founder-launches-jet-set-games/|archive-date=January 30, 2015}}</ref>

==Games==
{{main|List of Westwood Studios games}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{moby company |company=westwood-studios-inc}}

{{Westwood Studios}}
{{Command & Conquer series}}
{{Electronic Arts}}
{{Infocom games}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Westwood Studios| ]]
[[Category:1985 establishments in Nevada]]
[[Category:1998 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:2003 disestablishments in Nevada]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1985]]
[[Category:Companies based in Las Vegas]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Nevada]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Electronic Arts subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Video game companies based in Nevada]]
[[Category:Video game companies disestablished in 2003]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1985]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]