IllFonic

IllFonic, LLC is an American video game developer based in Golden, Colorado, with further offices in Tacoma, Washington, and Austin, Texas. The studio was founded by Charles Brungardt, Kedhrin Gonzales and Raphael Saadiq in 2007. IllFonic is best known for developing Friday the 13th: The Game, which was released in 2017.

IllFonic, LLC
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded2007 (2007) in Denver, US
Founders
Headquarters
Golden, Colorado
,
US
Number of locations
3 offices (2020)
Key people
Number of employees
78 (2019)
Websiteillfonic.com

History

IllFonic founder Charles Brungardt had been working with R&B artist Raphael Saadiq since exiting college, producing and engineering records.[2] While working together, Saadiq confronted Brungardt with the idea of appearing in video games, based on which the game Ghetto Golf was conceptualized.[2] Brungardt subsequently relocated from Los Angeles to Denver and, together with Kedhrin Gonzales, formed IllFonic out of a garage.[2] Saadiq is also considered a co-founder.[3] The studio moved around within Denver, from the garage to an apartment, then to offices above bars on Denver's broadway, before moving to proper offices by Speer Boulevard in the Golden Triangle in June 2013.[2] On the night of March 5, 2010, a cannabis dispensary located next to IllFonic's offices was robbed. The Denver Police Department answered the alarm but incorrectly arrived at IllFonic's address, handcuffing three of its employees at gunpoint before the error was resolved.[4]

In March 2010, IllFonic was announced to be developing Nexuiz, a remake of the game of the same name released by Alientrap in 2005.[5][6] The remake was released in February 2012 for Xbox 360 and in May 2012 for Microsoft Windows, published through THQ Partners, part of publisher THQ.[3][7] However, as THQ went through bankruptcy, the servers for Nexuiz' Xbox 360 version were shut down.[7] The rights to the game then failed to be sold during THQ's bankruptcy auctions.[3] In 2013, IllFonic was contracted to develop the "Star Marine" module and the first-person systems for the game Star Citizen.[8] The game's developer, Cloud Imperium Games, planned to integrate these assets into the main game, however, after one year of work, discrepancies in the scales of the two studios' assets were found, making them incompatible.[8] IllFonic continued working on Star Citizen, and their work was nearly completed by August 2015.[9] That month, IllFonic laid off six developers, including three of those working on Star Citizen.[9] In July 2013, IllFonic announced Revival, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.[10] The game's development was "indefinitely suspended" in March 2016.[11]

In late 2014, IllFonic and publisher Gun Media announced Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp, an asymmetrical hide-and-seek-style action game.[12] In early 2015, the game came to the attention of Sean S. Cunningham, the producer of the Friday the 13th series of films, who approached Gun Media to turn Summer Camp into a licensed game; the game was subsequently renamed to Friday the 13th: The Game.[13] By this time, IllFonic had 50 employees.[14] The game was released in May 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.[15] However, legal battle surrounding the Friday the 13th franchise rights was in progress, causing IllFonic to cease development of new content for the game by June 2018.[16] A Nintendo Switch port of Friday the 13th: The Game was released in August 2019.[17] Dead Alliance, a multiplayer first-person shooter, was developed by Psyop Games and IllFonic, and released by Maximum Games in August 2017.[18] The game was previously known as Moving Hazard.[19] In November 2018, IllFonic opened a second office in Tacoma, Washington, with an initial seven staff members.[20][21] By January 2019, the Denver headquarters had been relocated to Golden, Colorado.[20] Both offices collectively employed 78 people (38 in Golden and 40 in Tacoma) in July 2019, while the Tacoma office alone had 47 employees by November.[21][22]

IllFonic's most recent game, Predator: Hunting Grounds, was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in April 2020.[23][24] In January 2020, former Sony Interactive Entertainment executive Gio Corsi joined IllFonic as chief product officer. By this time, the company had also opened a third office in Austin, Texas.[25]

Games developed
Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s)
2012 Nexuiz Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 THQ
2017 Friday the 13th: The Game Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Gun Media
Dead Alliance Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Maximum Games
2020 Predator: Hunting Grounds Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 Sony Interactive Entertainment

Supportive development

Unreleased games
  • Ghetto Golf
  • Project Advena[14]
  • Revival

References
  1. Bohnert, April (June 18, 2019). "How 4 Colorado tech companies stay on the cutting edge — and where they're headed next". Built In CO. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  2. Peterson, Eric (August 16, 2013). "IllFonic pivots to work for hire to complement game development". Confluence Denver. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  3. Weber, Rachel (February 13, 2013). "Developer Illfonic on life after THQ". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  4. Good, Owen (March 6, 2010). "The Case of the Indie Devs and the Medical Marijuana Mixup". Kotaku. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  5. Romano, Sal (March 2, 2010). "Illfonic announces Nexuiz for consoles". Gematsu. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  6. Walker, John (December 12, 2011). "Shooter Nexuiz Being Remade, Published". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  7. Tach, Dave (February 27, 2013). "Nexuiz Xbox 360 servers taken offline". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  8. Chalk, Andy (September 23, 2016). "Eight-month investigation lifts the lid on Star Citizen's troubled development". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  9. Sinclair, Brendan (August 17, 2015). "IllFonic sees layoffs". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  10. Sarkar, Samit (July 29, 2013). "With Revival, IllFonic aims to 'revive the MMORPG'". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  11. Royce, Bree (March 24, 2016). "Revival's development has been indefinitely suspended". Massively Overpowered. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  12. Reed, Ashley (October 13, 2015). "Survival horror Summer Camp is now Friday the 13th: The Game". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  13. Campbell, Colin (October 13, 2015). "Friday the 13th is back". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  14. Kleckner, Stephen (November 12, 2015). "How Friday the 13th: The Game exploded from Gun Media's fun horror ideas". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  15. Seppala, Timothy J. (May 26, 2017). "Don't scream: The new 'Friday the 13th' game is out today". Engadget. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  16. Good, Owen (July 13, 2018). "Rest In Pieces, Friday The 13th: The Game". Kotaku. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  17. Gerblick, Jordan (August 14, 2019). "Friday the 13th: The Game is available right now on Nintendo Switch". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  18. Romano, Sal (May 24, 2017). "Multiplayer zombie FPS Dead Alliance announced for PS4, Xbox One, and PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  19. Craft, Scott (May 24, 2017). "'Moving Hazard' Resurfaces As 'Dead Alliance' After Maximum Games Steps In As Publisher". Player.One. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  20. Gerritzen, Shannon (January 28, 2019). "A culture of quality: Friday the 13th dev IllFonic is hiring". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  21. Zenon, Alton III (November 22, 2019). "Navigating Growth: The Lessons IllFonic Learned While Scaling". Built In SEA. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  22. Sodd, Anthony (July 29, 2019). "A Look at Illfonic's Art Department, the Creative Powerhouse Behind Predator: Hunting Grounds". Built In SEA.
  23. Good, Owen S. (May 9, 2019). "Predator: Hunting Grounds comes to PS4 in 2020". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  24. Prescott, Shaun (December 10, 2016). "Predator: Hunting Grounds is a brutal asymmetrical shooter coming to PC next year". PC Gamer.
  25. Romano, Sal (January 15, 2020). "Gio Corsi joins IllFonic as Chief Product Officer". Gematsu.
  26. Yin-Poole, Wesley (November 13, 2014). "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric Wii U infinite height exploit lets you skip most of the game". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
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