Certain Affinity

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**Certain Affinity** is an American video game development studio based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2006 by Max Hoberman and a small number of other ex-Bungie employees and other industry veterans.

## History

Certain Affinity's creation was announced in December 2006. The studio was founded by ex-Bungie employee Max Hoberman. In addition to staff from Bungie, it also includes ex-members of companies such as Microsoft, Red Storm, Origin, Electronic Arts, Digital Anvil, NCSoft, and the now-defunct Midway Austin.

The studio's first work was in creating two additional multiplayer levels for the popular Xbox game *Halo 2*. These maps, called "Tombstone" and "Desolation" (which comprised the "Blastacular Map Pack") were the last *Halo 2* maps to be released; they are remakes of levels from the original *Halo*, called "Hang 'Em High" and "Derelict" respectively. They were released for *Halo 2* on the Xbox Live on April 17, 2007. These maps were not released for *Halo 2* Vista, but were replaced with two new maps exclusive to *Halo 2* Vista: "District" and "Uplift". Certain Affinity worked closely with members of Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios during the development of these two maps.Template:Citation needed

Certain Affinity started working on another project in November 2006, which was revealed to be an unannounced original IP game in the action role-playing game genre. The game's title, platform, and release date have not yet been announced. However, Certain Affinity stated in an interview that it had "spoken with most of the major publishers and there’s serious interest, so our goal is to continue self-funding the company until we're ready to sign a publishing deal and move everyone full time onto this project."Template:Citation needed

Certain Affinity's first original game was *Age of Booty*, a downloadable real-time strategy game released on Steam, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The title was published by Capcom on October 15, 2008.

Certain Affinity created *Call of Duty: World at War* multiplayer maps for the retail release as well as maps for the 2nd downloadable map pack.Template:Citation needed

The company helped Valve port *Left 4 Dead* to the Xbox 360.

In 2009, the company announced the completion of Halo Waypoint, developed in conjunction with 343 Industries.

In 2010, Certain Affinity collaborated on maps and game modes with Treyarch and Activision for *Call of Duty: Black Ops* and First Strike Map Pack 1.Template:Citation needed

The company worked on the "Defiant Map Pack" for *Halo: Reach*, released on March 15, 2011.

The company announced its new game, due to release in summer 2011, called *Crimson Alliance*, at RTX 2011.

Certain Affinity also partnered with 343 Industries again for the development of *Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary*, which was released exclusively for Xbox 360 on November 15, 2011.

At RTX 2012, Certain Affinity announced that the studio was working with 343 Industries again on developing the Forge map-making tools for *Halo 4*.

At RTX 2014, Certain Affinity showed off their involvement in *Halo: The Master Chief Collection* with the reveal of one of the six remade Halo 2 maps, Coagulation, along with a new vehicle, the Gungoose.

In 2017, Leyou Tech invested $10 million in Certain Affinity to develop an original game.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Certain Affinity Company Profile". http://www.certainaffinity.com/company/.
2. ↑ "Certain Affinity about page". http://www.certainaffinity.com/about.htm.
3. ↑ "Certain affinity Maps revealed". http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=certainaffinitymaps.
4. ↑ "Mapmakers to the Stars". http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=certainaffinityinterview.
5. ↑ Faylor, Chris (March 4, 2008). "Certain Affinity Making Pimps at Sea, Sorta". *Shacknews*. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/51613. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
6. ↑ "Age of Booty Release Date". http://www.certainaffinity.com/news.htm.
7. ↑ "Cat Outta The Bag". http://www.certainaffinity.com/2008/02/04/cat-outta-the-bag/.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 11, 2012). "Meet Certain Affinity, the Halo 4 Developer You've Never Heard Of". http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-09-meet-certain-affinity-the-halo-4-developer-youve-never-heard-of. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
9. ↑ "Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack Announced!". http://www.certainaffinity.com/2011/02/14/halo-reach-defiant-map-pack-announced/.
10. ↑ "Crimson Alliance Announced". http://www.certainaffinity.com/2011/05/27/crimson-alliance-announced/.
11. ↑ "Current website for Crimson Alliance". http://www.crimsonalliance.com/.
12. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (July 8, 2012). "Halo 4's Forge Mode Developed By Certain Affinity". Game Informer. http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/07/08/halo-4-39-s-forge-mode-being-developed-by-certain-affinity.aspx. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
13. ↑ Xbox Wire Staff. "343 Shows Off Returning Favorites and New Additions for Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Xbox. http://news.xbox.com/2014/07/games-rtx-halo-recap. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
14. ↑ "Austin Game Maker Certain Affinity Lands $10 Million Investment from Hong Kong Firm - SiliconHills" (in en-US), *SiliconHills* (2017-10-17).