Westwood Studios was an American video game developer active in the late 1980s, throughout the 1990s and in the very early 2000s. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, Westwood was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle.
The studio specialised mainly in strategy games and were a pioneering game developer in the genre of real-time strategy. Their adaptation of the Dune license for Virgin Games in 1992 (the second such game, in addition to Cryo Interactive's adventure/management game Dune) took the form of a strategy game controlled mainly by the mouse, from a top-down isometric view. The game consisted of gradual base building and training of infantry units and vehicles and fighting over Arrakis with Units included
Besides Dune-inspired games, in the 1990s and 2000s, Westwood created its highly popular Command and Conquer series of real-time strategy games, and the subsequent Red Alert and Generals spinoff series. Inspired by the success of Dune II and refining its early RTS formula, the Command and Conquer series and its fictional universe was considered the backbone of Westwood Studios until its very end.
Westwood also developed a few adventure games, including a well received licensed adaptation of the Blade Runner property in 1997.
Westwood Studios ceased operations on 31 March 2003 and its remnants were merged with the studio EA Los Angeles.
Westwood Studios developed three games inspired by the Dune novel series and its 1984 film adaptation.
- Dune II (1992) - the first modern real-time strategy, licensed and published by Virgin Interactive
- Dune 2000 (1998) - RTS game, an official modernized remake of Dune II
- Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001) - a fully 3D RTS game, expanded the scope with added subfactions and strategic options
The games generally adhere to Frank Herbert's fictional universe, but follow their own separate, non-canon continuity. No canon Dune characters appear in these games, though they do have loose counterparts within the setting's factions. All three games are set during the reign of the non-canon padishah-emperor Frederick Corrino, rather than Shaddam IV or later emperors. All three games focus primarily on House Atreides, House Harkonnen and on House Ordos (the latter made its first appearance in the semi-canon The Dune Encyclopedia in 1984).
External links[]
- Westwood Studios at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia