Celebrating 25 Years of Red Storm Entertainment! To commemorate this quarter century anniversary, each staff member received a hand-airbrushed mouse by Controller Chaos
Celebrating 25 Years of Red Storm Entertainment!
Special shout out to our Executive VP and Managing Director and last remaining co-founder Steve Reid for becoming the first person to reach 25 years of service at Red Storm!
"I'm thankful for the original founders group for what we started together, I’m thankful for Ubisoft for helping turn our games into brands and then keeping us going to make our biggest and most ambitious projects. I’m thankful for our employees past, present and future. Everyone helped us get here…. This moment is ours.” -Steve Reid
Apple TV+ Renews “Mythic Quest” for Seasons Three and Four
Apple TV+ Doubles Down On “Mythic Quest,” Renewing Acclaimed Workplace Comedy for Seasons Three and Four
Series co-creator and star Rob McElhenney, “Mythic Quest” guest star and Academy Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins and "Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis announce renewal in new video
Apple TV+ today announced a season three and four pick-up of “Mythic Quest,” the hit sitcom from creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz, which has been hailed by critics as “hilarious and endearing,” “a ton of fun,” and “the best workplace comedy on TV.” McElhenney, who also stars, shared the news in his signature comedic style with a video featuring fellow Apple TV+ star and Emmy Award-winner Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”), and Academy Award-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, who recently earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Narrator for his guest star role in the “Mythic Quest” special, “Everlight.” Boasting a 100% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, the series is set to open the writers’ room for season three later this year.
“Mythic Quest” follows the team behind the biggest multiplayer video game of all time. In addition to McElhenney, who stars as the fictional company's creative director, Ian Grimm, the ensemble cast includes Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham, Danny Pudi, Imani Hakim, Charlotte Nicdao, Ashly Burch, Jessie Ennis and David Hornsby, who also executive produces. Additional cast includes Naomi Ekperigin, Caitlin McGee, Humphrey Ker, Chris Naoki Lee and Jonathan Wiggs. The series is produced for Apple TV+ by Lionsgate, 3 Arts Entertainment and Ubisoft Film & Television.
“Just like critics and audiences all over the world, we fell in love with Rob and his team’s sharp writing and full-of-heart, relatable characters that make up the world of ‘Mythic Quest,’” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+. “We can’t wait for viewers to see what’s in store in the upcoming seasons of this brilliant workplace comedy.”
“Mythic Quest” is created and executive produced by Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz. Also serving as executive producers are Michael Rotenberg and Nicholas Frenkel on behalf of 3Arts, Jason Altman, Danielle Kreinik and Gérard Guillemot for Ubisoft Film & Television, and David Hornsby.
Apple TV+ is available to watch across all your favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 155 wins and 534 awards nominations.
Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung, LG, Sony and VIZIO smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free. This special offer is good for three months after the first activation of the eligible device.
For more information, visit apple.com/tvpr and offers.appletvapp.apple and see the full list of supported devices.
For More Info:
“Mythic Quest” on Apple TV+: apple.co/MythicQuest
Instagram: https://instagram.com/MythicQuest
Facebook: https://facebook.com/AppleTV
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AppleTV
Hashtag: #MythicQuest #AppleTV
Staff Social
Huzzah! We were so excited to host our first in-person event in ages! We invited a few food trucks to the office and the smiles came for free! #ubisoftredstorm #lifeatubi
Werewolves Within Movie Screening
In 2016 Red Storm created a social experience in VR like no other of its time with “Werewolves Within.” A clever game of “whodunit” social deduction that brought the fun of game night to VR. Naturally, we were *thrilled* to see it turned into a live-action horror comedy! The staff was able to pre-screen the movie along with our fellow Ubisoft studios the day before it released into theaters.
Throwback to 2016! Check out the Werewolves Within VR reveal trailer below:
Ubisoft Celebrates 20 Years of Tom Clancy Games
Constance Delbreil, Ubisoft News
Find out how Red Storm, Rainbow Six, and the Tom Clancy brand began – and where they’re going.
Twenty years ago, Red Storm Entertainment and the Tom Clancy brand joined Ubisoft, making it the company’s first major franchise. Since then, Ubisoft teams all around the globe have worked on games inspired by the writings of techno-thriller author Tom Clancy, expanding the brand’s portfolio of games and fanbase. To celebrate this important milestone, the Ubisoft News team spoke with teams who have worked with Clancy brands over the years to gather intel about the origins of the franchise and how it evolved over the years.
The Origins of Red Storm and “The Thinking Person’s FPS”
In the mid-1990s, Virtus Corporation, together with Simon & Schuster Interactive and Clancy Interactive Entertainment, launched a submarine simulator called Tom Clancy’s SSN. The game was successful, and the teams decided to make the collaboration permanent, which led to the foundation of Red Storm Entertainment in 1996. The studio worked on smaller projects, like a line of games called Power Plays that tied into the Clancy books, but in parallel, the team was developing a more ambitious title that would become Rainbow Six, released in 1998.
“We set out to take the essence of the ‘Clancy feel’ – its heroic structure, the idea that one individual can change the course of large events – and then implement that in an FPS game,” said Steve Reid, one of Ubisoft Red Storm’s founders and managing director of the studio for the past 20 years. Reid told us how Rainbow Six introduced the “one shot, one kill” concept, which was a revolution for the genre.
“Our goal was for our game to be more realistic, and definitely to break with the run-and-gun gameplay that was the trend at the time,” said Elizabeth Loverso, vice president of product development at Ubisoft Red Storm. When pulling the trigger becomes more meaningful, Loverso explained, it slows down the tempo of the action.
“The revolution was that we made a game that became a thinking person’s shooter,” she continued. “Players suddenly needed to plan ahead, to think about how they were going to sneak around, when they would reload their guns, etc. The gameplay was unique, and players recognized that almost instantly.”
The team at Red Storm knew they had something special even before release. Reid fondly remembers that the night Rainbow Six went gold (meaning development was finished and the game was ready to be published), many developers on the team stayed at the studio after hours to play it. The game was an immediate success. “We couldn’t manufacture the discs fast enough to match the demand!” Loverso said.
When Red Storm joined Ubisoft – then known as Ubi Soft Entertainment – in 2000, the North Carolina studio had one goal in mind: develop bigger and better games. This was soon the case with Ghost Recon (2001), a strong multi-platform title that shifted the action from tense indoor combat to war zones and outdoor environments, which could finally be achieved realistically thanks to technological advances.
The “Clancyverse” was starting to expand. Soon, other Ubisoft studios would be inspired to enrich it with even more games and experiences.
Three Green Dots: Bringing Splinter Cell to the Clancyverse
In 2002, years before the success of new brands like Assassin’s Creed, the team at Ubisoft Montréal was set to launch a brand-new stealth game: Splinter Cell. At the time, Helene Juguet (who is now managing director of Ubisoft Film & Television in Paris) was in charge of the teams marketing the game in the US, and immediately saw the game’s promise. Together with her team, she came up with a game-changing idea: to bring Splinter Cell into the Tom Clancy line of games.
“From a narrative perspective, this made a lot of sense,” Juguet told us. “Splinter Cell focuses on a spy, Sam Fisher, and the gameplay has many aspects of the tactical techno-thriller that are the main characteristics of Clancy games.”
Juguet has many fond memories of working on Tom Clancy titles, and one of her favorite Clancy games is the sequel to the original Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, which launched in 2004.
“For this game, we chose a name with [then-brand manager] Xavier Fouilleux that was a little unexpected, and it was a great fit” Juguet said. “Ialso love it because it has such a unique multiplayer mode, with asymmetric roles between Mercs and Spies. I don’t know if many people remember it, but it was revolutionary at the time!”
The Clancyverse Expands: From Parallel Development to Global Co-Development
As new games and series released over the next decades, Ubisoft Red Storm took full advantage of Ubisoft’s network of international studios and increased its level of collaboration.
“It became clear to us that we almost had too much goodness to handle on our own: we needed more partners,” Reid told us. The team at Ubisoft Red Storm specialized in developing the multiplayer part of Clancy games, as was the case for Ghost Recon titles, whose development was led by Ubisoft Paris.
