Liquid Entertainment
Liquid Entertainment was an American independent video game developer based in Pasadena, California. The studio was founded in April 1999 by Ed Del Castillo and Mike Grayford. History. Liquid Entertainment was founded in April 1999 by Ed Del Castillo and Mike Grayford. Liquid's first game was "Battle Realms", published by Crave Entertainment in November 2001 to critical acclaim. "Battle Realms" is a real-time strategy PC game for Windows that features an unconventional approach to resource management and unit development. It was well received by reviewers, many of whom praised its at-the-time state of the  art 3D engine and East Asian-inspired setting and aesthetics but sale numbers were disappointing. It was also chosen for Computer Gaming World's Top 10 Games of E3 2001. "Battle Realms" was followed up with a stand-alone expansion pack, "" in April 2002. "Winter of the Wolf" was received with enthusiasm by the "Battle Realms" by the gaming community; some reviewers compared it favorably to 2002's blockbuster real-time strategy titles "Warcraft III" and "Age of Mythology". Since the release of "Winter of the Wolf", Liquid has developed two real-time strategy PC games based on intellectual property  licenses: In November 2003, Sierra released "", based on Vivendi Universal's license to Tolkien's literary works, and in October 2005 Atari published the Dungeons & Dragons PC game "Dragonshard". "Dragonshard" has since been re-released on GOG.com. In October 2006, Buena Vista Games released "", a life simulation computer game adaptation of the popular television series "Desperate Housewives". "Desperate Housewives: The Game" won "PC Gamer" Adventure Game of the Year for 2007. Liquid's next game "Rise of the Argonauts", released in December 2008 and published by Codemasters, is a Greek mythology-themed action role-playing game for "Windows", "PlayStation 3  and Xbox 360" that was well received for its technical merits, art direction and gameplay. In 2011 Sega published Liquid's second console game for Xbox 360 and PS3 "" that coincided with Marvel Studios's release of the film "Thor" in May 2011. In 2012 Liquid pivoted into developing casual games for Facebook. They did some contract work on "InstantJam", a music rhythm game for Facebook, "Deadline Hollywood: Game" based on the popular Hollywood news blog "Deadline Hollywood" by Nikki Finke and Paramount Digital Entertainment for Facebook and iOS and "Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter", a turn-based strategy  game published by Atari on Facebook. Later in 2013 and 2014 they continued their pivot into mobile games with titles like "Karateka" (console and mobile), "Cuddle Pets", "Paper Galaxy", and "Max Steel". By the end of 2014, Ed decided to downsize Liquid to its current position as a holding company and consultancy; selling off some of its holdings, licensing some of its technology, and keep the rest for future opportunities. Liquid currently manages a number of properties that are available online and published "Battle Realms:Zen Edition" as Early Access on Steam.