InXile Entertainment

History

inXile Entertainment was founded on October 26, 2002, by Brian Fargo in Newport Beach, California.

In an interview with Joystiq, inXile's President Matthew Findley shared some of the company's history: "I worked with Brian Fargo at Interplay for a number of years and we both left Interplay at the same time. We knew we wanted to stay in video games, so starting a company seemed like a good idea -- he spent 20 years at Interplay and I was there for 13. When we were first out there, trying to figure out what to do next, we kinda felt like we were in exile, and we made fake cards with a fake company name just to have a card to go to E3 with. And before we ever thought of the name "inXile", Brian put as his job description on the cards: "Leader in exile." People got such a kick out of that card, we kept saying "in exile, in exile, in exile" so much that we just thought, "Why not make up a new word?" And so we did."

In May 2008, inXile announced the creation of SparkWorkz, an online business division with a focus on user-generated content, using their experience with Line Rider as base for the venture. David Heeley, a former executive for Microsoft, was hired to oversee the creation of the division.

In April 2012, inXile launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Wasteland 2, the sequel to Interplay's Wasteland, with most of the original team on board. The crowdfunding drive raised more than 300% of its initial goal of $900,000, ending at $2,933,252. In March 2013, inXile returned to Kickstarter to crowdfund Torment: Tides of Numenera. The Kickstarter for Torment: Tides of Numenera broke the record of fastest Kickstart drive to $1 million, raising that amount in seven hours and two minutes.

During a Kickstarter campaign for the game Wasteland 2, Brian Fargo developed the Kicking it Forward program. Under this program, inXile Entertainment pledged to use 5% of post-launch net profits to back future Kickstarter projects.

In October 2015, inXile opened inXile New Orleans as a second studio based in New Orleans. The Newport Beach office was moved to Tustin by January 2021.

In November 2018, Microsoft Studios announced they were in the final stages of acquiring InXile, as well as Obsidian Entertainment, another studio known for its role-playing games. According to Fargo, they were approached in April 2018 by Noah Musler, one of Microsoft's business development executives that had former ties to the studio, who suggested the possibility of acquisition. Fargo believed the acquisition was beneficial for the studio, as at the time, they were in the "uncanny valley" between more independent game development and high-budget AAA games where there was a significant difference in expectations on quality and pricing of the game. Microsoft's support would help them make games that are closer to AAA games and better compete in the current state of the industry.

In June 2023, inXile unveiled their new game Clockwork Revolution during the Xbox Games Showcase 2023.

Games developed

Cancelled games

References

References

1. Purchese, Robert. (November 19, 2018). "InXile acquired by Microsoft: the interview".
2. (October 26, 2018). "#HappyBirthday to us! Sixteen years...".
3. Jennifer, Larino. (November 12, 2018). "Microsoft is buying video game developer inXile and its New Orleans studio".
4. Hinkle, David. (February 16, 2011). "What's in a Name: InXile Entertainment". [[AOL]].
5. (May 7, 2008). "Inxile Entertainment Announces Sparkworz Division".
6. Martin, Matt. (May 8, 2008). "inXile hires former Microsoft exec for new division".
7. "Wasteland 2 Kickstarter". Kickstarter.
8. "Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter". Kickstarter.
9. "Torment: Tides of Numenera Shatters Kickstarter Record". The Escapist.
10. Rob Lammle 7. (April 15, 2012). "5 Retro Games Brought Back From the Dead By Kickstarter". Mashable.com.
11. Fargo, Brian. "inXile entertainment". Kicking It Forward.
12. Makuch, Eddie. (October 22, 2015). "Wasteland 2 Dev Opening New Orleans Office, Will Pay $75,000 Salaries". [[CBS Interactive]].
13. Macgregor, Jody. (January 6, 2021). "Job listings suggest the next inXile game will be a first-person shooter RPG".
14. "Microsoft Studios buys 'Fallout: New Vegas' house Obsidian and 'Wasteland 2' developer inXile Entertainment.".
15. Bhattacharyya, Kushal. (June 12, 2023). "Clockwork Revolution by creators of Fallout and Wasteland revealed: expected release date, gameplay, and more".
16. Yin-Poole, Wesley. (May 18, 2015). "Brian Fargo's vision for The Bard's Tale 4. Kickstarter launches next month. First "promo screen" released". Gamer Network Ltd..