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Grin (company)

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Grin AB
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryVideo games
Founded1997
FounderBo and Ulf Andersson
Defunct2009
SuccessorOverkill Software
Headquarters
Stockholm
,
Sweden
Key people
Bo Andersson
Ulf Andersson
ProductsGhost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Bionic Commando
Bionic Commando Rearmed

Grin ABwas avideo game developerbased inStockholm,Sweden. Founded by Bo and Ulf Andersson in 1997, Grin worked on numerous titles for thePC,consolesandarcade.Grin filed for bankruptcy and became defunct on August 12, 2009, and its founders went on to createOverkill Software.

History

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Grin was founded by brothers Bo and Ulf Andersson in 1997. After Grin's first releaseBallistics(PC, arcade), in 2001, Grin released the critically acclaimedBandits: Phoenix Rising(PC) and several arcade machines, as well as military and civilian simulators. Grin went on to develop two games for Ubisoft,Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter(PC) andTom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2(PC).Bionic Commando Rearmed(downloadable via Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, PC),Bionic Commando(Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC),Wanted: Weapons of Fate(Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC) andTerminator Salvationwere the last titles, released in 2008-2009.[1]In 2007, Grin expanded into offices on theBarcelona,Spainbeach front, in theTorre Mapfreskyscraper, followed by another studio in the center ofGothenburg,Sweden,along with the Grin Jakarta QA studio, located in the center ofJakarta,Indonesia.250 people in total were developing games for theXbox 360,PlayStation 3 and PC.

Grin began preproduction work on aFinal Fantasyspin-off game,Fortress,in the second half of 2008 when Square Enix outsourced it to the Swedish developer.[2]The development team, based inStockholm,began creating concept art, 3D models and agame engine,thinking ofFortressas a "game with an epic scale both in story and production values".[3]In addition to original characters and locations, concept art for the game depictedAsheand a Judge character fromFinal Fantasy XII,[4][5]andchocobosand otherrecurring creatures of the series.[3][4]The score was also being produced.[6]However, after six months of development, Square Enix reclaimed the project without paying Grin, due to concerns over the quality of the work.[2][7]Grin co-founders Ulf and Bo Andersson claimed that "Square Enixhad already made up its mind thatFortresswasn't a project it wanted anymore ".[8]Square Enix's withdrawal left the Swedish developer in financial difficulty and with no other ongoing game project.[2]

In 2009, Grin closed its offices in Barcelona and Gothenburg, citing financial difficulties.[9][10]On 12 August 2009 Grin filed for bankruptcy! Later the same day, the official Grin site published the news that the company was closing down.[11][12]Grin noted that delayed payments from "too many publishers" caused "an unbearable cashflow situation" and mentioning in a farewell note their "unreleased masterpiece that [they] weren't allowed to finish".[2][13]

Former members of Grin formed a new development studio,Might and Delight,which focuses on small, downloadable games.[14]Together with the owners ofFatshark,the former lead engineers of Grin started middleware developerBitsquid,which was later bought by Autodesk.[15]Former quality assurance members formed a separate studio called Trinity QA Studio in June 2010.[16]Bo and Ulf Andersson (along with their friendSimon Viklund) went on to formOverkill Software.Bertil Hörberg, who worked on both Bionic Commando and Bionic Commando Rearmed, went on to form Hörberg Productions, a one-man studio responsible for the well-receivedGunman Clive(Nintendo 3DS,iOS,Android,Steam) and its sequelGunman Clive 2(3DS, Steam).[17]The games were bundled together asGunman Clive HD CollectionforWii UandNintendo Switch.

Technology

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The Diesel engine was originally developed for their gameBallisticsand has been used, albeit with modifications, in a number of other games since then. The first installment of the engine was developed in close collaboration withNvidia,aimed to showcase the capabilities of their latestgraphics chipat the time, theGeForce 3.The engine is currently in use byOverkill Software,former owners of the now defunct developer Grin. Overkill's game,Payday: The Heist,uses a modified version of this engine.Payday 2andRaid: World War IIrun on the second generation Diesel engine 2.0.

