WAccess Games Inc. is a Japanese company specializing in the planning, development and distribution of video games and the research, development and distribution of software, data and video media. The company was originally founded in 1996 as a computer graphics producer.
WAlvion Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer and publishing company.Alvion Group Alvion is an APP and publishing company.
WAmbrella is a Japanese video game development company that works under a publishing agreement with Nintendo best known for making spin-off games for the Pokémon video game franchise, particularly the Pokémon Rumble series. Ambrella was formerly a part of Marigul Management.
WAmuze was a video game studio located in Solna, Sweden. The studio was founded in 1996 by John Kroknes and Stefan Holmqvist. Amuze is best known for developing the game Headhunter and its sequel Headhunter Redemption.
WAspyr Media, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Originally founded to bring top gaming titles to Mac OS, the company, since 2005, has become a publisher and developer of entertainment for multiple gaming platforms.
WBlack Isle Studios was a division of the developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment that developed role-playing video games. It published several games from other developers.
WBottle Rocket, Inc. was a leading developer of Web-based casual games and advergames from 1996 until 2000, when the company was acquired by ACTV, a technical and creative interactive television services company later acquired by OpenTV. Based in New York City, the company created more than 40 licensed trivia, prediction, simulation, arcade-style and multiplayer game formats played by more than 600,000 registered users, and specialized in sports-related content.
WCareer Soft was a Japanese video game development studio founded in June 1996 by Team Career, a team within the Masaya Games, which was formed to develop Langrisser and Langrisser II. Career Soft continued to work with Masaya Games for the development of Langrisser III, Langrisser IV and Langrisser V.
WCyberConnect2 Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game development studio mostly known for its work on the .hack series, along with a series of fighting games based on the Naruto franchise. They are also known for creating the Little Tail Bronx series. In 2016, they expanded their workforce into the international market by opening a studio in Montreal, Canada.
WDigital Anvil was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas.
WDreamCatcher Interactive Inc. was a Canadian video game publisher founded in 1996 by Richard Wah Kan. In 2006, the company became a subsidiary of JoWooD Entertainment. In 2011, the company went into administration along with its parent JoWooD and all assets were purchased by Nordic Games Holding. The DreamCatcher Interactive brand is currently being used as a publishing label for THQ Nordic.
WFactor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name.
WFeral Interactive is a video games developer and publisher for macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch platforms. It was founded in 1996 and is based in London, UK. Feral Interactive works with publishers such as Square Enix, 2K Games, Sega, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Codemasters. Feral develops and publishes ports of its partners' popular games, including the Total War and Batman: Arkham series, Tomb Raider and XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
WFiraxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meier's earlier venture. They were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in August 2005, and subsequently became part of the publisher's 2K label. Firaxis Games is best known for developing the Civilization and XCOM series, as well as many other games bearing Meier's name.
WFOG Inc. is a Japanese video game developer based in Machida, Tokyo, and a subsidiary of Nippon Ichi Software. The company was founded on December 2, 1996. FOG is best known for developing visual novels.
WFull Fat is an independent British video game developer. The company was founded in 1996. The company's speciality has been developing games for hand-held devices including Nintendo's Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP), and lately mobile devices. Other platforms include Sega's Dreamcast, Nintendo's Wii, and Microsoft Windows. Originally based in Leamington Spa, the company moved to Coventry in 2001 and Warwick in 2011
WFuture Games was a video game company based in Beroun, Czech Republic. The company focused mostly on adventure games. The studio was closed in 2011 due to financial problems after release of Alter Ego.
WInnerloop Studios was a Norwegian video game developer operating from 1996 to 2003. The company was founded as Innerloop Technologies in May 1996 by a group of ex-employees of the Oslo-based video game company Funcom. After entering into a partnership with the video game developer and publisher Eidos Interactive, Innerloop merged with DiMaga Studios in 1997 and changed its name to Innerloop Studios to reflect the merger. In the fall of 2000, Swedish electronic entertainment company Vision Park acquired the studio. In 2002, Innerloop once again became an independent company before shutting its doors in June 2003. The company was unable to make funds to create future titles, so they finally decided to shut down the studio.
WIon Storm, L.P. was an American video game developer founded by video game industry veterans John Romero and Tom Hall, both formerly of id Software. Despite an impressive pedigree and high expectations, the company only produced one commercial and critical success, 2000's Deus Ex.
WLarian Studios is a Belgian video game developer and publisher founded in 1996 by Swen Vincke. It focuses on developing role-playing video games and has previously worked on educational games and a number of casino games. It is most known for developing the Divinity series.
