Editing Monolith Productions

{{short description|American video game developer}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Monolith Soft]], a Japanese video game studio}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}{{Infobox company
| name = Monolith Productions, Inc.
| logo = File: Monolith Productions Logo.png
| logo_size = 150px
| logo_caption = Final logo, used from 2017 to 2025
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1994|10|25}}<ref>{{cite tweet|user=MonolithDev|number=1179501628631552001|date=October 2, 2019|title=October 25th is Monolith's 25th Anniversary. Twenty. Five. Years. In the business. And we've got a lot of fun stuff planned this month to celebrate. Stay tuned here for a big ol' look back at a long history of #gamedev.}}</ref>
| defunct = {{end date and age|2025|2|25}}
| fate = [[Dissolution (law)|Dissolved]]
| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Bryan Bouwman|Toby Gladwell|Brian Goble|[[Jace Hall]]|Garrett Price|Paul Renault|Brian Waite}}
| location = [[Kirkland, Washington]], United States
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| products = 
| num_employees = 100+ (2004)<ref>{{cite web|last=Fahey
|first=Rob|url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/monolith-productions-appoints-new-ceo|title=Monolith Productions appoints new CEO|website=gamesindustry.biz|date=January 16, 2004|access-date=October 27, 2016}}</ref>
| owner = 
| parent = [[Warner Bros. Games]] (2004–2025)
| homepage = {{web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222220809/https://www.lith.com/|title=lith.com}}
}}

'''Monolith Productions, Inc.''' was an American [[video game developer]] based in [[Kirkland, Washington]]. The company was a subsidiary of [[Warner Bros. Games]] from August 2004 until its shutdown in 2025.<ref name="Warner">{{cite web|last=Thorsen|first=Tor|url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6104711.html|title=Warner Bros. buys Monolith Productions|publisher=GameSpot|date=August 12, 2004|access-date=October 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060112145011/http://www.gamespot.com/news/6104711.html|archive-date=January 12, 2006}}</ref> It formerly published third-party games in the 1990s. In February 2025, it was reported that Warner Bros. Games had decided to close the studio.<ref name="Closure">{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Vikki |date=2025-02-25 |title=Warner Bros shuttering Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros San Diego |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/warner-bros-reportedly-shuttering-monolith-productions-player-first-games-and-warner-bros-san-diego |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
Monolith Productions was founded on October 25, 1994 by Bryan Bouwman, Toby Gladwell, Brian Goble, [[Jace Hall]], Garrett Price, Paul Renault, and Brian Waite.<ref name="GameSpy">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p12.html |title=GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins, Page 12 of 19 |first=John |last=Keefer |date=March 31, 2006 |website=[[GameSpy]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609133032/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p12.html |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Co-founder Brian Goble had this to say regarding the company name.
{{blockquote|At the time we formed the company, [[MS-DOS|DOS]] was still the [[Operating system|OS]] of choice for games. Because of this, we knew we had to come up with a name that was 8 characters or less (for [[8.3 filename|8.3 filenames]]). We had been researching story and technology ideas for our demo CD and we were watching a lot of movies. "Monolith" came up, was semi mysterious, wasn't taken, and was 8 characters. Perfect.<ref name="GameSpy"/>}}

Several of the founders, include Hall, were employees of software company [[Edmark]] at the time, and the group had gotten together frequently to play games like ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]''. Several felt they could try their own hand at making video games. To promote their initial ideas, they took advantage of the [[Compact Disc Digital Audio|Redbook audio]] format for compact discs that allowed both audio and digital files to be stored on the same media. Hall left Edmark to start promotion of the company, and ended up with [[Microsoft]], which was preparing for the release of [[Windows 95]]. Microsoft brought on Monolith to develop gaming CDs to demonstrate the capabilities of Windows 95 and [[DirectX]], with the remaining founders quitting Edmark and working out of offices at Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington.<ref name="gamesradar history">{{cite web | url = https://www.gamesradar.com/from-shogo-to-shadow-of-war-charting-the-chaotic-creative-history-of-monolith-productions/ | title = From Shogo to Shadow of War: Charting the chaotic, creative history of Monolith Productions | first = Robert | last = Zak | date = May 25, 2021 
|quote = "We leased a bunch of buildings in this office park," says Garrett. "I remember walking through it with my wife and she asked 'How are you ever gonna fill all these up?' We just began rounding up our friends from other companies. We almost instantly had this whole crew." With the studio complex set up in 1996 – complete with sound studio and other high-end extras... "Q Studios was launched by our friend Nick Newhard," Garrett recalls. "In this whole pedal-to- the-metal thing, Jason was like 'Let's just acquire Q Studios, let's get Nick in, let's give him stock, let's make him a part of this too.'" Blood was a much-loved game, eventually replacing Doom as the go-to deathmatch game at Monolith.
|accessdate = February 27, 2025 | work = [[GamesRadar]] }}</ref>

Hall used the gaming CDs to continue to build out a list of contacts for future expansion. This led to a significant investment from Japanese print publisher [[Takarajimasha]], allowing Monolith to establish their own set of offices and bring on more staff to do full-time production by 1996.<ref name="gamesradar history"/> Initial work was done towards ''[[Claw (video game)|Claw]]'', a game based on a shelved project by Garrett. During development, Monolith acquired Q Studios, a development team led by a friend Nick Newhard. At the time, Q Studios was finishing work on ''[[Blood (video game)|Blood]]'' and Monolith switched to focus on shipping it instead. ''Blood'' was one of the last games to use the 2.5D [[Build (game engine)|Build engine]], but meanwhile Monolith also had a team building an in-house 3D engine. ''Blood'' was a hit with the Monolith team and replaced ''Doom'' as their office deathmatch game.<ref name="gamesradar history"/>
 
The company is best known for the ''[[Blood (video game)|Blood]]'', ''[[No One Lives Forever]]'' and ''[[F.E.A.R]]'' series. Monolith developed the [[LithTech]] [[game engine]] which was used for most of their games starting with ''[[Shogo: Mobile Armor Division]]'' in September 1998. Between 1997 and 1999, Monolith also [[video game publisher|published]] games–some developed by the studio, some by third parties.

