The studio was founded in 2010 by Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol. During Mahler's tenure at Blizzard Entertainment, the successes of independent games like Castle Crashers, Limbo, and Braid encouraged him to leave the company to found an independent studio. The two chose the name "Moon Studios" as the company name as they were inspired by John F. Kennedy's quote, "We choose to go to the Moon". Mahler described Moon Studios as a "virtual studio," as the team did not rent an office and instead recruited talents from all over the world. Team members came from places such as Austria, Australia, Israel and the United States, and they collaborated with each other using the Internet.[3] The company's headquarters are located in Mahler's native Vienna.[4]
After assembling the team, Moon Studios started creating prototypes. One early prototype was named Warsoup, a first-person shooter mixed with real-time strategy elements. Another prototype was named Sein, a platformer with Metroidvania gameplay. Moon Studios started pitching Warsoup to publishers. Microsoft dismissed Warsoup but agreed to fund Sein, with Microsoft retaining the rights to the intellectual property. With a core team of 10 people alongside several remote working contractors, the game, which would later be renamed Ori and the Blind Forest, took the team 4 years to develop.[5]
The team met with each other for the first time at E3 2014, when the announcement trailer was released.[6]Ori and the Blind Forest received critical acclaim when it was released in March 2015. It was also a commercial success, as it recouped its development in 7 days.[7]
Following the success of Ori and the Blind Forest, the team expanded significantly. As of March 2020, the studio employed more than 80 people and recruited talents from 43 countries. To facilitate communication, Moon built its communication tool named "Apollo".[8] The team also organized yearly retreats to ensure the team bond together. At E3 2017, they announced a sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which was released for the Xbox One and Windows 10 on March 10, 2020.[9]
In March 2022 VentureBeat published an article that detailed allegations of workplace abuse at Moon Studios with a particular focus on Mahler and Korol. These included claims of regular arguments during development, claims of a oppressive crunch culture at the studio and claims of racist, sexist, and anti-semitic language being used by Mahler and Korol during work hours.[11][12]
In a response to the report, Mahler and Korol claimed the details of the report were not representative of the working environment of the studio, nor its employees, touted the studio's multiculturalism, but also acknowledge that they have teased their cultural backgrounds. In addition, they expressed regret if anyone on staff felt uncomfortable or let down by their actions.[12]
ReferencesEdit
^Mahler, Thomas (5 May 2015). "Postmortem: Moon Studios' heartfelt Ori and the Blind Forest". Gamasutra. UBM TechWeb. from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
^Staff (16 March 2016). "Witcher 3 wins Game of the Year at 16th annual Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Conference. UBM TechWeb. from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
^Mike Minotti (June 18, 2014). . Yahoo! Games. Yahoo!, Inc. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
^Mathé, Alexander U. (8 March 2019). ""Die Arroganz in Österreich regt mich auf"". Wiener Zeitung (in German). from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
^Sinclair, Brendan (15 April 2015). "AAA should invest in indies - Ori dev". Gameindustry.biz. from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^Maher, Thomas (5 May 2015). "Postmortem: Moon Studios' heartfelt Ori and the Blind Forest Exclusive". Gamasutra. from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^Eddie Makuch (9 April 2015). "Celebrated Xbox One Game Ori and the Blind Forest Profitable in One Week". gamespot.com. CBS Interactive. from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
^Dring, Christopher (10 March 2020). "Building Ori and the Will of the Wisps with 80 people working from home". Gameindustry.biz. from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
^Skrebels, Joe (11 June 2017). "ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS REVEALED". IGN. from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
^Blake, Vikki (22 December 2019). "Ori and the Blind Forest devs are making an action RPG". Eurogamer. from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
^"Οι δημιουργοί του "Ori" φαίνεται να εργάζονται υπό καταπιεστικές συνθήκες". gr.ign.com. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
^ ab"Despite its beautiful Ori games, Moon Studios is called an 'oppressive' place to work". VentureBeat. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
External linksEdit
Official website
October 21, 2023
