Digital Extremes

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**Digital Extremes** is a Canadian video game developer founded in 1993 by James Schmalz. They are best known for creating *Warframe*, a free-to-play cooperative online action game, and co-creating Epic Games' *Unreal* series of games. Digital Extremes is headquartered in London, Ontario. In 2014, 61% of the company was sold to Chinese holding company Multi Dynamic, now Leyou, for $73 million. President Michael Schmalz and two partners retained 39% of Digital Extremes, and will continue to manage it. On May 22, 2016 Leyou exercised a call option and now owns 97% of Digital Extremes for a total consideration of $138.2 million US.

## History

Founder James Schmalz 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-'90s toward realistic 3D graphics, Schmalz founded Digital Extremes in 1993 and the company began co-development with Epic on what would become Epic's *Unreal* franchise.

*Unreal* is a first-person shooter, released in 1998, and was followed up with *Unreal Tournament* in 1999, which received numerous industry awards. Subsequent sequels in the *Unreal* franchise include *Unreal Championship*, *Unreal Tournament 2003*, and *Unreal Tournament 2004*. The *Unreal* series has sold more than 15 million units worldwide across a multitude of game platforms including PlayStation 2, Dreamcast, Xbox, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac and PC.

After years of working in the same universe with *Unreal*, Digital Extremes broadened its library and technology with development of its original intellectual property, *Dark Sector*. A third-person shooter released in 2008 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, *Dark Sector* used Digital Extremes' proprietary game engine, the Evolution Engine.

Digital Extremes worked with 2K to develop the comic-book franchise video game sequel, *The Darkness II*, which met with positive reviews. Digital Extremes developed the PlayStation 3 version of *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*.

Digital Extremes developed the game for the *Star Trek Into Darkness* film, working with Bandai Namco and Paramount to develop *Star Trek*, which was very poorly received.

On October 14, 2014, Sumpo Food Holdings Ltd. acquired a majority share of Digital Extremes, with Perfect World Co. acquiring minority shares.

In 2016, it was revealed that Digital Extremes' game *Warframe* had been hacked, exposing the email addresses of more than 700,000 players. On October 6, 2017, Digital Extremes announced it would open a development studio in Toronto, Canada, set to begin operations the following month.

## Projects

Digital Extremes started development of *Warframe*, a free-to-play title, in 2000. Digital Extremes launched *Warframe* on PC in March 2013, PlayStation 4 in November 2013, and on Xbox One in September 2014. At TennoCon 2018, Digital Extremes announced it would bring *Warframe* to Nintendo Switch. The company released Warframe on Nintendo Switch on November 20, 2018. Digital Extremes continues to refresh this games-as-a-service title on a regular basis with updates including "Plains of Eidolon" (October 2017), "The Sacrifice" (June 2018), "Fortuna" (November 2018), the Nightwave series (February 2019), "The Jovian Concord" (May 2019), "Empyrean" (Christmas 2019), and the upcoming "The New War" expansion, publishing date pending.

Digital Extremes worked with developer n-Space to develop the fantasy role-playing video game, *Sword Coast Legends*, set within the *Dungeon and Dragons* franchise.

Digital Extremes worked with Madison, Wisconsin-based developer Human Head Studios to publish and develop *Survived By*, a free-to-play bullet-hell MMO with crafting and role-playing elements. *Survived By* was shut down as of April 19, 2019.

## Technology

 File:Evolution Engine Logo.jpg
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 the engine is currently in use on the free-to-play online title *Warframe*, released on PC in 2013.

## Awards, work environment, and labour disputes

In recent years, *Warframe*'s expansion and popularity has grown, resulting in multiple industry awards. In early 2018, *Warframe* won the People's Voice Webby Award for Best Action Game, and ProMax's Best Marketing Campaign of the Year Award. In late 2017, *Warframe* won the Steam Labor of Love award, an award nominated by Steam's internal team, but voted on by players. The award is described by Steam as: "This game has been out for a while. The team is well past the first unveiling of their creative baby, but being the good parents they are, these devs continue to nurture and support their creation. This game, to this day, is still getting new content after all these years." *Warframe* was nominated in The 2017 and 2018 Game Awards as one of the Best Ongoing Games, losing to *Overwatch* and *Fortnite*, respectively.

