Oxeye Game Studio: Difference between revisions

In 2002, as ''Whispers in Akarra'' was being developed by Jens, Daniel and Pontus also began to contribute to the project with artwork,<ref>[http://www.oxeyegames.com/ten-years/ Bergensten, J. (2012, April 28). ''Ten Years!'' Oxeye Game Studio. http://www.oxeyegames.com/ten-years/]</ref> and Oxeye Game Studio was founded the following July with the intent of remaking ''Whispers in Akarra'' in 3D,<ref name=":3" /> though ultimately becoming a standalone entity. In 2005, ''Strategist'' was published as Oxeye's first game using a modified version of the [[wikipedia:Irrlicht_Engine|Irrlicht Engine]] (called ''Daisy'')<ref name=":2" /> while ''Dawn of Daria'' (the spiritual successor to ''Whispers in Akarra'')<ref>''Dawn of Daria FAQ''. Dawn of Daria. (2006a). <nowiki>https://web.archive.org/web/20061125052310/http://www.dawnofdaria.com/index.php?page=5</nowiki></ref> was still being developed. In 2006, the rights to ''Whispers in Akarra'' were sold, though development on ''Dawn of Daria'' continued.<ref name=":3" />

In the spring of 2007, Oxeye managed to move into its first dedicated office area at [https://www.venturelab.lu.se/ VentureLab] in Lund, hosted by Lund University. The property was won after the team pitched "a minigame arcade platform", though first creating ''Strategist''.<ref>Jens "jeb" Bergensten via the Project Oxeye Wiki Discord server: ''In spring 2007, Oxeye moved into it's first "office" at a business incubator called VentureLab in Lund. Oxeye's room was the left-most window on the first picture. We got the place on the pitch to make a minigame arcade platform, but first we developed and released The Strategist, followed by Harvest: Massive Encounter.''</ref> That May, Oxeye presented an open beta of ''Harvest: Massive Encounter'', at the Swedish Game Awards, a student competition,<ref>Jens "jeb" Bergensten via the Project Oxeye Wiki Discord server: ''In May 2007, Harvest was nominted for "best game" at the Swedish Game Awards (a student competition). Harvest won second prize and received 20,000 SEK (about $1944 at today's exchange rate). Here is a picture of the exhibition hall (Jens in an Oxeye t-shirt and yellow/brown hoodie), and the Harvest stand.''</ref> in which it earned second place in the Best PC Game category,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071222075509/http://gameawards.se/news/harvest-open-beta Steve. (2007, December 19). ''Harvest open beta''. Swedish Game Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20071222075509/http://gameawards.se/news/harvest-open-beta]</ref> and that October, Daniel and Pontus developed ''Spacefest'' in Multimedia Fusion live for Spelfest, which was being held in Malmö.<ref>Jens "jeb" Bergensten via the Project Oxeye Wiki Discord server: ''In October 2007, Oxeye participated at Spelfest in Malmö. We displayed Harvest, and Daniel and Pontus gamejammed a new shoot-em-up in Multimedia Fusion live. We also met with Yokaj Studios.''</ref> In February of 2008,<ref>http://www.oxeyegames.com/oxeye-office-level-up/</ref> the lease at VentureLab expired and the studio was moved to the Akademiska Hus, also in Lund.<ref>Jens "jeb" Bergensten via the Project Oxeye Wiki Discord server: ''New office at Akademiska Hus, Lund''</ref> On the 5th of March, coinciding with Pontus' birthday, ''Harvest: Massive Encounter'' was officially released to the public.<ref>http://www.oxeyegames.com/birthdays-and-postcards/</ref>

[[File:Harvestfika.JPG|alt=Alexander, Daniel, Jens, and Jonas all facing the camera and seated around a table with a cake shaped like the D-70 enemy from Harvest: Massive Encounter.|thumb|207x207px|Via Jens on the ''Project Oxeye Wiki'' Discord. Original caption: ''In March 2008 we released Harvest and had a small "release fika" with an alien-shaped cake. Pictured is Jens Bergensten, Alexander Persson, Jonas Johnsson, and Daniel Brynolf (in front).'']]