Whatever happened to Monolith (the games developer)?

[80251]

I seem to remember that F.E.A.R. was their last AAA IP that had the sales to back it up, but I remember having some laughs playing NOLF and NOLF2 before that (probably the most humorous games I ever played).

On their website the latest game they've developed seems to be a Middle Earth title (Shadows of War) and that's from 2017.

 

[Solaris17]

On their website the latest game they've developed seems to be a Middle Earth title (Shadows of War) and that's from 2017.

I dont think that game did well, so it might be your answer.

 

[64K]

I think they are still around and somewhat active. Supposedly they are working on a Wonder Woman game.

NOLF and NOLF 2 are classics. It's too bad that they can't be bought digitally anywhere.

 

[GreiverBlade]

NOLF and NOLF 2 are classics. It's too bad that they can't be bought digitally anywhere.

yep sad, that's also why i am happy that my 3D Prophet 9700 came with NOLF2 (in standard DVD box) back in the days (and that i kept it the card and the game obviously and even the original box manual and accessories )

 

[cvaldes]

A quick Internet search (yes, that old timey thing people used to do 10-15 years ago) indicates that they are working on a Wonder Woman title

Wonder Woman game announced, is in development at Monolith Productions

The DC adaptation has no release date or game footage.

www.pcgamer.com

but no release date has been announced.

 

[Splinterdog]

NOLF is legendary in the annals of gaming and its parody and humour has yet to be equalled. It says a lot about a game that still has that buzz and replayability after so many years.

 

[Vario]

AVP2. That game was sick.

 

[80251]

Wonder Woman title is what they're developing now? I can't imagine that doing well.

 

[Toothless]

I dont think that game did well, so it might be your answer.

Both Middle Earth games did pretty well. The second more so.

 

[80251]

NOLF was legendary. Monolith apparently had a music contest open to anyone for music to be incorporated into NOLF. I'm not sure if any of the submissions actually made it into the game but I bought an old CD version of NOLF that included a bonus CD of some of the better original musical compositions/performances that were submitted. NOLF2 wasn't nearly as funny as NOLF but had a far better game engine.

LOL, so since F.E.A.R. 3 didn't get the sales or critical reception that the original F.E.A.R. received they're not going to reboot that franchise but go with Wonder Woman instead?

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I think I got Shadows of War for free from something. I couldnt play it longer than 5 minutes at first, game mechanics were difficult to learn. Not so popular amongst my crowd back when.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

NOLF was legendary. Monolith apparently had a music contest open to anyone for music to be incorporated into NOLF. I'm not sure if any of the submissions actually made it into the game but I bought an old CD version of NOLF that included a bonus CD of some of the better original musical compositions/performances that were submitted. NOLF2 wasn't nearly as funny as NOLF but had a far better game engine.

LOL, so since F.E.A.R. 3 didn't get the sales or critical reception that the original F.E.A.R. received they're not going to reboot that franchise but go with Wonder Woman instead?

You forget. They dont get to call the shots anymore. Warner Bros bought them in 2004 and Warner Bros calls the shots. Hence why everything they've done since 2009 has been on Warner Bros owned I.P.

The games that were released by Monolith between 2004-2009 were most likely games that had been in the pipeline well before the acquisition by WB and were probably too far into development to cancel so WB let them finish those projects and get them out. WB could have also interfered with Fear 2 although according to a video on YT, production was troubled.

The Rise and Fall of F.E.A.R.

 

[Regeneration]

Nothing happened to them.

Monolith releases a new game every 3 years for all major platform,s and now they work on a new Wonder Woman game.

Their latest announcement was on December 9th 2021:

Wonder Woman Game - In Development By Monolith Productions

She will fight to unite the warriors of two worlds. You are Wonder Woman. Help us bring an iconic DC Super Hero to life! View our open positions here: go.wbgames.com/LithJobs

lith.com

This makes sense since they are owned by Warner Bros.

