Hi-Rez Studios

Hi-Rez Studios, Inc.

Type	Privately Held
Industry	Video game industry
Founded	2005
Headquarters	Alpharetta, Georgia, United States
Key people	Erez Goren Todd Harris Stew Chisam Mike Dudgeon
Products	Global Agenda Tribes: Ascend Smite Paladins: Champions of the Realm
Number of employees	200+[1]
Website	hirezstudios.com

Hi-Rez Studios is an independent, privately held video-game developer based in Alpharetta, Georgia, United States. The company was established in 2005 by Erez Goren and Todd Harris, and is now one of the largest video-game studios in the southeast United States. Hi-Rez Studios' games include the squad-based shooter Global Agenda, the critically acclaimed Tribes: Ascend, the third-person MOBA Smite (stylized as SMITE), and the Hero shooter Paladins.^[2] In 2012, Hi-Rez Studios was recognized as a Top 30 Video-Game Developer by Game Developer Magazine and Gamasutra.^[3] Hi-Rez are the current owners of the Metaltech license, including Battledrome, Earthsiege, Starsiege, the Cyberstorm series, and the Tribes Series. The vast majority of the Metaltech series (with the notable exception of Battledrome, and the Cyberstorm games) were recently released as freeware by Hi-Rez.^[4]

About

Erez Goren founded Hi-Rez Studios with Todd Harris in 2005. They hired experienced game developers from other successful titles, including City of Heroes, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Call of Duty.^[1] Today, Hi-Rez Studios employs more than 200 people at its development facility in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta.^[1] They are working hand in hand with Valve.

Games Developed

Global Agenda

Global Agenda is an online team-based game. The game went live on February 1, 2010. In April 2011, Global Agenda became the first free-to-play game released on the Steam platform, introducing Elite and Free Agents and an in-game cash shop featuring Agenda Points.^[5]

Tribes Universe

Tribes Universe was a massively multiplayer online shooter developed by Hi-Rez Studios based on the Tribes series. The game, along with Hi-Rez Studios' Tribes IP acquisition from InstantAction, was first announced on October 23, 2010. While alpha testing was said to begin at the start of 2011, development on Tribes Universe was canceled when Hi-Rez Studios decided to start working on Tribes: Ascend.^[6][7]

Tribes: Ascend

Tribes: Ascend is a free-to-play multiplayer-only first-person shooter and part of the Tribes franchise. It was announced by Hi-Rez Studios on March 11, 2011, at the PAX East, and released on April 12, 2012. Tribes: Ascend earned a metascore of 86, and PC Gamer ranked it at #8 in an article on the Best Shooters of All Time.^[8] Aspects from previous Tribes games such as jetpacks and skiing are featured in the game.^[9]

Hi-Rez Studios representative Todd Harris announced the company's abandonment of the game on July 12, 2013, to community disappointment.^[10]

Smite

Smite is a free-to-play third-person (dubbed 3D Action) MOBA for Microsoft Windows OS X, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Players take on the visage of mythological deities from different pantheons and take part in arena combat, using powers and team tactics against other player-controlled deities and non-player controlled minions. Hi-Rez Studios announced Smite on April 21, 2011, at PAX East, and began its closed beta period in May 31, 2012 for PC. An open beta followed in January 24, 2013. The beta process produced more than 74 million hours of playtime and a large competitive community.^[11] Throughout the beta, Hi-Rez Studios also hosted a series of LAN and online events with cash prize pools.^[12] Smite was officially released in North America and Western Europe on March 25, 2014 for the PC. On August 19, 2015, Hi-Rez Studios released the Xbox One version,^[13] and on May 31, 2016 the PlayStation 4 version was released.^[14]

Paladins: Champions of the Realm

Paladins: Champions of the Realm (Paladins as a shorthand) is a free-to-play online team-based game.You have to pick a champion each with unique abilities to fight.There are four types of groups Damage, Support, Flank and Front Line. In earlier versions, one of the main draws of the game is the card system: as a player progresses through a match, they will randomly draw and select cards from their character's deck to augment their health, damage and abilities.^[15] The current version of the card system permits pre-designed loadouts that provide augments to various abilities and stats, as well as "burn cards" that can be purchased by credits. To get credits you have to play and fight others to earn credits and cards can be upgraded mid-match to provide additional performance bonuses.The game was announced on August 5, 2015. Paladins: Champions of the Realm went into open beta on September 16, 2016, and released on Steam as an early access title the same day.^[16]

Jetpack Fighter

Jetpack Fighter is a free-to-play high speed platformer for mobile. Players swipe to move & attack, or press and hold to do a Super move. After clearing each level of enemy robots the player progresses on a Campaign map and can earn better equipment as well as new Fighters. Players can also challenge other players for Leaderboard position. The game was released first for iOS on January 7, 2016, and Apple editors featured it as a Best New Game. As of July 27, 2016, the game has been released on Android. The game has earned a metascore of 83.^[17]

References

External links

• Official website