Vicious Cycle Software

Vicious Cycle Software
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	Chapel Hill, North Carolina,U.S. (2000)
Defunct	January 2016
Headquarters	Morrisville, North Carolina,U.S.
Key people	Eric Peterson, Founder/President and CEO; Wayne Harvey, Founder/VP/CTO; Dave Ellis,Founder/Senior Game Designer, Marc Racine Founder/Production Director, Senior Game Designer Brett Freese
Products	Vicious Engine
Parent	D3 Publisher(2007–2014); Little Orbit (2014–2016)
Divisions	Monkey Bar Games
Website	viciouscycleinc.com

Vicious Cycle Softwarewas an Americanvideo game developmentcompany based inMorrisville, North Carolina.

History

Vicious Cycle was founded in 2000 by Eric Peterson,Dave Ellis,Marc Racine, and Wayne Harvey after layoffs at the localMicroProsedevelopment studio (then aHasbro Interactivestudio) forced several game developers into finding other work. Racine resigned as Vice President and Director of Production in the Spring of 2005 to pursue other ventures. Ellis left the company in the Summer of 2000 but returned in 2005 to take a position as agame designer.Vicious Cycle has released titles for thePlayStation 2,Xbox,GameCube,Xbox 360,PlayStation 3,Wii,andPlayStation Portablesystems as well as theMicrosoft Windowsplatform.

In 2005, Vicious Cycle announced the opening of theirMonkey Bar Gamesdivision. Monkey Bar Games was focused on providing mass-market games to gamers of all ages. Monkey Bar Games released video games incorporating licensed characters fromBen 10,Dora the Explorer,andCurious George.A game was also released in late 2006 to coincide with the release of theFlushed Awayanimated feature film.

On June 20, 2007, Vicious Cycle was acquired byD3 Publisher,making Vicious Cycle Software a subsidiary of D3Publisher of America and a second‐tier subsidiary of D3 Inc.^[1]Vicious Cycle releasedEat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazardfor Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 26, 2009. On October 1, 2009, they announcedMatt Hazard: Blood Bath and BeyondforXbox LIVE Arcadeand thePlayStation Storefor winter 2009.^[2]

In Spring of 2014, Vicious Cycle was acquired by Little Orbit.^[3]^[4]As the final two games (Adventure Time: Finn & Jake InvestigationsandKung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends) neared completion, several rounds of layoffs reduced the studio to a skeleton crew. Vicious Cycle closed its doors permanently in January 2016.

Technology

Also in 2005, Vicious Cycle announced the release of their Vicious Enginegame engine.The Vicious Engine is a complete game developmentmiddlewaresolution for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, GameCube, Wii and Microsoft Windows. The Vicious Engine is one of the first game engines to offer full support for the PSP and Wii platforms.^{[citation needed]}

The second version of the Vicious Engine, V^e2,was released on March 25, 2009, at the Game Developers Conference. It specifically features improvements for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.^[5]

Games

Title	Year	Platform(s)
Robotech: Battlecry	2002	PS2, GameCube, Xbox
Dinotopia: The Sunstone Odyssey	2003	GameCube, Xbox
Robotech: Invasion	2004	PS2, Xbox
Spy vs. Spy	2005	PS2, Xbox
Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet	2005	PS2, GameCube
Curious George	2006	PS2, GameCube, Xbox, Windows
Flushed Away	2006	PS2, GameCube
Marvel Trading Card Game	2007	PSP, Windows
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords	2007	PSP, XBLA
Dead Head Fred	2007	PSP
Ben 10: Alien Force	2008	Wii, PS2, PSP
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard	2009	Xbox 360, PS3
Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond	2010	XBLA, PSN
Yogi Bear: The Video Game	2010	Wii
Despicable Me: The Game	2010	PS2, PSP, Wii
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon	2011	Xbox 360, PS3, Windows
Ben 10: Galactic Racing	2011	Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PlayStation Vita, 3DS
Ben 10: Omniverse	2012	Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U
Madagascar 3: The Video Game	2012	Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
Turbo: Super Stunt Squad	2013	Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures	2013	Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2	2014	Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS
Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations	2015	Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Windows, Wii U, 3DS
Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends^[6]	2015	Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Windows, Wii U, 3DS

References

^Press Release: D3 Inc. Acquires Vicious Cycle SoftwarefromD3 website
^Press Release Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond Coming to XBLApress release from TeamXbox.com
^"Little Orbit Acquires Vicious Cycle Software"(Press release). Little Orbit. September 4, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon October 28, 2015.RetrievedAugust 1,2015.The acquisition occurred in Spring of 2014...
^Ohnesorge, Lauren (September 12, 2014)."Vicious Cycle Software acquired - again; CEO says it means jobs".American City Business Journals.RetrievedJune 10,2021.
^IGNPress Release
^Little Orbit (May 4, 2015)."Little Orbit Kicks Off Totally Epic Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends Video Game"(Press release). PR Newswire iReach.RetrievedAugust 1,2015.

External links

Vicious Cycle Software official site ArchivedNovember 22, 2005, at theWayback Machine
Monkey Bar Games official site
Vicious Engine official site
Vicious Cycle Softwareentry atMobyGames

[1] Press Release: D3 Inc. Acquires Vicious Cycle SoftwarefromD3 website

[2] Press Release Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond Coming to XBLApress release from TeamXbox.com

[3] "Little Orbit Acquires Vicious Cycle Software"(Press release). Little Orbit. September 4, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon October 28, 2015.RetrievedAugust 1,2015.The acquisition occurred in Spring of 2014...

[4] Ohnesorge, Lauren (September 12, 2014)."Vicious Cycle Software acquired - again; CEO says it means jobs".American City Business Journals.RetrievedJune 10,2021.

[5] IGNPress Release

[PRNiOrbitKicks-6] Little Orbit (May 4, 2015)."Little Orbit Kicks Off Totally Epic Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends Video Game"(Press release). PR Newswire iReach.RetrievedAugust 1,2015.

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