Hopefully it will not feature Gal Gadot and her annoying accent. I apologize on behalf of all Jewish people for that.

 

[Chomiq]

Nothing happened to them.

Monolith releases a new game every 3 years for all major platform,s and now they work on a new Wonder Woman game.

Their latest announcement was on December 9th 2021:

Wonder Woman Game - In Development By Monolith Productions

She will fight to unite the warriors of two worlds. You are Wonder Woman. Help us bring an iconic DC Super Hero to life! View our open positions here: go.wbgames.com/LithJobs

lith.com

This makes sense since they are owned by Warner Bros.

Hopefully it will not feature Gal Gadot and her annoying accent. I apologize on behalf of all Jewish people for that.

Nonsense, that's ancient Greek accent.

On topic - yeah they're under WB now, don't expect anything creative from them. The only hope in reviving the NOLF franchise is that someone makes an indie game in the spirit of the original one, just like that Undetected game, which was made in a spirit of MGS.

 

[kilo]

There's a NOLF revival project thats free (...) and win 10 and 11 compatible. Found it through searching what NOLF was since I hadnt heard of it before. Looks like the project had been around several years before 2017.

 

[Splinterdog]

There's a NOLF revival project thats free (legally) and win 10 and 11 compatible. Found it through searching what NOLF was since I hadnt heard of it before. Looks like the project had been around several years before 2017.

I'm not entirely sure that NOLF Revival is legal. It just happens to exist for grabbing the games with patches so that they can run on modern systems. We all love that of course, but its existence is somewhat grey, shall we say?
Nightdive studios have tried valiantly to get the IP, but as we all know, it's stuck in legal IP hell.

 

[kilo]

I'm not entirely sure that NOLF Revival is legal. It just happens to exist for grabbing the games with patches so that they can run on modern systems. We all love that of course, but its existence is somewhat grey, shall we say?
Nightdive studios have tried valiantly to get the IP, but as we all know, it's stuck in legal IP hell.

Oof, you are quite right! It is in a legal grey area. Looks like there's three (!) trademark owners who can't decide who actually owns it. I saw the site was still up and was up for several years and figured it was legal since most companies would jump on that, especially after several articles on major sites brought it to light (e.g. AM2R).

 

[dirtyferret]

FYI, you can get their Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Game of the Year Edition free on gog this month if you have amazon prime

Prime Gaming | Discover, download, and play games

Enjoy games and more gaming extras every month with Amazon Prime.

gaming.amazon.com

Hopefully it will not feature Gal Gadot and her annoying accent

Totally get that, I lived and traveled down south in the US for a while and had to use google translate on more than one occasion (I'm from the Northeast US). That said, since Gadot speaks three languages, I'll give her a pass on the annoying accent.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Totally get that, I lived and traveled down south in the US for a while and had to use google translate on more than one occasion (I'm from the Northeast US)

What do Y'all mean by that?

 

[dirtyferret]

What do Y'all mean by that?

i was fixin to git to it but than i started piddlin

 

[68Olds]

How's your mom'n'em? Dja eat yet?

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Mehepew?

 

[Frick]

AVP2. That game was sick.

Better than the first? Admittedly I've mostly played that in multiplayer and that was absolutely rocking. Nothing like spearing those aliens who think they are so cool to the wall.

 

[stinger608]

FYI, you can get their Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Game of the Year Edition free on gog this month if you have amazon prime

Cool. Been thinking of giving this a try. Free is even better.

 

[Splinterdog]

NOLF 1 almost didn't get made because MGM Studios sent a cease and desist letter to Monolith claiming that the company was infringing on their own James Bond IP.
Monolith, according to Craig Hubbard, ignored the letter which was sent 18 months before release of the game.
I would like to see the actual wording of that letter in order to see exactly how MGM's legal argument stacked up, if at all.

MGM tried to snuff out No One Lives Forever

www.destructoid.com