In 2004, Monolith Productions was acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (now Warner Bros. Games).<ref name="Warner"/>

In 2014, the company released the title ''[[Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor]]'' with a sequel entitled ''[[Middle-earth: Shadow of War]]'' being released in 2017.

In 2021, the company announced that they were developing a video game starring [[Wonder Woman]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Prescott |first1=Shaun |title=Wonder Woman game announced, is in development at Monolith Productions |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/wonder-woman-game-announced-is-in-development-at-monolith-productions/ |website=PC Gamer |publisher=PC Gamer |access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref>

In 2025, Warner Bros. Games closed the studio alongside [[Player First Games]] and [[WB Games San Diego]], cancelling ''Wonder Woman'' and refocusing development efforts on core intellectual properties.<ref name="Closure">{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Vikki |date=2025-02-25 |title=Warner Bros shuttering Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros San Diego |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/warner-bros-reportedly-shuttering-monolith-productions-player-first-games-and-warner-bros-san-diego |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en}}</ref>

== Technology ==
{{Main|LithTech}}

==Video games==

=== Developed ===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! rowspan="2" | Year
! rowspan="2" | Title
! colspan="3" | Platform(s)
|-
!scope="col"| [[Personal computer|PC]]
!scope="col"| [[Video game console|Console]]
!scope="col"| [[Handheld game console|Handheld]]
|-
|rowspan="2" | 1997
| ''[[Blood (video game)|Blood]]''
| [[MS-DOS]], [[Microsoft Windows]]
| —
| —
|-
| ''[[Claw (video game)|Claw]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="3" | 1998
| ''[[Get Medieval]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
| ''[[Shogo: Mobile Armor Division]]''
| Microsoft Windows, [[Classic Mac OS|Mac OS]], [[Linux]], [[AmigaOS]]
| —
| —
|-
| ''[[Blood II: The Chosen]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="2" | 1999
| ''[[Gruntz]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
| ''TNN Outdoors Pro Hunter 2''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="2" | 2000
| ''[[Sanity: Aiken's Artifact]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
| ''[[The Operative: No One Lives Forever]]''
| Microsoft Windows, Mac OS
| [[PlayStation 2]]
| —
|-
|rowspan="2" | 2001
| ''Tex Atomic's Big Bot Battles''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
| ''[[Aliens Versus Predator 2]]''
| Microsoft Windows, Mac OS
| —
| —
|-
| 2002
| ''[[No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way]]''
| Microsoft Windows, Mac OS
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="2" | 2003
| ''[[Tron 2.0]]''
| Microsoft Windows, Mac OS
| [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]]
| [[Game Boy Advance]]
|-
| ''[[Contract J.A.C.K.]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="3" | 2005
| ''[[The Matrix Online]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| —
| —
|-
| ''[[F.E.A.R. (video game)|F.E.A.R.]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| [[PlayStation 3]], [[Xbox 360]]
| —
|-
| ''[[Condemned: Criminal Origins]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| Xbox 360
| —
|-
| 2008
| ''[[Condemned 2: Bloodshot]]''
| —
| PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
| —
|-
| 2009
| ''[[F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
| —
|-
|rowspan="2" | 2012
| ''[[Gotham City Impostors]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
| —
|-
| ''[[Guardians of Middle-earth]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
| —
|-
| 2014
| ''[[Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor]]''
| Microsoft Windows, [[macOS|OS X]], Linux
| [[PlayStation 4]], [[Xbox One]], PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
| —
|-
| 2017
| ''[[Middle-earth: Shadow of War]]''
| Microsoft Windows
| PlayStation 4, Xbox One
| —
|-
| N/A
| ''Wonder Woman''
| colspan="3"| Cancelled
|}

=== Published ===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" 
! rowspan="2" | Year 
! rowspan="2" | Title 
! colspan="1" | Platform(s)
|-
!scope="col"| [[Personal computer|PC]]
|-
| 1994
| ''[[Maabus]]''
| [[MS-DOS]]
|-
| 1998
| ''[[Rage of Mages]]''
| [[Microsoft Windows]]
|-
|rowspan="3" | 1999
| ''[[Rage of Mages II: Necromancer]]''
| Microsoft Windows
|-
| ''[[Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator]]''
| Microsoft Windows
|-
| ''[[Gorky 17]]''
| Microsoft Windows, [[Classic Mac OS|Mac OS]], [[Linux]], [[AmigaOS]]
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/19961109152319/http://lith.com:80/HiBand/index.html}} (archived)
*[http://www.mobygames.com/company/monolith-productions-inc Monolith Productions] profile on [[MobyGames]]
*[http://www.giantbomb.com/monolith-productions-inc/3010-864/ Monolith Productions] entry on [[Giant Bomb]]

{{Portal bar|1990s|United States|Video games}}
{{Monolith games}}
{{Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment}}
{{Warner Bros.}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Monolith Productions| ]]
[[Category:2004 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1994]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 2025]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Kirkland, Washington]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1994]]
[[Category:Video game companies disestablished in 2025]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. Games]]
[[Category:1994 establishments in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:2025 disestablishments in Washington (state)]]