Editing Raven Software (section)

{{Short description|American video game development company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Raven Software Corporation
| logo = Raven_Software_logo.png
| logo_caption = 
| logo_alt = 
| image = 20220821 Raven Software.jpg
| image_caption = Headquarters at [[Middleton, Wisconsin#Tourism and shopping|Greenway Station Center]]
| image_size = 260px
| former_name = Raven Software, Inc. (1990–1997)
| trade_name = Raven 
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1990|5|23}} in [[Madison, Wisconsin]], US
| founder = Brian Raffel<br />Steve Raffel
| hq_location_city = 8496 Greenway Blvd, [[Middleton, Wisconsin]]
| hq_location_country = US
| num_locations = 
| num_locations_year = 2014
| key_people = {{unbulleted list|Brian Raffel (co-[[studio head]])|David Pellas (co-studio head)}}
| products = {{ubl|''[[Heretic (video game)|Heretic/Hexen]]'' series (1994–1998)|''[[Soldier of Fortune (video game)|Soldier of Fortune]]'' series (2000–2002)|''[[Star Wars: Jedi Knight|Jedi Knight]]'' series (2002–2003)|''[[X-Men Legends|X-Men]]'' series (2004–2009)|''[[Marvel: Ultimate Alliance]]'' (2006)|''[[Call of Duty]]'' series (2011–present)}}
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| owner = 
| num_employees = 350 (2022)<ref>{{cite news |title=Raven Software employees win union election |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/05/23/activision-blizzard-union-raven/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 23, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Activision Blizzard's Raven Software workers vote to form industry's first union |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/may/23/activision-blizzard-raven-software-union-vote |website=The Guardian |date=May 23, 2022}}</ref>
| parent = [[Activision]] (1997–present)
| divisions = 
| homepage = {{URL|ravensoftware.com}}
}}

'''Raven Software Corporation''' ([[trade name]]: '''Raven'''; formerly '''Raven Software, Inc.''') is an American [[video game developer]] based in [[Middleton, Wisconsin]], and part of [[Activision]]. Founded in May 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel, the company is most known for the [[dark fantasy]] franchise ''[[Heretic (video game)|Heretic/Hexen]]'', the first two ''[[Soldier of Fortune (video game)|Soldier of Fortune]]'' games, as well as [[Brand licensing|licensed]] titles based in the ''[[Star Wars: Jedi Knight]]'' series and [[Marvel Comics]]'s [[X-Men]] characters, including 2006's ''[[Marvel: Ultimate Alliance]]''. Since 2011, Raven has been working on multiple ''[[Call of Duty]]'' games as both lead and support developer.

Raven's first game, ''[[Black Crypt]]'' (1992), was conceived in the late 1980s by Raffel brothers to be a [[Paper-and-pencil game|paper-and-pen]] [[role-playing game|role-playing]] game, until the two retooled the project from scratch to become a [[video game]]. While it did not perform well commercially, its positive reception by critics and [[Game engine|technology]] efforts led to [[John Romero]] approaching Raven to develop new titles for the [[personal computer]] starting with ''[[ShadowCaster]]'' (1993), which was powered by [[id Tech#Wolfenstein 3D engine|Raven Engine]], a modified [[id Tech#Wolfenstein 3D engine|''Wolfenstein 3D'' engine]] designed by [[John Carmack]]. The game's success impressed [[id Software]] and [[Strategic Simulations]], who signed a deal to publish the company's next titles, which had grown to two teams to work on 1994's ''[[CyClones]]'' and ''[[Heretic (video game)|Heretic]]''. The latter, inspired by Brian Raffel's interest in making a ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''–inspired game, was critically acclaimed, spawned [[Sequel|several sequel]]s, and helped Raven grow to three development teams.

In August 1997, Activision announced it had agreed to acquire Raven and took over the distribution to ''[[Hexen II]]'', while the other two Raven teams continued production on the previously announced titles ''[[Take No Prisoners (video game)|Take No Prisoners]]'' and ''[[MageSlayer]]''. After 1998's ''[[Heretic II]]'', Raven aimed to expand its games to a broader audience, acquiring [[Soldier of Fortune (magazine)|''Soldier of Fortune'' magazine]] name rights to develop a [[Soldier of Fortune (video game)|game of the same name]] while also working on its first licensed title, ''[[Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force]]''. The latter achieved universal acclaim by critics and has since gained a [[cult following]], encouraging [[LucasArts]] to collaborate with Raven on ''[[Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast]]'' and ''[[Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy]]''. The company also continued partnering with id Software, working on ''[[Quake 4]]'' and the 2009 ''[[Wolfenstein (2009 video game)|Wolfenstein]]'', and becoming one of the first studios to license [[id Tech 4]].

In the 2000s, Raven worked with [[Marvel Entertainment]] on some of its [[superhero]] properties, developing ''[[X-Men Legends]]'' (2004), ''[[X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse]]'' (2005), ''[[Marvel: Ultimate Alliance]]'' (2006) and ''[[X-Men Origins: Wolverine (video game)|X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'' (2009). This lasted until Raven announced a new [[intellectual property]], ''[[Singularity (video game)|Singularity]]'', which was released in 2010 to positive reception. In 2011, Raven shifted to work on several ''Call of Duty'' titles as support developer, and in 2014, the company opened a Chinese studio in [[Shanghai]] to collaborate with [[Tencent Games]] on ''[[Call of Duty Online]],''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/story.php?id=100047534393974&story_fbid=10155662410185061|title=Raven Software's 25th Anniversary in both Wisconsin and Shanghai studio|date=May 29, 2015|access-date=August 1, 2024|work=Raven Software}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Tech and Biotech: Celebrating Raven's 25th; and Dock Technologies gets East Coast visibility|first=Judy|last=Newman|work=[[Wisconsin State Journal]]|publisher=[[Lee Enterprises]]|date=May 23, 2015|url=https://madison.com/business/technology/biotech/tech-and-biotech-celebrating-ravens-25th-and-dock-technologies-gets-east-coast-visibility/article_ec26fba4-5b0c-56e3-9337-d0566a17be68.html|access-date=August 1, 2024|url-access=limited}}</ref> although this studio is no longer active today.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Activision STUDIOS & LOCATIONS |url=https://www.activision.com/company/locations |website=activision.com}}</ref> Raven worked with [[Infinity Ward]] and [[Treyarch]] on 2020's ''[[Call of Duty: Warzone]]'' and ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War]]'', leading production on the latter's single-player campaign. It developed ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops 6]]'', which was released on October 24, 2024.