Digital Extremes is a Canadian computer and video game developer founded in 1993 by James
Schmalz, best known for its co-creation of Epic Games' highly successful Unreal series
of games.
Digital Extremes is headquartered in London, Ontario.
History Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital
Extremes is a Canadian game development studio.
Founder James Schmalz began developing games at the age of 12, creating an Ultima clone
called Sorcery on an Apple IIe computer.
From there, he continued dabbling with game development through his University years at
University of Waterloo.
Upon graduation, left with a choice between a full-time paid engineering position and
the option of self-employed game developer, Schmalz chose the latter and created Epic
Pinball, published by then shareware publisher, Epic Megagames.
Bolstered from the success of Epic Pinball and the rising technology movement in the
mid-90's toward realistic 3D graphics, Schmalz officially founded Digital Extremes and the
company began co-development with Epic Games on what would become Epic Games' Unreal franchise.
Unreal was a first-person shooter created in 1998, and was followed up with Unreal Tournament
in 1999.
Both received many editorial and industry awards including Game of the Year.
Subsequent sequels in the Unreal franchise, included Unreal Championship, Unreal Tournament
2003, and Unreal Tournament 2004.
To date, the Unreal series has sold more than 15 million units worldwide across a multitude
of gaming platforms including PlayStation 2, Dreamcast, Xbox, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,
Mac and PC.
Several of the game's iterations are currently available for download on Steam.
After years of working in the same universe with Unreal, Digital Extremes broadened its
library and technology with development of its original IP, Dark Sector.
A third-person shooter, released in 2008 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, Dark Sector
used Digital Extremes' proprietary game engine, Evolution.
Following Dark Sector, Digital Extremes continued expansion in response to the growth in the
industry and the need to stay competitive through the next-generation console transition.
In recent years, Digital Extremes has assisted 2K with the PS3 version of blockbuster hit,
Bioshock, as well as developed the multiplayer component of the sequel, Bioshock 2 while
simultaneously developing the multiplayer portion of THQ's first-person shooter, Homefront.
The studio finished development on 2K's The Darkness II, based on the popular comic book
series of the same name, in 2012.
The Darkness II launched in North America on February 7, 2012 for PS3, Xbox 360 and
PC, and February 10, 2012, worldwide.
Digital Extremes developed the game for the Star Trek Into Darkness movie, working with
Namco Bandai and Paramount to develop Star Trek the game.
In July 2014, Digital Extremes entered negotiations with two Chinese companies, potentially leading
to an acquisition through Perfect World and Sumpo Food Holdings.
On October 14th, 2014, Sumpo Food Holdings Ltd. acquired majority share of Digital Extremes,
with Perfect World Co. acquiring minority.
Projects Digital Extremes has recently developed Warframe,
a Free-to-play title.
It is set in the same universe as Dark Sector, but very far away in the future.
It is not necessarily a direct sequel though, because many stories can still be told in
the thousands of years setting the two games apart.
Warframe is a free-to-play third-person shooter, placing the players in a position to play
solo or co-op against multiple enemy AIs.
They must take back the Solar System from the Grineer Empire, the Corpus, and other
various enemies.
It is currently in update 14 and is available for download via Steam, their official website,
via PS4 and now XBOX One.
Technology
Evolution is Digital Extremes' proprietary game engine.
The engine made its debut with Dark Sector; and was again utilized in The Darkness II.
2013's Star Trek featured use of the Evolution engine; and is again being used for the free-to-play
online title Warframe.
Awards and recognition Digital Extremes employment environment has
been recognized as one of Canada's Top Employers for 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Additionally, the company has been recognized as one of Canada's top employers for Young
People.
In 2010 and 2011, the Financial Post named Digital Extremes one of the ten best companies
to work for in Canada.
On the provincial level, Digital Extremes received the Ontario Small Business Award
in 2010.
Digital Extremes was also presented with the Large Business of the Year award in 2011 from
the London Chamber of Commerce.
Digital Extremes was also awarded the Excellence in Human Resources award from The London Chamber
of Commerce in early 2012.
In 2011, a Quality Assurance tester filed a claim with the Ontario Ministry of Labour
for alleged working hour violations and unpaid overtime, on the basis that the Quality Assurance
tester position did not fall under an "Information Technology Professional" exemption from working
hour and overtime pay regulations.
The Ministry upheld the claim and Digital Extremes complied with its judgment without
contest.
Games developed See also
Epic Games Unreal series
References
External links Official website