Surreal Software
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder | Stuart Denman, Mike Nichols, Alan Patmore, Nick Radovich |
| Fate | Merged into Monolith Productions |
| Headquarters | Kirkland, Washington , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Stuart Denman (former CTO), Alan Patmore (former CEO and Creative Director), Nick Radovich (former CFO), Mike Nichols (former Art Director) |
| Products | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Suffering, Drakan series |
Number of employees | 130+ |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
Surreal Software was a United States-based video game developer headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, operating as a division of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The studio gained recognition for games including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Suffering, and the Drakan franchise. Employing more than 130 professionals encompassing designers, artists, and programmers, Surreal was acquired by Warner Bros. Games amid Midway Games' bankruptcy proceedings in July 2009. After workforce reductions in January 2011, the remaining personnel were consolidated into Warner Bros.’ Kirkland location alongside teams from Monolith and Snowblind.
The studio’s last undertaking was This Is Vegas, intended for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows. Early reports about this project emerged in February 2008.
History
Established in 1995 by Stuart Denman, Mike Nichols, Alan Patmore, and Nick Radovich, Surreal started as an independent entity located in Seattle’s Queen Anne district. The founders brought varied expertise: Radovich came from real estate, Patmore had experience in wireless technology, Nichols was associated with Boss Studios, and Denman had interned at Microsoft.
Surreal’s initial contract involved collaboration with children’s game creator Humongous, which led to the development of the Riot Engine in 1996. The company earned critical praise with the 1999 launch of Drakan: Order of the Flame followed by its sequel Drakan: The Ancients' Gates in 2002; both titles achieved sales exceeding 250,000 copies. Growing to include two development teams, Surreal released The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2002, which surpassed 1.8 million units sold.
In March 2004, Surreal introduced The Suffering, an original action-horror game set on an island penitentiary featuring creature designs by Stan Winston. Its success prompted a sequel, The Suffering: Ties That Bind, released in 2005. That same year marked Surreal’s acquisition by Midway Games as an internal development studio. In 2006, the company moved to a waterfront facility on Elliott Avenue near Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park. Following Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s acquisition of Midway assets in 2009, Surreal was integrated into Monolith Productions by 2010.
Founders
Prior to merging with Monolith, all founding members had exited the company.
- Stuart Denman – Chief Technology Officer
- Alan Patmore – Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director
- Nick Radovich – Chief Financial Officer
- Mike Nichols – Art Director
List of games
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PC | Console | ||
| 1999 | Drakan: Order of the Flame | Microsoft Windows | — |
| 2002 | Drakan: The Ancients' Gates | — | PlayStation 2 |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Microsoft Windows | |
| 2004 | The Suffering | PlayStation 2, Xbox | |
| 2005 | The Suffering: Ties That Bind | ||
Canceled
- Gunslinger
- The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard
- This Is Vegas