While Ubisoft Red Storm’s role and involvement in Clancy games has expanded and varied, multiplayer has remained a specialty: the studio was in charge of the Dark Zone in both The Division games, a franchise led by Ubisoft Massive.
“At this point,” Reid told us, “we are collaborating on huge blended projects where everyone has a role, and all these team members that are scattered across the world in multiple studios really just form one big team.”
Moments of Light in the Darkness: Writing Realistic Stories
Although breakthrough gameplay innovations are what put Tom Clancy games on the map, everyone we spoke to told us that narrative was key to their long-term success.
“The biggest mistake we could make is to treat gameplay and narrative as two separate things, when in fact both are equal parts of the experience and must work together to create the best game possible,” said Lauren Stone, a writer now based at Ubisoft Massive who worked on Rainbow Six Siege,The Division and is currently working with Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy IP team.
Richard Dansky, central Clancy writer and one of the custodians of the Clancy brands, concurred. According to him, the integration of narrative in the gameplay has improved dramatically over the years.
“In the first mission packs for Ghost Recon, the only story you had was this giant wall of text giving you the brief of the mission, and that was it!” Dansky said.
For Dansky, one of the most interesting things to work on was “the translation of the fantasy, so that the players can realistically see themselves as highly trained operatives that can solve any problem at any time.” Creating Clancy narratives requires a lot of research and leveraging not just knowledge based on real-world geopolitics, but also a deep understanding of the Clancy game world and a predictive approach to the real world.
“The key is being aware of geopolitical trends to understand how the situation we’re in could realistically evolve in the near future,” Dansky explained.
Clancy games are so in tune with politics that they sometimes predict real-world events. Ghost Recon, a game that launched in 2001 but was set in 2008, featured a Russo-Georgian conflict and mirrored the situation that took place in real life in August 2008.
Matthew Corso, development director for the Clancy IP, also highlighted that maintaining consistency throughout the franchise is no small task.
“To that end, we have an internal universe tool that enables us to keep track of each character’s backstory and status within the universe,” Corso said.
Additionally, the Clancy IP team, based at Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, created five major narrative pillars to ensure that consistency, accuracy, and collaboration remain at the forefront of every Clancy title.
“These pillars ensure, among other things, that players can identify with the themes and characters presented in the games,” Corso said. “For instance, we always want our heroes to fight together for the greater good, but our antagonists should be realistic, with believable motivations.”
Another important part of making the game feel more realistic is to find the right balance between each narrative element, Stone told us.
“If a story is too dark, then the darkness has no real impact anymore,” she explained. Stone dealt with that in The Division 2 by introducing minor characters like Eva Garcia, whose audio logs can be discovered by players exploring the ruins of Kenly College in Washington, DC. Garcia’s logs about the sexist history of her college are personal accounts on subjects that still feel grounded in the wider story.
“Sometimes, smaller characters can also have a big impact on the story, especially if they feel real to the player, with relatable experiences,” Stone said.
Looking to the Future of Clancy Games
“What is so great about these games is that the themes are timeless,” Reid said. “The hero story, the idea that one person can save the day, ties into a heroic satisfaction that will always be relevant.”
From a narrative perspective, the future is very exciting.
“Things are going in so many different directions – the world, technology; everything, really – so that means a lot of opportunities that we have to take advantage of, to push new stories and let them evolve in new directions,” Dansky told us.
For example, as Rainbow Six Siege has grown and evolved with its community, the game’s themes and values have shifted toward competition, teamwork, and excellence. The Division, while featuring sleeper government agents, has explored the gray area between faction allegiances, most recently with Faye Lau’s storyline in the Warlords of New York DLC. Increasingly, Clancy games give players more agency, emphasize teamwork, and feature characters with nuanced motivations and agendas.
