Ritual Entertainment

Infobox Company
company_name = Ritual Entertainment
company_logo =
company_type = Private
foundation = 1996
location_city = Dallas, Texas
location_country = United States
key_people =
industry = Interactive entertainment
products =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
homepage = [http://www.ritual.com/ www.ritual.com]

Ritual Entertainment was a computer game software developer established in 1996 and based in Dallas, Texas. It was formerly known as Hipnotic Interactive, during which period they began development of their signature computer game SiN.

Members of the Ritual development team have contributed game assets to other titles such as "25 to Life" and "American McGee's Alice", and are also the creators of "Übertools" for id Tech 3, which has been licensed for a number of other games.

On January 24, 2007, developer MumboJumbo announced the acquisition of Ritual Entertainment. [ [http://www.playfuls.com/news_9082_Ritual_Entertainment_Acquired_By_Casual_Games_Developer.html Ritual Entertainment Acquired By Casual Games Developer] January 24th 2007] With this acquisition Ritual's focus on traditional action-oriented games was changed to casual games essentially canceling Ritual's latest game series, "SiN Episodes" after releasing only one episode out of a planned nine.

The purchase followed months of departures of several key employees including chief executive officer Steve Nix who became director of business development at id Software, [ [http://planetquake.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=108741 id Software Welcomes New Member] Planet Quake, Friday, 1 December, 2006] long-time vice president and co-founder Tom Mustaine who left to become director of game development for the competitive multiplayer online FPS, "Severity" for the Cyberathlete Professional League, [ [http://www.thecpl.com/league/?s=news&p=newsitem_1072] Cyberathlete] level designer John Schuch who accepted a position with 3D Realms [ [http://www.whatthehal.com/ What the Hal ] ] and quality assurance manager Michael Russell who accepted a position with Meeting Professionals International. [ [http://ritualistic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18779 Michael Russell Leaves The Tribe - Ritualistic Forums ] ] Several months after the acquisition, community relations manager Steve Hessel left the company to join Splash Damage. [ [http://www.ritualistic.com/newsarticle.php?id=1840 RITUALISTIC || Ritual Entertainment's Online Community Hub ] ]

Prior to the announcement, on December 6, 2006, Ritual announced the appointment of Ken Harward as the company's new studio director [ [http://ritualistic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18781 Ritual Apparently Not Exploded, Announces New Studio Director - Ritualistic Forums ] ]

Games developed by Ritual Entertainment

*"" (1. expansion pack) — (1997) (PC) developed as Hipnotic Interactive
*"SiN" — (1998) (PC (Windows and Linux), Linux on PowerPC) both Linux versions ported by Hyperion Entertainment
*"" — (2000) (PC (Windows and Linux), Mac (Mac OS and Mac OS X), Dreamcast) Linux version ported by Loki Software, Mac OS Classic version ported by Contraband Entertainment, Mac OS X version ported by The Omni Group
*"" — (2000) (PC)
*"SiN Gold" (port) — (2000) (Mac) ported by Contraband Entertainment
*"" — (PC) Ritual Entertainment was working on the title in 2002 after Gearbox Software and before Turtle Rock Studios took over in mid-2003
*"" — (2003) (PC)
*"Counter-Strike" (port) — (2003) (Xbox)
*"" (expansion) — (2004) (PC)
*"SiN Episodes: Emergence" — (2006) (PC)

Unreleased

* "" — (PC) "cancelled"
* "SiN II" publisher demo — (2003) (PC) Ritual Entertainment made a game demo to show potential publishers.

References

External links

* [http://www.ritual.com/ Ritual Entertainment]
* [http://www.ritualistic.com/ Ritualistic - Ritual's Online Community Hub]