Games developed

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Release date Titles Genre Platform(s)
2001 Ballistics Racing Microsoft Windows,Arcade
2003 Bandits: Phoenix Rising Vehicular combat Microsoft Windows
2006 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Tactical shooter Microsoft Windows
2007 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Tactical shooter Microsoft Windows
2008 Bionic Commando Rearmed Platformer Microsoft Windows,PlayStation Network,Xbox Live Arcade
2009 Wanted: Weapons of Fate Third-person shooter Microsoft Windows,PlayStation 3,Xbox 360
2009 Bionic Commando Action,platformer Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2009 Terminator Salvation Third-person shooter, action Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Cancelled Fortress(codename) Action-adventure PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Cancelled UnnamedStriderreboot[18] Action game Unknown
Cancelled UnnamedStreets of Rageremake[18] Beat'em-up Unknown
Cancelled Cult(codename) Third-person shooter, action Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Cancelled Vultures Hack-and-slash Xbox

References

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  1. ^"Something to GRIN About".GamesIndustry.biz.6 May 2009.Retrieved21 December2020.
  2. ^abcd"GRIN's Final Fantasy spin-off still in development".GamesIndustry.biz. 21 September 2009.Retrieved22 September2009.
  3. ^abAlbihn, Björn (7 September 2009)."Björn Albihn - Character Artist".Archived fromthe originalon 23 September 2009.Retrieved22 September2009.
  4. ^abHellstedt, Joakim (9 September 2009)."Online Portfolio of Joakim Hellstedt".Retrieved22 September2009.
  5. ^Holmsten, Tony; Bergquist, Martin (20 August 2009)."Concept Art".Visual Development. Archived fromthe originalon 14 September 2009.Retrieved22 September2009.
  6. ^Thunberg, Erik (18 January 2010)."starsounds.net".Archived fromthe originalon 8 April 2005.Retrieved18 February2012.
  7. ^Dustin, Quillen (20 August 2009)."GRIN Was Working on an Unannounced Final Fantasy Project".1UP.com.Archived fromthe originalon 8 November 2012.Retrieved22 September2009.
  8. ^Christopher Grant (29 May 2011)."GRIN founders say Square Enix turned their smiles upside down".Joystiq.Retrieved30 May2011.
  9. ^Remo, Chris (11 August 2009)."Report: Developer GRIN Sees More Layoffs, Studio Closures".Gamasutra.Retrieved13 August2009.
  10. ^"Report: Bionic Commando Developer GRIN Sees Major Layoffs".Gamasutra.28 May 2009.Retrieved13 August2009.
  11. ^Breckon, Nick (12 August 2009)."GRIN Officially Closes, Former Devs Found New Studio".Shacknews.Retrieved13 August2009.
  12. ^McWhertor, Michael (13 August 2009)."GRIN Is Officially Dead, Spawns Outbreak".Kotaku.Retrieved13 August2009.
  13. ^Alexander, Leigh (12 August 2009)."Swedish Developer GRIN To Close Its Doors".Gamasutra.Retrieved22 September2009.
  14. ^"Bionic Commando Rearmed Devs Reunite".IGN.16 April 2010.
  15. ^"Bitsquid homepage".BitSquid. 3 June 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 13 February 2010.
  16. ^Remo, Chris (29 June 2010)."Former GRIN QA Team Reforms As Trinity QA Studio".Gamasutra.Retrieved30 June2010.
  17. ^Whitehead, Thomas (29 January 2013)."Developer Interview: Bertil Hörberg On Being a One Man eShop Developer".Nintendo Life.Retrieved28 March2017.
  18. ^abBionic Commando dev Grin worked on Strider reboot, Streets of Rage remake • News • Eurogamer.net
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