In March 2018, Noclip, published the video documentary on the making of *Warframe*. The two-part feature tells the story of how *Warframe* succeeded as an independently developed and published game that changed the course of Digital Extremes.

Digital Extremes' employment environment has been recognized as one of Canada's Top Employers for 2010, 2011, 2012 and through to 2018. 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 10 best companies to work for in Canada.
However, the company has only a 3-star rating on the employer review site Glassdoor, with only 51% of employees saying they would recommend it as a workplace to a friend.
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 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, re-imbursing the employee for unpaid overtime.

## Further reading

* Keighley, Geoff. "Blinded By Reality: The True Story Behind the Creation of Unreal". http://www.gamespot.com/features/makeunreal/.
* Lafferty, Michael. "Digital Extremes moves from the days of shareware programs to set the mark in mainstream gaming". http://www.gamezone.com:80/news/03\_13\_02\_08\_44AM.htm.
* "Made-in-Canada game is Unreal hit". https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/technology/made-in-canada-game-is-unreal-hit/article25697227/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&.
* Kuchera, Ben. "Why didn’t anyone tell me Warframe is now the perfect game?". https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/21/16687590/warframe-perfect-game-for-real?ref=https://www.polygon.com&.
* Kuchera, Ben. "How Warframe built an ethical free-to-play economy". https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/2/16830328/warframe-free-to-play-f2p-platinum?ref=https://www.polygon.com&.
* Brightman, James. "Warframe dev: Industry must get better at giving players a choice and a voice". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-12-04-warframe-dev-industry-must-get-better-at-giving-players-a-choice-and-a-voice/.
* Sinclair, Brendan. "Redefining community management for games-as-a-service". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-03-28-redefining-community-management-for-games-as-a-service/.
* Fillari, Alessandro. "There's No Other Game Like Warframe On The Switch". https://www.gamespot.com/videos/theres-no-other-game-like-warframe-on-the-switch/2300-6447323/.
* Marks, Tom. "Warframe Review - 2018". https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/11/20/warframe-review-3/.
* Senior, Tom. "From Epic Pinball to Warframe: 25 years of Digital Extremes". https://www.pcgamer.com/from-epic-pinball-to-warframe-25-years-of-digital-extremes/.
* Mahardy, Mike. "You Should be Playing Warframe". https://www.gamespot.com/videos/you-should-be-playing-warframe/2300-6448956/.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Digital Extremes expands to Toronto". http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-10-06-digital-extremes-expands-to-toronto.
2. ↑ "GamesBeat Boss interview: China’s Leyou moves from chicken meat to triple-A game publishing" (in en-US), *VentureBeat* (2017-09-02).
3. ↑ "London's Digital Extremes sold to Multi Dynamic Games Group", The London Free Press (October 15, 2014). Retrieved on February 16, 2016.
4. ↑ "HKSE-Listed Leyou Technologies Acquires Balance of Digital Extremes from Founders | Bennett Jones". https://www.bennettjones.com/Mandates-Section/HKSE-Listed-Leyou-Technologies-Acquires-Balance-of-Digital-Extremes-from-Founders.
5. ↑ RGB Classic Games. "Epic Pinball". RGB Classic Games. http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Epic\_Pinball.html.
6. ↑ David Jenkins (August 20, 2007). "Digital Extremes Weighs In On Unreal Engine 3 for PS3". Gamasutra.com. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news\_index.php?story=15168. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
7. ↑ "GT Interactive and Epic Games Earn Coveted 'Game of the Year' Honors for 'Unreal Tournament'", Business Wire (February 17, 2000), pp. 1261.
8. ↑ "PC Gamer review". https://www.pcgamer.com/the-darkness-2-review/.
9. ↑ "Giant Bomb review". https://www.giantbomb.com/reviews/the-darkness-ii-review/1900-461/.
10. ↑ "EGM Review". http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/egm-review-the-darkness-ii/.
11. ↑ "Quarter to Three Review". https://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2012/02/28/in-the-grip-of-the-darkness-ii/.
12. ↑ Mike Bendel (June 8, 2008). "Digital Extremes To Assist In BioShock PS3 Development". exophase.com. http://exophase.com/6192/digital-extremes-to-assist-in-bioshock-ps3-development/. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