moon, studios, gmbh, austrian, video, game, developer, founded, 2010, they, best, known, their, 2015, title, blind, forest, which, studio, awarded, best, debut, award, 2016, game, developers, choice, awards, 2020, studio, released, sequel, will, wisps, gmbhtyp. Moon Studios GmbH is an Austrian video game developer founded in 2010 1 They are best known for their 2015 title Ori and the Blind Forest for which the studio was awarded the Best Debut award at the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards 2 In 2020 the studio released a sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps Moon Studios GmbHTypePrivateIndustryVideo gamesFounded2010 13 years ago 2010 FounderThomas MahlerGennadiy KorolHeadquartersVienna AustriaKey peopleThomas Mahler CEO ProductsOri seriesNumber of employees80 2020 Websitemoongamestudios wbr com Contents 1 History 2 Games developed 3 Allegations of workplace abuse 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditThe studio was founded in 2010 by Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol During Mahler s tenure at Blizzard Entertainment the successes of independent games like Castle Crashers Limbo and Braid encouraged him to leave the company to found an independent studio The two chose the name Moon Studios as the company name as they were inspired by John F Kennedy s quote We choose to go to the Moon Mahler described Moon Studios as a virtual studio as the team did not rent an office and instead recruited talents from all over the world Team members came from places such as Austria Australia Israel and the United States and they collaborated with each other using the Internet 3 The company s headquarters are located in Mahler s native Vienna 4 After assembling the team Moon Studios started creating prototypes One early prototype was named Warsoup a first person shooter mixed with real time strategy elements Another prototype was named Sein a platformer with Metroidvania gameplay Moon Studios started pitching Warsoup to publishers Microsoft dismissed Warsoup but agreed to fund Sein with Microsoft retaining the rights to the intellectual property With a core team of 10 people alongside several remote working contractors the game which would later be renamed Ori and the Blind Forest took the team 4 years to develop 5 The team met with each other for the first time at E3 2014 when the announcement trailer was released 6 Ori and the Blind Forest received critical acclaim when it was released in March 2015 It was also a commercial success as it recouped its development in 7 days 7 Following the success of Ori and the Blind Forest the team expanded significantly As of March 2020 the studio employed more than 80 people and recruited talents from 43 countries To facilitate communication Moon built its communication tool named Apollo 8 The team also organized yearly retreats to ensure the team bond together At E3 2017 they announced a sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps which was released for the Xbox One and Windows 10 on March 10 2020 9 The company is now working on an action role playing game which is set to be published by Private Division 10 Games developed EditYear Title Platform s Publisher s 2015 Ori and the Blind Forest Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch Xbox One Microsoft Studios2020 Ori and the Will of the Wisps Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch Xbox One Xbox Series X S Xbox Game StudiosTBA Untitled action role playing game TBA Private DivisionAllegations of workplace abuse EditIn March 2022 VentureBeat published an article that detailed allegations of workplace abuse at Moon Studios with a particular focus on Mahler and Korol These included claims of regular arguments during development claims of a oppressive crunch culture at the studio and claims of racist sexist and anti semitic language being used by Mahler and Korol during work hours 11 12 In a response to the report Mahler and Korol claimed the details of the report were not representative of the working environment of the studio nor its employees touted the studio s multiculturalism but also acknowledge that they have teased their cultural backgrounds In addition they expressed regret if anyone on staff felt uncomfortable or let down by their actions 12 References Edit Mahler Thomas 5 May 2015 Postmortem Moon Studios heartfelt Ori and the Blind Forest Gamasutra UBM TechWeb Archived from the original on 9 May 2016 Retrieved 27 April 2016 Staff 16 March 2016 Witcher 3 wins Game of the Year at 16th annual Game Developers Choice Awards Game Developers Conference UBM TechWeb Archived from the original on 19 March 2016 Retrieved 27 April 2016 Mike Minotti June 18 2014 Ori and the Blind Forest s producer wants his beautiful Xbox One exclusive to play as good as it looks interview Yahoo Games Yahoo Inc Archived from the original on July 14 2014 Retrieved June 23 2014 Mathe Alexander U 8 March 2019 Die Arroganz in Osterreich regt mich auf Wiener Zeitung in German Archived from the original on 20 December 2021 Retrieved 9 March 2022 Sinclair Brendan 15 April 2015 AAA should invest in indies Ori dev Gameindustry biz Archived from the original on 9 March 2022 Retrieved 12 December 2020 Maher Thomas 5 May 2015 Postmortem Moon Studios heartfelt Ori and the Blind Forest Exclusive Gamasutra Archived from the original on 7 May 2015 Retrieved 12 December 2020 Eddie Makuch 9 April 2015 Celebrated Xbox One Game Ori and the Blind Forest Profitable in One Week gamespot com CBS Interactive Archived from the original on 11 April 2015 Retrieved 9 April 2015 Dring Christopher 10 March 2020 Building Ori and the Will of the Wisps with 80 people working from home Gameindustry biz Archived from the original on 14 March 2020 Retrieved 9 March 2022 Skrebels Joe 11 June 2017 ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS REVEALED IGN Archived from the original on 10 January 2021 Retrieved 9 March 2022 Blake Vikki 22 December 2019 Ori and the Blind Forest devs are making an action RPG Eurogamer Archived from the original on 25 December 2019 Retrieved 22 February 2020 Oi dhmioyrgoi toy Ori fainetai na ergazontai ypo katapiestikes syn8hkes gr ign com Retrieved 28 March 2022 a b Despite its beautiful Ori games Moon Studios is called an oppressive place to work VentureBeat 18 March 2022 Retrieved 28 March 2022 External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Moon Studios amp oldid 1172995704, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
