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Feature: 'Interview - Ritual's Robert Atkins on Console Life, PC Death'

In today's main Gamasutra feature, Howard Wen talks to Ritual Entertainment's president and art director Robert Atkins about his company's history, its current projects (...

Simon Carless, Blogger

June 30, 2005

1 Min Read
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In today's main Gamasutra feature, Howard Wen talks to Ritual Entertainment's president and art director Robert Atkins about his company's history, its current projects (including work on the multiplayer portions of the currently controversial 25 To Life for Eidos), and his views on the future of video game development. As Wen's introduction explains: "'Hired guns' is a more than apt job title for Ritual Entertainment. For nearly ten years, the Dallas, Texas-based developer has built a rep as being the go-to guys when a game needs to ratchet up its multiplayer, or to otherwise add such a gameplay feature. FPSes and third-person shooters are the company's specialty. Ritual has worked alongside other developers on action titles that include 007: Agent Under Fire, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Legacy of Kain: Defiance and American McGee's Alice, yet has also wholly produced its own share of games: Star Trek: Elite Force II, Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2, and the Xbox version of Counter-Strike... Over the past couple of years, the company, which steadily employs about 40 people at any given time, has shifted focus into development for the game consoles; it is where the real money is to be made, after all. As of this writing, Ritual is working with Avalanche Software on 25 To Life, an urban-themed, "cops-'n'-gangstas" action title with gameplay that is being likened as a cross between SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs and Grand Theft Auto III." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).

About the Author

Simon Carless

Blogger

Simon Carless is the founder of the GameDiscoverCo agency and creator of the popular GameDiscoverCo game discoverability newsletter. He consults with a number of PC/console publishers and developers, and was previously most known for his role helping to shape the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Conference for many years.

He is also an investor and advisor to UK indie game publisher No More Robots (Descenders, Hypnospace Outlaw), a previous publisher and editor-in-chief at both Gamasutra and Game Developer magazine, and sits on the board of the Video Game History Foundation.

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