WCat Daddy Games is an American video game developer and a studio of 2K based in Kirkland, Washington. It was founded in the Seattle area by Ryan Haveson, Harley Howe, and Patrick Wilkinson after leaving Microsoft's games division in March 1996. During their time at Microsoft, they compiled a list of features they wanted to see in a game, and upon forming Cat Daddy Games, started developing Demon Isle, an action-adventure game. In Q2 2003, Cat Daddy Games was acquired by Take-Two Interactive and became an internal development studio for Take-Two's Global Star Software label. On September 10, 2007, Take-Two Interactive announced the opening of 2K Play, a new sub-label for its 2K division, which consumed all assets of Global Star Software, including Cat Daddy Games.
WMarigul was a Japanese corporation created and jointly owned by video game company Nintendo Co., Ltd. (40%) and media company Recruit (60%). Its name is a combination of Nintendo's mascot Mario and Recruit's mascot Seegul.
WMattel Interactive was a video game publisher and software distributor.
WMidway Studios – Newcastle Limited was a British video game developer based in Gateshead, England.
WMonster Games, Inc. is an American independent video game developer in Northfield, Minnesota, United States that specializes in racing games and ports in action, platforms and action role-playing games. The company was founded in 1996.
WMTO Co., Ltd. (エム・ティー・オー株式会社) is a Yokohama-based video game developer and publisher founded on May 28, 1996. The company is mostly known for the GT series of racing games that it has released and the more recent pet games such as Dogz and Catz.
WNintendo Research & Engineering Department, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo RED, was the hardware development department responsible for developing all of Nintendo's major handheld game consoles, and its associated peripherals, from its inception in 1996 all the way to 2012, when it was disbanded. The department was under Nintendo's manufacturing division, and was led by Satoru Okada. The department was created in 1996 following Nintendo Research & Development 1's (R&D1) general manager and Game & Watch and Game Boy creator, Gunpei Yokoi's departure from Nintendo. Most of the department's team originate from R&D1's hardware engineers.
WNival is a Russian video game developer and publisher founded by Sergey Orlovskiy in 1996. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, with development offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia.
WNOISE Inc. is a Japanese video game development company that works in partnership with Nintendo, developing games for the Custom Robo series.
WParam was a video game development company that worked in partnership with Nintendo. Param was a part of Marigul Management. Param was defunct as Marigul was liquidated in May 2003.
WParroty Interactive was an American video game developer based in Larkspur, California, which acted as a division of publisher Palladium Interactive, Inc.
WPoint of View, Inc. was a privately held developer of video games headquartered in Irvine, California. The company was dissolved in 2010.
WPyro Mobile was a video game developer based in Madrid, Spain, established in 2012 as a merger between Play Wireless and Pyro Studios and eventually ceasing operations in the second half of 2017. It is mostly known for its real-time tactics games series, Commandos.
WRed Storm Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and studio of Ubisoft based in Cary, North Carolina. Founded in November 1996 between author Tom Clancy, manager Doug Littlejohns, and software development company Virtus Corporation, Red Storm develops games in the Tom Clancy's franchise. Ubisoft acquired the studio in August 2000.
WRitual Entertainment was a video game developer established in 1996 by Robert Atkins, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dosé, Richard 'Levelord' Gray, Michael Hadwin, Harry Miller, and Tom Mustaine. Based in Dallas, Texas, Ritual Entertainment was formerly known as Hipnotic Interactive, during which period they began development of their signature video game SiN.
WRunning with Scissors (RWS) is an American video game developer based in Tucson, Arizona. It was founded in 1996 by Vince Desi through a business decision of Riedel Software Productions, a maker of child-friendly games. RWS created and maintains the Postal franchise, which has often caused controversy for its use of violence. RWS' first game was Postal in 1997, which caused much controversy and a trademark lawsuit from the United States Postal Service, which was dismissed in 2003. A potential second game, Flesh and Wire, was canceled in 1999. The company followed up Postal with Postal 2 in 2003. The third game in the series, Postal III, was co-developed by RWS and an internal team of publisher Akella to poor results, and RWS has distanced itself from the game. RWS' most recent game is Postal 4: No Regerts, which is in early access on Steam.
WSouthPeak Interactive Corporation, doing business as SouthPeak Games, was an American video game publisher based in Midlothian, Virginia. Founded on March 1, 1996, as a subsidiary of SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina, it was sold and moved to Midlothian, Virginia in 2000, and became a public company in 2008. Also in 2008, the company acquired and closed Austin, Texas-based publisher Gamecock Media Group, and opened a separate digital distribution subsidiary 7Sixty in Grapevine, Texas in 2011. SouthPeak Games quietly disappeared from the public eye in July 2013.
WValve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution platform Steam and the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota series.