I wavered between a few cities for the next local profile – the finalists were Denver, Madison, Pittsburgh (which made a late push) and Eugene.  I decided on Eugene for a few reasons.  Firstly, I’ve actually been there.    Secondly, I know a few people from the city and local game scene, so I figured they could point out any glaring mistakes or omissions I’ve made.

The Eugene game scene is interesting because it’s not initially obvious WHY there would be a bustling collection of developers in a relatively small northwest college town.  From what I can tell, everything started with Dynamix.  When Sierra shut them down in 2001, the ripple effect led to the creation of several new companies and studios.  It seems that just about all of thse companies have a bit of Dynamix DNA in their make-up, and Eugene appears to have been able to both retain that talent and attract lots of new blood.

On to the list…

Game Studios

• Garage Games – Founded by several members of the Dynamix founding team.  Producers of the Torque Engine, and developers of the Instant Action web-based gaming platform.  Huge supporters of the indie game development community
• PushButton Labs – Started by 2 of the Garage Games (and Dynamix) founders and some other key GG vets, these guys have created a FREE Flash gaming engine called PushButton Engine.  In addition to the engine, they’re also working on their own title, Grunts: Skirmish.  I’ve met a few of the guys on the team, and I’m also a fan of Jeff Tunnell’s blog on making it in the game industry.
• Buzz Monkey – Grabbing this directly from their site:  “The company was founded in 2001 by four senior Dynamix employees — Randy Thompson, Jon Milnes, Steve Cordon, and Barry Drew.”  I actually worked on a game with them, but not at the same time.  The last game I worked on at Tiburon was NFL Street 3, which Buzz Monkey ended up helping on after I left.  That means they ended up with some of my design docs – I’m hoping that’s a good thing, and not a reason for them to hunt me down.
• Pipeworks – A member of the Foundation 9 family of developers.  Looks like they’ve worked with some cool IP over the years – Godzilla, Rampage and Prince of Persia.
• Black Jacket Studios – I’m cheating a bit, because these guys are actually in Portland.  But I’ve met a few of the guys on the team, and I like what they’re up to.  Plus, they relocated from Eugene, so they make the list.  I’ve played an early demo of their game Metal Drift, and it was fun as hell!
• Mad Otter Games – Thanks to James Wiley for making this catch.  Mad Otter is behind the Instant Action title “Ace of Aces.”  Looks like another Dynamix co-founder is behind this studio.  From their site – “The seven Mad Otters have over 103 years of combined game development experience!”  A century of experience behind their games!

Other?

I wasn’t able to find any local game schools or an IGDA chapter – am I just missing them?  It seems odd that a community like Eugene wouldn’t have an IGDA presence, but I couldn’t find it.  If you know of anything I’m leaving out, let me know and I’ll update.