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The 9 Mystery Developers Behind 2009's Biggest Games

• By Dave Rudden and Ivy Yup
• April 10, 2009 17:35 PM PST
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They may not be household names for all gamers, but these companies have talent, and the high-profile projects to prove it.

The following nine companies may not have their names on as many boxes as Epic, Bungie, or Rockstar, but their talent has landed them some of the most high profile titles of 2009 and beyond. Here are the 9 mystery developers behind 2009's biggest games, which we've ranked in order of both anonymity of the studio and profile of their project.

9- Watchmen: The End is Nigh, Deadline Games

Click on the image for more Watchmen screens and videos!

If you're a fan of Latin-flavored shooters, then Deadline Games might be familiar name to you. The company created the Robert Rodriguez-esqe Total Overdose for consoles in 2005 and a souped-up port for the PSP entitled Chili Con Carnage. The developer's knack for brutal action led it to score the license for one of 2009's hottest IPs, Watchmen. While the game didn't receive a retail release, the hardcore brawling action of Watchmen: The End is Nigh has endeared it to many fans of the movie. Presumably, we'll get to see more of Deadline's work in the next installments of the Watchmen video game series, and hopefully later on in the stylish and mysterious Faith and a .45, currently in suspended development.

8- Splatterhouse, Bottlerocket Entertainment (partial)

Click on the image for more Splatterhouse screens and videos!

Bottlerocket Entertainment was born and bred to make bloody hack-and-slashers. The company's first "official" game was Rise of the Kasai, the sequel to the cartoonish kill-fest Mark of Kri, which in turn was developed by many members of the Bottlerocket team. From there, the company scored a second-tier cartoon license for Xiaolin Showdown, which performed as respectably as a Kids WB-based brawler could. The company moved back to it's forte, gore-filled orgies of violence, with Splatterhouse, which the company had worked on for over a year and a half before the publisher, Namco Bandai, took back the reigns for the title. Reportedly, Namco was disapproving of the progress, while Bottlerocket claimed Namco was inept. Hopefully Bottlerocket provided a solid foundation for Splatterhouse that not only leads to a great game, but for more opportunities for this quality studio.

7- Ghostbusters, Terminal Reality

Click on the image for more Ghostbusters screens and videos!

Terminal Reality, a game studio based in Lewisville, Texas, and founded in 1994 by lead programmer and former Microsoft employee, Mark Randel, play homage to the 20th anniversary of Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, using technology from its multi-platform Infernal Engine. Terminal Reality is also responsible for their work on the BloodRayne series and Metal Slug Anthology in addition to over twenty other games. The independent game studio prides itself with the philosophy of a mid-sized, relaxed, non-corporate atmosphere to foster a fun and motivated creative team effort. Perhaps this is just the formula we need to successfully bust down the ghastly ecto-plasmic critters that haunt New York City.

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