Lobotomy Software

Lobotomy Software, Inc. was an American video game developer founded in 1993 and based in Redmond, Washington. The company ported Quake and Duke Nukem 3D to the Sega Saturn and developed the first-person shooter PowerSlave (titled Exhumed in Europe). Lobotomy Software was acquired by Crave Entertainment in 1998 and renamed to Lobotomy Studios which closed a year later.

Lobotomy Software, Inc.
IndustryVideo games
FoundedJanuary 13, 1993
DefunctApril 27, 1998 (Lobotomy Software)
1999 (Lobotomy Studios)
HeadquartersRedmond, Washington, U.S.
Key people
Paul Lange
Ezra Dreisbach
ProductsPowerSlave
Death Tank

History

Lobotomy Software was founded in 1993, when a group of friends working at Nintendo of America left to form their own company, becoming the creative department of Lobotomy, with the programmers coming from Manley & Associates[1] (a developer acquired by Electronic Arts in 1996, renamed Electronic Arts Seattle, and shut down in 2002). They originally worked out of co-founder Paul Lange's apartment, but after a few months set up an office in Redmond, Washington.[2] The team began working on game demos, one of which later became the first-person shooter PowerSlave.[2]

Shortly after PowerSlave was released, Sega secured the rights from GT Interactive to publish Duke Nukem 3D and Quake. Sega originally handed the projects to two other developers, but were unhappy with their work.[3][4] Deadlines for the two games were set just a few months apart, and as such their development considerably overlapped.[4]

The Saturn ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D both use the SlaveDriver engine Lobotomy created for the console versions of PowerSlave. Lobotomy Software had ported Quake to the Sony PlayStation, but could not find a publisher, which exacerbated their financial troubles.[5]

In 1998, Lobotomy Software was acquired by Crave Entertainment and renamed "Lobotomy Studios." The team worked on a Caesars Palace gambling game for the Nintendo 64, but after a year of development, the game was postponed and eventually cancelled. At that point, Lobotomy Studios was closed and employees were let go or given the option to be relocated to another position at Crave Entertainment. The next title that the team would have worked on was a sequel to PowerSlave simply titled "PowerSlave 2," which was going to be a third-person shooter and use a different game engine.[6]

Games
Original
Ports to Saturn
  • Quake (October 31, 1997)
  • Duke Nukem 3D (October 31, 1997). Includes hidden mini-game Death Tank Zwei.

References
  1. "Death Tank's Ezra Dreisbach". Eurogamer.net. 19 February 2009.
  2. Leadbetter, Rich (December 1996). "Lobotomised!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 14. Emap International Limited. pp. 48–49.
  3. Leadbetter, Richard (February 1997). "1997 Starts with a Bang!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 16. Emap International Limited. p. 17-18.
  4. Leadbetter, Rich (April 1997). "Lobotomy Interviewed! Duke Nukem Plans Revealed!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 18. Emap International Limited. p. 16-17.
  5. gareth (2010-08-06). "Interview with Ezra Dreisbach of Lobotomy Software". Gareth Jones. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  6. "PowerSlave 2 in Development". GameFan. Vol. 5, no. 10. October 1997. p. 100.
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