Modders Come Full Circle – Tripwire Interactive to Publish MSU Prize Winner – The Ball
Roswell, GA, July 13, 2010: Tripwire Interactive is delighted to announce that it will be publishing Teotl Studios’ first person puzzle-adventure game, The Ball, through Steam and in stores world-wide. The Ball won multiple top prizes in Epic’s latest “Make Something Unreal” contest and is now following in the footsteps of Tripwire’s own Red Orchestra in making the leap from mod to full commercial release. Providing an experience far beyond what the mod offered the commercial release of the ball is highly enhanced and expanded featuring a full 6 hours of single-player gameplay.
“Tripwire Interactive is a perfect match for us” says Sjoerd De Jong, founder of Teotl Studios. “We are thrilled to work with them and are confident this deal will help us maximize the potential of our game.”
“When we first tried The Ball we knew this was exactly the type of game we would like to publish – fun, creative and a blast to play” said John Gibson, President of Tripwire Interactive. “This is all the more exciting for us as the winner of the previous ‘Make Something Unreal’ contest to have the opportunity to help a winner from the latest MSU contest take their game commercial.”
About the game:
The Ball is a first person action-adventure game featuring a full single-player experience built on Epic’s Unreal™ Engine 3 technology. As a swashbuckling archaeologist working on the slopes of a dormant volcano somewhere in Mexico, you get stuck in a cavern. It doesn’t take long before you realize this is more than just a cave. You reveal ancient ruins that have been hidden from outsiders for centuries and discover a mysterious artifact, a gold and metal shelled Ball. As you progress towards solving the mystery of this amazing place you must unlock the secrets of The Ball and learn to control this ancient artifact. You will also start to encounter not just puzzles and traps, but also various strange creatures – the guardians of this mystery. These creatures also have to be overcome, using only The Ball to defend you. Venturing deeper into the volcano, you reveal some of mankind’s greatest secrets…
Key features:
- Six hours of single-player adventure
- Game mechanics that are very simple to pick up, immersing the user in the physics-based gameplay right from the start
- 8 huge levels to explore
- Includes bonus Survival game mode, with 3 additional levels
- Wide range of enemies to overcome, including mummies, an undead gorilla and boss characters
- Unique vehicles – an underground train and the mysterious “Ball Chariot”
- More than 30 secrets hidden away to be discovered, as well as multiple achievements for the player to earn
- Steamworks™ features including achievements and leaderboards
The game will be available on Steam and in stores from Fall 2010. For further information on the game, visit the game website: Theballthegame.com.
About Tripwire Interactive
Based in Roswell, Georgia, Tripwire Interactive is an entertainment software developer and publisher founded in 2005 by the award winning mod team and winners of the 2004 edition of the “$1,000,000 Make Something Unreal” competition. Released in early 2006, Tripwire Interactive’s debut retail title Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 achieved both critical and commercial success garnering several awards including “Multiplayer Game of the Year” and “FPS of the Year” for 2006. Killing Floor, Tripwire’s second title, jumped straight to the top of the Steam best-seller list and instantly became one of the top-ten most played FPS games in the world. With some of the most played PC Multiplayer games on the market and over 1,000,000 units sold on PC, Tripwire Interactive have proven that with hard work, determination, and great distribution partners, independent game developers can still make a big splash in the games industry. For more information visit Tripwire Interactive’s website at www.tripwireinteractive.com.
About Teotl Studios
Based in Vittinge, Sweden, Teotl Studios is a game development start-up focused on creating quality and immersive single player experiences. The staff is a unique mix of seasoned veterans and talented enthusiasts.
The studio’s first title, The Ball, started out as a critically acclaimed mod. It came second in the 2010 edition of Epic Games’ “$1,000,000 Make Something Unreal” competition, and also secured ModDB’s “Best Singleplayer Mod of 2008″ award. Recently the game was awarded funding by the Nordic Game Program, an initiative from the Scandinavian governments to promote and support regional game development. With the full version of The Ball, Teotl Studios aims to continue this success and present the world with an atmospheric, memorable, and above all fun experience.
wooo
gratu guys , i am going to buy it
cool :D
Great news. I haven't played the ball very much. But I see that as a good thing, so when I get the full game it will all be new. Great to see another mod going retail.
I can't wait for the day when I come in a similar situation. I have a long way to go though..
Brilliant news guys! Well done, I'll be sure to pass this on to all the forums I frequent.
Tripwire seems to have a pretty good business model going on here. Take small mod projects, and fund them into full feature releases.
I just hope your full release will be less disappointing than Red Orchestra and Killing Floor's leap into the big leagues.
Tripwire is not taking over production or funding production, we still do that. They publish and distribute it.
I sure hope you don't mean that the actual games were disappointing... I can't speak for Red Orchestra (never played it), but Killing Floor is an incredibly fun game. It's one of those games that you can just drop in any time and play a quick game, or spend an entire night until the crack of dawn playing. It's even got a strong community, plus who doesn't like killing super-powered zombies with machine guns and flamethrowers?
It doesnt matter how much it costs to me, I wpuld gladly pay to own a copy of The Ball :)
Tripwires headquarters is not too far from where I live. :D
given that your moddb profile says you live in Korea, I will assume you are a horrible, terrible, liar.
Maybe he means his own home, i.e. that he lives in the US, but he comes from Korea.
It would explain his level of English.
I've been waiting years for a chance to play with balls
Good stuff team!
I was pretty pleased with how Killing Floor turned out and the constant updates it got so I have faith with Tripwire. They have a good eye on the modding scene.
will this be released retail in a shop( not a online shop)??
Yes
Cool!
Congrats on getting that deal, sounds like a sweet one :)
Personally I tried the mod once in an early version many years ago and gave up on it after half an hour. I just recently tried a beta the commercial version and boy that was a different experience! You guys have a real top quality game here with loads fun in it :)
Haha, Tripwire you do have a good nose to pick up successful indie projects. Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with that and you have my full support (I own both RO and KF + one of it's skin packs). I'm sure that with your help this game will get even better, good luck!
YESYESYES
Tripwire interactive is my favourite success story, so happy they're pulling new developers into the business world like this.
Congrats to the team and to TWI, best publisher/developer in the world!
Great work Tripwire! Killing Floor, and now the Ball! Make sure you buy a copy of this release, and support great developers (and publishers)
I'm definitely buying a copy to support them both, both the groups have my backing!
Great Work :D. I bought Killing Floor and will be buying this :D.
Congrats. :) Much love to Tripwire and TB!
After buying Red Orchestra and Killing Floor, I will gladly add The Ball to that collection.
I've always been watching your progress and always decided to wait for the next episode to download it. Now I finally have the chance to experience the whole game and to thank you for your work.
Thank you Teotl Studios, thank you Tripwire Interactive.
This is awesome. Love the support for the mod community. Tripwire ftw!