Snowblind games bought by Warner Bros. Entertainment

Published 2:36 pm Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Although the current economic slump has affected most industries to some extent, a notable exception seems to be an exception.

While not entirely recession-proof, the electronic game industry is holding up quite well, even expanding.

A prime example is the recent acquisition of Bothell-based Snowblind Studios by Time Warner, through its Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment division, in late January.

The award-winning independent development studio is known for action RPGs playable on popular platforms such as Playstation 2 and Xbox.

Snowblind’s titles include Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest and, more recently, Death Tank. It was inevitable that their success would soon attract the attention of corporate giants.

Warner Bros.’ bid was welcomed by the small studio, which often had to temper its past projects with budget considerations.

The resources of the Warner empire are sure to be beneficial for this creative team in the future.

The acquisition is a good corporate move for Warner Bros. as well. Snowblind Studios is no new kid on the block. The company was found in 1997 by Ryan Geithman and Bryan Sostrom.

Corporate dreams come true

“We had worked at various companies together,” Geithman said. “We wanted to strike out on our own for various reasons. At our previous company, we weren’t really doing the style of games we liked and we both had the urge to be masters of our own ship so to speak.”

Geithman was a programmer and passionate game player that had dreamt of his own game company since the fourth grade. Sostrom was an art director. Together, they gathered a team of six people with similar goals. All they needed was a name.

“Snowblind was a song on a Black Sabbath CD and it seemed like a cool name at the time,” Geithman said. “It was the least juvenile thing we could come up with. We wanted to pick something that we didn’t regret if the company grew to a large size.”

The company did grow. Eventually it boasted over 80 employees. In 2008, Geithman began seriously considering seeking a big buyer for the firm in order to concentrate more on creating amazing games and less on how to organize the resources to make that possible.

Warner Bros. heard a whisper that Snowblind might be available and began to put out some feelers. By late January 2009, the deal was agreed to everyone’s satisfaction and was completed by February.

“The acquisition of Snowblind is an important milestone for our games business, allowing us to expand our development capabilities even further,” said Martin Tremblay, president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “We are proud to be associated with such a talented team that is focused on executing innovative and captivating game designs.”

Corporate dreams come true

Snowblind Studios is the third small development studio to join up with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Kirkland-based

Monolith Productions was purchased in 2004 while British TT Games came on board in 2007. Each small company brought with it award-winning titles and a talented design team.

“The benefit of being part of Warner Bros. is that they are committed to growing their video game presence,” Geithman said. “Where many other publishers are scaling back, WB is doing the opposite.”

Geithman also said that he anticipates being able to work on the best products that Snowblind has ever created.

What those projects might be is a closely guarded secret but it is no secret that a multitude of fans are eagerly awaiting the next action RPG title from this local firm.

To learn more about Snowblind Studios, visit www.snowblindstudios.com.