Another major objective for teams working on the future of Tom Clancy is to keep satisfying players and providing them with memorable and enriching experiences. For example, Rainbow Six Siege has embraced esports and grown a strong competitive community, and the first Rainbow Six Siege World Cup will take place in summer 2021. Another example is the work from Ubisoft Red Storm, as well as Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Düsseldorf and Ubisoft Mumbai to bring Splinter Cell to a new and innovative platform with VR.
You can play 15 different Tom Clancy games, including the original Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, and more on Ubisoft+.
Mythic Quest Raven's Banquet
Mythic Quest is an original TV series created by Ubisoft for Apple TV+. The fictional show takes place inside a game studio creating the biggest multiplayer video game of all time, called Mythic Quest. Season one opens with the studio about to release a major expansion pack, titled Raven's Banquet.
Red Storm developers played a significant role in creating the in-game assets for Mythic Quest, the video game within the TV series.
Actor & Director Rob McElhenney stopped at the studio to pre-screen 3 episodes, and a special behind the scenes featurette with the devs, prior to the series airing on Feb 7, 2020.
Check out this major shout out to Red Storm below!
Ronald McDonald House
What a fun event! Game developers from Red Storm Entertainment hosted a “game night” equipped with an ice cream bar, for the residents of the Ronald McDonald House in Durham, NC. RMH plays a vital role in keeping families close together while their seriously ill child is receiving medical treatment at Duke Children’s Hospital or WakeMed Children’s Hospital. RMH creates an environment where families facing similar challenges can support each other and cope with incredibly difficult situations. The goal was to bring a bit of fun and levity to children who are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. RMH accommodates 55 families each night. This housing is provided for little to no cost, allowing families to focus on what is truly important.
In 2018, Red Storm and Microsoft teamed up to donate custom “gaming carts” to RMH. The mobile carts are helpful to kids in recovery who cannot get out of bed easily to play with others, so the carts can come to them! Red Storm updated the gaming carts with new games including Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Rainbow Six Siege, Trials Rising, and Starlink: Battle For Atlas.
A touching video from RMH Durham & Wake: youtu.be/PRZNNCKHXqA
For more info on RMH Durham & Wake: www.rmhdurhamwake.org/
#UbisoftRedStorm #PlayForGood #RonaldMcDonaldHouse #RMHDurhamWake
No game night is complete without ice cream!
Camp Confidence
Red Storm Entertainment welcomed Camp Confidence and the Cary Police Department for a studio tour and discussion on creative career paths. Camp Confidence is a mentorship program which fosters positive interactions between police officers and at-risk youth. The rising ninth graders are hand selected by their school resource officers to participate in the program. The police officers go above and beyond to build relationships with the youth, while teaching them valuable life skills like conflict resolution, and internet safety. The program focuses on early intervention and empowering youth to visualize their future, by exposing them to exciting college and career paths.
#UbisoftRedStorm #PlayForGood #CampConfidence #YouthOutreach #CaryPoliceDept
Stack Up
Stack Up visits Red Storm Entertainment for a studio tour and multiplayer gaming with
“The Division 2.”
Stack Up Founder Stephen Machuga, along with members in the North Carolina “Stack,” got an insider look at game development on the Division. Expert Character Artist Chris Wells (above) demoed his process for concept art and character design. Senior Environment Artist Andrew Dixon showed off some flight path AI and the painstaking detail that goes into world-building. And finally, Audio Director Justin Drust gave the group an overview of the audio pipeline, including how a player triggers sounds along a path.
Once the group jumped into multiplayer they commented on how hyper-aware they now were of the sound and music that was being layered into the game. ***Disclaimer: We cannot guarantee that you will ever experience video games the same way after we show you how they’re made!***
Stack Up is a non-profit organization that helps veterans through gaming. They send “Supply Crates” of video games to soldiers who are deployed in combat zones or recovering in military hospitals. They conduct “Air Assaults” by flying deserving veterans to video game and geek culture events. And they form “The Stacks” which are teams of veterans and civilian volunteers organized by location. The Stacks come together to bring friendship, community, and support to those coping with PTSD or transitioning back to civilian life.
For more info on Stack Up: https://stackup.org
#StackUp #UbisoftRedStorm #PlayForGood #Veterans #Charity #RedStorm
