 | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2000 (2000) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Defunct | January 31, 2016 (2016-01-31) |
| Headquarters | Morrisville, North Carolina, U.S. |
Key people | Eric Peterson, Founder/President and CEO Wayne Harvey, Founder/VP/CTO Dave Ellis, Founder/Senior Game Designer, Marc Racine Founder/Production Director, Senior Game Designer Brett Freese |
| Products | Vicious Engine |
| Parent | D3 Publisher (2007–2014) Little Orbit (2014–2016) |
| Divisions | Monkey Bar Games |
| Website | viciouscycleinc |
Vicious Cycle Software was an American video game development company based in Morrisville, North Carolina.
History
Vicious Cycle was founded in 2000 by Eric Peterson, Dave Ellis, Marc Racine, and Wayne Harvey after layoffs at the local MicroProse development studio (then a Hasbro Interactive studio) forced several game developers into finding other work. Racine resigned as Vice President and Director of Production in the Spring of 2005 to pursue other ventures. Ellis left the company in the Summer of 2000 but returned in 2005 to take a position as a game designer. Vicious Cycle has released titles for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PlayStation Portable systems as well as the Microsoft Windows platform.
On June 20, 2007, Vicious Cycle was acquired by D3 Publisher and became a fully-owned subsidiary of their D3 Publisher of America division, a second‐tier subsidiary of D3 Inc.1 Vicious Cycle released Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 26, 2009. On October 1, 2009, they announced Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond for Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Store for winter 2009.2
On September 4, 2014, Vicious Cycle was acquired by Little Orbit.34 As the final two games (Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations and Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends) neared completion, several rounds of layoffs reduced the studio to a skeleton crew. Vicious Cycle closed its doors permanently on January 31, 2016.
Technology
In 2005, Vicious Cycle announced the release of their Vicious Engine game engine. The Vicious Engine was a complete game development middleware solution for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, GameCube, Wii and Microsoft Windows. It was one of the first game engines to offer full support for the PSP and Wii platforms.
The second version of the Vicious Engine, Ve2, was released on March 25, 2009, at the Game Developers Conference. It specifically featured improvements for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.56
Games
Monkey Bar Games
 | |
Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software and Programming |
| Founded | 2005 (2005) |
| Defunct | January 31, 2016 (2016-01-31) |
| Headquarters | , |
| Parent | Vicious Cycle Software |
Monkey Bar Games was the children's division of Vicious Cycle Software. The label was mainly associated with games based on licensed children's properties.8 Monkey Bar was formed in November 2005, with Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet and Curious George being the first two titles released under the label.9
References
References
- Press Release: D3 Inc. Acquires Vicious Cycle Software Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine from D3 website
- Press Release Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond Coming to XBLA press release from TeamXbox.com
- "Little Orbit Acquires Vicious Cycle Software" (Press release). Little Orbit. September 4, 2014. Archived from the original on October 28, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
- Ohnesorge, Lauren (September 12, 2014). "Vicious Cycle Software acquired - again; CEO says it means jobs". American City Business Journals. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- Thompson, Michael (March 24, 2009). "Vicious Cycle's new engine available for licensing". Ars Technica. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
- "The Top 10 Game Engines No. 9: Vicious Engine 2". MCV. June 16, 2009. ISSN 1469-4832. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
- Little Orbit (May 4, 2015). "Little Orbit Kicks Off Totally Epic Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends Video Game" (Press release). PR Newswire iReach. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
- "Monkey Bar Games". Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
- "Vicious Cycle® Software, Inc. Establishes Monkey Bar Games(tm)". GamesIndustry.biz. November 15, 2005. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
External links
External links
- Vicious Cycle Software official site Archived November 22, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- Monkey Bar Games official site Archived April 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Vicious Engine official site
- Vicious Cycle Software entry at MobyGames