Digital Anvil melted down

All-but-dormant studio formed by Wing Commander creator is put to sleep--staff "redeployed" to Microsoft Game Studios HQ.

In 1996, game designer Chris Roberts founded an all-new studio, Digital Anvil. Already renowned for his creation of the then-popular Wing Commander series, Roberts had grown restless after his employer, Origin Systems, grew in size. He told the press that Digital Anvil would be a return to the smaller studio system which he felt produced better games.

However, it wasn't until four years later that Starlancer (PC, Dreamcast), the first game to bear the Digital Anvil imprimatur, was released. Around the same time, the small shop was bought by one of the biggest companies around--Microsoft, which folded it into its internal Microsoft Game Studios system. Chris Roberts promptly exited the company, but would consult on several games in development.

Microsoft's first move after buying Digital Anvil was to sell off two of its projects--Frontier Wars and Loose Cannon--to Ubisoft. It also took the previously PC-only Brute Force and turned it into an Xbox exclusive, released in 2003. That year also saw the release of the most acclaimed Digital Anvil game, Freelancer, for the PC.

Now, it appears Brute Force will have the distinction of being Digital Anvil's last game. Today, Microsoft confirmed to GameSpot that it has shut down the shop and is organizing a "redeployment" of its staff to studios at Microsoft Game Studios headquarters.

"Microsoft Game Studios has undergone a redeploying of resources in its Austin, Texas-based Digital Anvil studio and will centralize the studio's resources in Redmond, Washington," the company said in a statement. "We are working closely with current Digital Anvil employees to place each team member in a position on the Microsoft Game Studios team in Redmond if they so choose. This redeployment of resources will be finalized on January 31, 2006."

55 Comments

  • Commando6382

    Posted May 11, 2009 7:29 pm PT

    Freelancer is the best space game i own! This one is HARD to beet. If they make Freelancer 2 i will be happy.

  • tachyon96

    Posted Nov 10, 2008 5:59 pm PT

    The game Eve Online doesnt come close to the enjoyment we had with Freelancer....Now i have this game and cant play it online anymore?

  • orionkarate

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 4:21 pm PT

    I really enjoy Freelancer. Hopefully, Microsoft Game Studios will make Freelancer 2 or an Freelancer Expansion.

  • UnusualSuperFly

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 7:45 am PT

    I WANT FREELANCER 2!!!!! We should all write angry letters to Microsoft and threaten never to buy any of their games again if they don't come to reason XD

  • nebert

    Posted Dec 5, 2007 1:20 am PT

    This is really dissapointing
    freelancer is a game that is would be excellent to continue into further games
    i think it was one of the greatest games ever released
    microsoft made a big mistake here
    and now my Freelancer CD is cracked and it i will not be able to play it again ;(

  • Spectyle

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 9:42 pm PT

    RIP OFFF I WANT A FREELANCER 2 SO CHEAP OVER A FEW MILL THAT U RIP OFF GAMERS FROM WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE GREATEST GAMES EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Zarcon94

    Posted Aug 9, 2007 12:28 pm PT

    You know, I would go play X3 or something, but freelancer... is just better. X3 takes too much time and is too hard. Fans of the Lancer series LET US RISE UP AND TAKE THE MANTLE OF THIS GLORIOUS GAME! And finish it quickly before we get sued by Microsoft and a thousand other corporations.

  • Ilthik

    Posted Jul 6, 2007 9:43 am PT

    MS will never, ever release source code for any piece of software its even looked at. If MS had the slightest feeling that an open source fan version of Freelancer 2 were to get too popular it would immediately sic its fleet of lawyers on the unfortunate fans. Make no mistake, they're in this for the money alone. They bought Digital Anvil to bury it and they've succeeded.

  • ChiefRedCloud

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 10:18 am PT

    Freelancer is still a force to be recond within the Space Sim Family. Due to MP and extensive modding by the FL communities, Freelancer lives on. If more sources of the game were released it could even be better. So If Microsoft will not revisit FL, why not give the FL communities the chance to do more with it. Simply put, MS, release any code that is left, or make Freelancer 2 for the PC first.

  • gamer_1001

    Posted May 6, 2007 3:13 pm PT

    Screw this man, I want Freelancer 2!!!