13. ↑ Jaz McDougall (August 18, 2010). "Homefront PC port has dedicated servers". pcgamer.com. http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/18/homefront-pc-port-has-dedicated-servers/. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
14. ↑ "Star Trek director J.J. Abrams 'emotionally hurt' by Star Trek: The Video Game". https://www.polygon.com/2013/9/13/4726170/star-trek-director-j-j-abrams-emotionally-hurt-by-star-trek-the-video.
15. ↑ Digital Extremes (October 14, 2014). "In-Depth: Partnership Announced". https://warframe.com/news/partnership-announced.
16. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (October 15, 2014). "Unreal, BioShock Dev Digital Extremes Sold to Chinese Companies". *GameSpot*. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamespot.com/articles/unreal-bioshock-dev-digital-extremes-sold-to-chine/1100-6422976/. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
17. ↑ Futter, Mike (October 16, 2014). "Digital Extremes: No Changes To Leadership Following Majority Acquisition By Chinese Firms". *Game Informer*. GameStop. http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/10/16/two-chinese-companies-acquire-majority-of-warframe-dev-digital-extremes.aspx. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
18. ↑ "Digital Extremes admits Warframe hack". http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-07-23-digital-extremes-admits-warframe-hack.
19. ↑ Jared Petty (February 13, 2015). "New Dungeons & Dragons Game Sword Coast Legends coming in 2015". *IGN*. http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/02/12/new-dungeons-dragons-game-storm-coast-legends-coming-in-2015. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
20. ↑ "Survived By: A MESSAGE TO OUR PLAYERS". March 19, 2019. https://www.survivedby.com/news/a-message-to-our-players. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
21. ↑ Mark DeLoura (March 9, 2010). "In-Depth: The State Of Game Engines At GDC 2010". gamasutra.com. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27568/InDepth\_The\_State\_Of\_Game\_Engines\_At\_GDC\_2010.php. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
22. ↑ Kranzl, Justin. "Preview: The Darkness II". Stuff.co.nz. http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/4967002/Preview-The-Darkness-II. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
23. ↑ "Warframe | The Webby Awards" (in en-US).
24. ↑ "Best Marketing Campaign of the Year". http://promaxpd.edgesuite.net/mm/flvmedia/1786/o/q/7/oq73h126\_cui60y3w\_h264\_1676K.mp4?cid=1786&aid=3524314&afid=7451861&assetid=3524314.
25. ↑ "The Steam Awards" (in en). https://store.steampowered.com/SteamAwards/2017/.
26. ↑ "Awards - The Game Awards" (in en-US), *The Game Awards*.
27. ↑ Template:Citation
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29. ↑ Canada's Top 100 (October 7, 2011). "Canada's Top 100 Employers: National Competition". Canadastop100.com. http://www.canadastop100.com/national/. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
30. ↑ "Top Employer: Digital Extremes Ltd.". https://content.eluta.ca/top-employer-digital-extremes.
31. ↑ Canada's Top 100 (September 19, 2011). "Canada's Top 100 Employers for Young People". Canadastop100.com. http://www.canadastop100.com/young\_people/. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
32. ↑ Canada's Top 100 (February 1, 2011). "Financial Post's Ten Best Companies To Work For". Canadastop100.com. http://www.canadastop100.com/fp10/. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
33. ↑ "Working at Digital Extremes". https://www.glassdoor.ca/Overview/Working-at-Digital-Extremes-EI\_IE238612.11,27.htm.
34. ↑ Jody Lundrigan (September 16, 2010). "Twelve Ontario Businesses Named Winners of Business and Export Excellence". Ontario Chamber of Commerce. http://occ.on.ca/2010/twelve-ontario-businesses-named-winners-of-business-and-export-excellence/. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
35. ↑ London Chamber of Commerce. "Business Achievement Awards – Business of the Year Hall of Fame". http://www.londonchamber.com/events/business\_achievement\_awards/.
36. ↑ London Free Press. "Celebrating City's Best". https://lfpress.com/news/london/2012/03/21/19533386.html/.
37. ↑ Ontario Ministry of Labour. "Ontario Ministry of Labour Employment Standards Ruling". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giles\_Whitaker\_vs\_Digital\_Extremes\_Ruling\_2011.pdf.

## External links

* Template:Official website

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