Wargaming Seattle
| Company type | Subsidiary (after 2013) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | May 1998 |
| Founder | Chris Taylor |
| Defunct | July 22, 2018 |
| Fate | Acquired by Wargaming in 2013; closed in 2018 |
| Successor | Wargaming Seattle |
| Headquarters | Redmond, Washington , United States |
Key people | Chris Taylor |
| Products | Dungeon Siege series, Supreme Commander series, Space Siege, Demigod, Age of Empires Online (development) |
Number of employees | 150 (at closure) |
Wargaming Seattle, originally known as Gas Powered Games, was a video game development company situated in Redmond, Washington. Established in May 1998 by Chris Taylor alongside former members of Cavedog Entertainment, the studio became part of Wargaming as its Seattle branch in 2013, before ultimately shutting down in July 2018.
History
Gas Powered Games made its debut with the 2002 release of the 3D role-playing game Dungeon Siege, published under Microsoft Game Studios. The title distinguished itself through a proprietary graphics engine and inventive RPG gameplay, gaining recognition in a competitive market. In 2003, the studio collaborated with Mad Doc Software to produce the standalone expansion Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna. The sequel, Dungeon Siege II, was launched in August 2005. By March 2006, full publishing rights for the Dungeon Siege franchise were acquired by Take-Two Interactive, concluding the partnership with Microsoft.
In February 2007, Gas Powered Games released Supreme Commander, a real-time strategy game published by THQ. Chris Taylor promoted it as a spiritual successor to Total Annihilation. Later that year, in November, the stand-alone expansion Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance became available.
A collaboration with Sega in 2007 led to the development of Space Siege, which launched in August 2008 to mixed critical reception. In January 2008, Gas Powered Games announced Demigod, an action RPG and RTS hybrid influenced by the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients. It was released in April 2009. Subsequently, Gas Powered Games partnered with Square Enix to develop Supreme Commander 2, which debuted on PC and Xbox 360 in March 2010, followed by a Mac version in September.
In February 2011, Gas Powered Games assumed development responsibilities for Age of Empires Online from Robot Entertainment. They also revealed plans for Chris Taylor's Kings and Castles, an RTS built on the Supreme Commander 2 engine; however, this title never reached release prior to the studio’s closure.
By early 2013, support for Age of Empires Online by Gas Powered Games had ended. That January, they initiated a Kickstarter campaign for "Wildman," an evolutionary action RPG project. Shortly thereafter, approximately 40 employees were laid off. The Kickstarter was canceled in February as the company redirected efforts toward other strategies for survival.
Acquisition
Just three days following the cancellation of "Wildman," Wargaming revealed discussions to acquire Gas Powered Games. This acquisition was finalized in February 2013, integrating Gas Powered Games into Wargaming under the name Wargaming Seattle and concluding its independence as a studio.
Dissolution
On May 23, 2018, Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming, announced that Wargaming Seattle would be closed, leading to layoffs affecting around 150 developers. The studio officially ceased operations on July 22, 2018.
GPGnet
GPGnet was Gas Powered Games’ proprietary online platform supporting multiplayer features for titles such as Supreme Commander, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, Dungeon Siege, Dungeon Siege II, and Space Siege.
Games
| Title | Release Year | Supported Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Dungeon Siege | 2002 | Windows, Mac |
| Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna | 2003 | Windows |
| Dungeon Siege II | 2005 | |
| Dungeon Siege II: Broken World | 2006 | |
| Supreme Commander | 2007 | Windows, Xbox 360 |
| Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance | Windows | |
| Space Siege | 2008 | |
| Demigod | 2009 | |
| Supreme Commander 2 | 2010 | Windows, Mac, Xbox 360 |
| Age of Empires Online | 2011 | Windows |
| Kings and Castles | Cancelled | |
| Wildman | Cancelled | PC |