  • Spartan1017

    Posted Mar 16, 2007 6:39 am PT

    freelancer 2?!?
    i need BRUTE FORCE 2!!!!

  • erikthorsen

    Posted Mar 2, 2007 11:03 am PT

    I NEED FREELANCER 2 DAMM IT!!

  • R3VOLV360

    Posted Nov 14, 2006 5:04 am PT

    This is all the Xbox's fault >.>
    Now there's not gonna be a Freelancer 2

  • jadelotuz

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 1:01 pm PT

    Elite ... I just say, Elite

    and, sad that DA got sacked ... by big brother MS. (as usuall).

  • Theknightsbane

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 12:01 am PT

    I don't get it wing commander was doing well and then it died. I have been hoping somewhere in the small back of my mind that they would make a sequel to wing commander prophecy but no origin died, then anvil comes out with star lancer and free lancer. what is the deal with development companies they must think that sci fi space sims have no fan base which is bull. I mean come on we are just waiting for another wing commander quit killing space sim companies and let them be.

  • Theknightsbane

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 12:01 am PT

    I don't get it wing commander was doing well and then it died. I have been hoping somewhere in the small back of my mind that they would make a sequel to wing commander prophecy but no origin died, then anvil comes out with star lancer and free lancer. what is the deal with development companies they must think that sci fi space sims have no fan base which is bull. I mean come on we are just waiting for another wing commander quit killing space sim companies and let them be.

  • SciFiShooterGUY

    Posted Dec 12, 2005 7:31 am PT

    The only Microsoft published games I ever remember playing are Mechwarrior 4 and Flight Simulator 2004.

  • quickshot14

    Posted Dec 10, 2005 11:39 pm PT

    Yea its sad I was hoping a fl2 may have been possible. At least theres still all the mods for it to keep it alive And of course for a real fix there freespace 2 open soruce project. I think it was great voltion did that before they died released the fs2 source code it's too bad da couldn't of done that, but like microsoft will release the source code of anything ,ha!

    Oh well theres still X2 and X3 to keep people intrested, and of course the great mods for freelancer, hey were trying to keep it intresting

  • JeffAhola112

    Posted Dec 10, 2005 10:32 pm PT

    Freelancer was one of the best games ever made.... this sucks.

  • bumbacel

    Posted Dec 10, 2005 2:42 pm PT

    ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US
    (Microsoft to Digital Anvil - in an imaginary dialogue)
    :-)
    But serious now, this is bad news. Freelancer it one of my favorite games ever and I am actually playing it right now. Too bad to hear this. And I was dreaming for a sequel...

  • airforceone452

    Posted Dec 7, 2005 5:57 pm PT

    Microsoft=EA

  • Dave_The_Slushy

    Posted Dec 6, 2005 8:52 pm PT

    "Microsoft Game Studios has undergone a redeploying of resources in its Austin, Texas-based Digital Anvil studio and will centralize the studio's resources in Redmond, Washington"

    Translation: Since Bill dropped the ball on Bungies "Secret Project" every farker not working on stopping 360's from burninating everything is now working on Halo 3.

  • brunocavaco

    Posted Dec 6, 2005 2:21 am PT

    Starlancer was one of my favorite games of all time... it's a shame...
    To those who just know Freelancer, I bid you to try Starlancer... It ROCKS.

  • conkersbat

    Posted Dec 5, 2005 7:18 pm PT

    Brute Force was a great game. I'm sad to hear Digital Anvil croak. I'm just curious, will there be a Brute Force 2?

  • amerus

    Posted Dec 5, 2005 7:39 am PT

    yup freelancer for the win.
    but it could have been better.
    to bad to see something like that go away.
    but its money money money...
    doh!

  • SHADOWSTRYK3R

    Posted Dec 5, 2005 4:31 am PT

    WHY? JUST WHY?!

  • itay390

    Posted Dec 3, 2005 9:44 pm PT

    damn, 3 of their games were my favorite : starlancer, conquest frontier wars, and freelancer
    and now nobody will create games like this? the world is getting worse and worse.
    digital anvil had a mind of mine in the scifi subject, there are no more companies with that mind : egosoft sucks, they demand super computers and their games are very boring. well.. pity.. guess we're going to live without scifi simulator games..

