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Gray Matter Studios

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Not to be confused with Gray Matter (company).

Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc.
FormerlyXatrix Entertainment, Inc. (1993–1999)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedMarch 1993; 31 years ago (1993-03)
Founders
  • Drew Markham
  • Barry Dempsey
Defunct2005 (2005)
FateMerged into Treyarch
Headquarters
Los Angeles
,
US
Key people
Drew Markham (creative director)
Number of employees
18–20 (2001)
ParentActivision (2002–2005)

Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. (Gray Matter Studios; formerly Xatrix Entertainment, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles.

History

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Drew Markham and his business partner Barry Dempsey founded Xatrix Entertainment in March 1993. The studio's first release was Cyberia in 1994.[1] Among its later projects was Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning, for which it worked with publisher Activision.[2] Around 1999, some of the original business partners sought to exit the company. To handle this efficiently, Xatrix was transferred to a new corporation under Markham as creative director.[3] With the assistance of Activision, Gray Matter Studios was established on June 17, 1999, and took over most of the former employees.[4][5] Activision initially owned 40% of the studio.[6] It bought the remaining 60% in January 2002, after the successful release of Return to Castle Wolfenstein.[2][7] The publisher paid 133,690 shares of common stock, at the time worth around US$3.2 million.[7] Post-acquisition, the studio was put to work on the Call of Duty: United Offensive expansion.[8] It also worked on Trinity: The Shatter Effect, which was announced and then canceled in late 2003.[9][10] In 2005, during the development of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Gray Matter Studios was merged into Activision's Treyarch studio. As part of Treyarch, the former Gray Matter Studios team worked on Call of Duty 3.[8][11]

Games developed

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As Xatrix Entertainment

[edit]
Year Title
1994 Cyberia
1995 Cyberia 2: Resurrection
1997 Redneck Rampage
1998 Redneck Rampage Rides Again
Redneck Deer Huntin'
Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
1999 Kingpin: Life of Crime

As Gray Matter Studios

[edit]
Year Title
2001 Return to Castle Wolfenstein
2004 Call of Duty: United Offensive

Canceled

[edit]
  • Trinity: The Shatter Effect

References

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  1. ^ "Corporate Profile". Xatrix Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999.
  2. ^ a b "Activision Buys Gray Matter". IGN. January 15, 2002. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Presley, Paul (January 2001). "The World According to... Drew Markham". PC Zone. No. 98. Dennis Publishing. p. 158. Retrieved September 16, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "Story". Gray Matter Studios. Archived from the original on February 5, 2002.
  5. ^ "News". Gray Matter Studios. Archived from the original on November 11, 2001.
  6. ^ "Return to Castle Wolfenstein". PC Player (in German). Future Verlag. April 2000. p. 18. Retrieved September 16, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ a b "Activision Acquires Rest Of Gray Matter Interactive". The Wall Street Journal. January 14, 2022. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Hall, Charlie (May 8, 2018). "Meet the studio behind Call of Duty: Black Ops and Zombies mode". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Bramwell, Tom (November 7, 2003). "Activision cans Trinity and other titles". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Bramwell, Tom (January 23, 2004). "Gray Matter still pulsing". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  11. ^ Peel, Jeremy (February 15, 2021). "How Treyarch escaped Infinity Ward's shadow". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
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