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Saffire (company)

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Saffire
FormerlyCygnus Multimedia Productions (1993–1995)
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded1993; 31 years ago (1993) in Orem, Utah, US
Founders
  • Les Pardew
  • Charles Moore
Defunct2007 (2007)
FateDissolved
Headquarters
South Jordan, Utah
,
US
Key people
Number of employees
120 (2001)

Saffire was an American video game developer based in South Jordan, Utah. Founded as Cygnus Multimedia Productions in 1993 by Les Pardew and Charles Moore, it was originally based in Pardew's basement in Orem with a team of six people. Pardew bought out Moore's share in 1994 and involved Hal Rushton as a partner in Moore's place. Cygnus was renamed Saffire in October 1995 and moved from Pleasant Grove to American Fork shortly thereafter for further expansion. Saffire became defunct in 2007.

History

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Saffire was founded by Leslie W. ("Les") Pardew with assistance by Charles Moore in 1993.[1] The team initially consisted of six people working from Pardew's basement in Orem, Utah, and expanded to fourteen when it was incorporated in November 1993.[2][3] The company was named Cygnus Multimedia Productions, taking the name from mythological king Cycnus of Liguria "because it sounded cool" and started out by creating artwork for video games of other developers.[1][3]

In 1994, Pardew bought out Moore's stake in the company and brought on Hal Rushton, the former "vice president of product development" for Sculptured Software, as a partner.[1] Rushton became the company's general manager, with Pardew as the president.[3] By February 1995, Cygnus employed 50 people in a bottom-floor office in Pleasant Grove; the office was small, wherefore staff worked in shifts, and frequently flooded during rainfall.[1][3] Cygnus changed its name to Saffire in October 1995 and moved to a new studio in the Utah Valley Business Park in American Fork later that year.[1][2] The move allowed Saffire to engage in the full production of video games, which Pardew sought to fasten with continued expansion.[1] To raise capital, Pardew borrowed US$200,000 from Utah Technology Finance Corp. (UTFC) in September 1996 and further $125,000 in March 1997.[1]

Rushton became the company's president by December 1997, while Pardew assumed the role of chief executive officer.[1] Saffire settled in expanded offices in Pleasant Grove in January 1999.[4] By that time, Mark Kendell had become the company's chairman.[5] Saffire continued to expand, with 80 employees in December 1999 and 120 employees in July 2001, the latter while based in American Fork.[6][7]

In March 2007, Saffire (at the time based in South Jordan) was developing Cryptid Hunter, then scheduled for release in 2008.[8] However, Saffire went out of business later that year.[9]

Games developed

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Title Publisher(s) Platform(s) Release date
HardBall '95 Accolade Sega Genesis 1995
Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars Time Warner Interactive SNES 1995
Nester's Funky Bowling Nintendo Virtual Boy February 1996
The Suit SoftKey Multimedia Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS 1996
They Call Me... The Skul SoftKey Multimedia, The Learning Company Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS 1996
NFL Legends Football '98 Accolade Microsoft Windows August 31, 1997
James Bond 007 Nintendo Game Boy January 29, 1998
Rampage World Tour Midway Games Nintendo 64 March 30, 1998
Bio F.R.E.A.K.S. Midway Games Nintendo 64, PlayStation May 31, 1998
Oddworld Adventures GT Interactive Game Boy December 1998
Animaniacs: Ten Pin Alley ASC Games PlayStation December 1, 1998
StarCraft: Brood War Blizzard Entertainment Microsoft Windows, Mac OS December 18, 1998
Top Gear Rally 2 Kemco Nintendo 64 October 31, 1999
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Red Storm Entertainment Nintendo 64 November 17, 1999
Billy Bob's Huntin'-n-Fishin' Midway Games Game Boy Color November 17, 1999
Xena: Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate Titus Software Nintendo 64 December 14, 1999
Oddworld Adventures 2 GT Interactive Game Boy Color January 2000
The Mask of Zorro Sunsoft Game Boy Color February 2000
CyberTiger Electronic Arts Nintendo 64 February 29, 2000
ESPN MLS GameNight Konami PlayStation September 19, 2000
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes Midway Games Dreamcast October 30, 2000
Microsoft Pinball Arcade Classified Games (U.S.), Cryo Interactive (PAL) Game Boy Color 2001
Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack Classified Games (U.S.), Cryo Interactive (PAL) Game Boy Color 2001
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Red Storm Entertainment PlayStation March 27, 2001
Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa Lego Software Game Boy Advance October 3, 2001
Lego Bionicle: The Legend of Mata Nui Lego Software Microsoft Windows Canceled in October 2001
E.T.: Escape from Planet Earth NewKidCo Game Boy Color November 4, 2001
Barbarian Titus Software PlayStation 2 June 27, 2002
Hot Wheels Velocity X THQ Game Boy Advance October 31, 2002
Justice League: Injustice for All Midway Games Game Boy Advance November 17, 2002
The Hobbit Sierra Entertainment Game Boy Advance November 11, 2003
Peter Pan: The Motion Picture Event Atari Interactive Game Boy Advance December 10, 2003
Van Helsing Vivendi Universal Games PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance May 6, 2004
Around the World in 80 Days Hip Games Game Boy Advance July 5, 2004
Thunderbirds Vivendi Universal Games Game Boy Advance August 10, 2004

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Pusey, Roger (December 24, 1997). "UTFC helps Saffire Corp. grow like a house a-fire". Deseret News. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Cygnus Multimedia Gets Recognition – and a New Name". Deseret News. October 25, 1995. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Romboy, Dennis (February 22, 1995). "Cygnus Takes Place Among 'the Stars'". Deseret News. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Haddock, Sharon (February 3, 1999). "'Motion capture' nets growth for company – Saffire Corp. puts realistic moves in lot of video games". Deseret News. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Christiansen, Barbara (January 20, 1999). "Saffire Corp. brings video game development to P.G." American Fork Citizen. p. 15. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Strickland, Tosha (December 12, 1999). "Saffire". Daily Herald. p. 26. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ McDermott, Tara (July 6, 2001). "LEGO builds ties with Utah company". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  8. ^ House, Dawn (March 15, 2007). "SLC is video game capital of America". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  9. ^ Taborelli, Luca (February 27, 2019). "Cryptid Hunter [PS3 – Cancelled]". Unseen64. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
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