  • CthulhuRlyeh

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 7:08 pm PT

    wait.. it was elite FOUR

  • CthulhuRlyeh

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 6:51 pm PT

    i read something on elite for like a year ago

  • Exaspenite

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 2:40 pm PT

    My bad, I guess Enlight handled publishing duties rather than the actual development. I also missed mentioning Egosoft's X3: The Reunion, which came out just last month. Whoops... Anyway, my point is that space combat sims are few and far between, and the devs which worked on that genre, whatever was left them, are one less now.

  • Galaxy613

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 1:56 pm PT

    Nevermind that Egosoft made X2: The Threat... *roll eyes* Sad to see Digital Anvil gone. They could've improved FL...

  • Exaspenite

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 12:04 pm PT

    Wasn't Digital Anvil just about the last space combat sim maker out there after the demise of Origin? I suppose there's Enlight (maker of X2: The Threat) and Warthog (Mace Griffin, a space shooter/FPS hybrid, and Battlestar Galactica), but they've been MIA from the space shooter front for years, plus their resumes are pretty limited in that genre.

  • ArmoredAshes

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 10:11 am PT

    This is the same reason im kinda worried about micrsoft getting hold of the final fantasy series...they may end up ruining it just like they did here. For their sake they had better not screw it up....especially if they are on that campaign to impress the people of asia.

  • insane956dv

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 10:03 am PT

    Microsoft+EA=World domination

  • The_Getaway

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 9:30 am PT

    WHAT THE HECK ?!!! THEY SOLD LOOSE CANNON OFF TO UBI ?!!!! god i never knew, i thought the game had been srcapped straight away... anyone suppose there are any plans for it ? cos it looked like what you get in GTA san andreas, only in 4 years in advance, and without the gangsta vibe... my most anticipated game of all time, *sigh*...

  • lilweightlifter

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 8:48 am PT

    Microsoft owns everyone

  • Bargib

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 8:41 am PT

    Been a very involved Lancer-series fan, and visited the guys a few times in Austin. Sad to see them moved appart as a group. I hope they get a better future where they go to... :'(

  • Inquisitor

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 7:47 am PT

    " Go cry about it. So where is Roberts now? Has he made his own new studio yet? Or can he?"

    Roberts's latest hijinks according to Wikipedia:
    After leaving Digital Anvil, Roberts founded Point of No Return Entertainment, planning to produce films, television and games. He also founded Ascendant Pictures in 2002, where he is currently planning to direct a WWI movie called The American Knight.

  • TaintedTimmy

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 7:42 am PT

    It's sad, with so many companies out there, you think there would be more great games comming out. I'm so tired of seeing the same rehashed crap every year. Brute Force seemed to fit in to the been there done that catagory.

  • Hellisunreal

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 6:53 am PT

    Only the best will be kept (that to at incomes that MS sees fit), the rest will be thrown out like garbage.

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 4:20 am PT

    It's sad, but at least Microsoft is giving Digital Anvil's employess the option to be placed in a position on the Microsoft Game Studios team. I hate to see people displaced/unemployed because of closings.

  • Antimerc191

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 2:33 am PT

    I mean wtf?, how could microsoft destroy such a good games studio, i think im gonna cry. Aidos Digital Anvil you will be missed but never forgotten.

    R.I.P Digital Anvil Studios 1996 - 2005

  • MoogleDragoon

    Posted Dec 2, 2005 1:37 am PT

    Yeah, how sad right when brute force came out myself and 3 friends were invited into their studio for a sneak play of it they were all nice guys here in Austin Don't leave us

  • SteveTwo

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 10:51 pm PT

    Wing Commander Online could have been great., but that's a dream of a dream.

  • craigbic

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 9:19 pm PT

    Aidios Digital Anvil. We'll miss you.

  • Benihana7

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 8:19 pm PT

    Wow, shame to see Digital Anvil go, Freelancer was a great game.

  • wiggleman

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 7:37 pm PT

    Freelancer is still one of my favorite games, I am very sad to hear this.

  • Treadstone71

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 7:21 pm PT

    I'm kind of curious - just what did these people do for the last two years?

  • Hoffy

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 6:31 pm PT

    Just because the company is gone doesn't mean the skilled employees will disappear. They will probably do great things at Microsoft.

  • Kabbage

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 6:12 pm PT

    Freelancer was a damned fine game. Sad to see Digital Anvil go.

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