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Critical Mass Interactive is both a video game developer and an outsource provider to developers and publishers. We exist to serve your development needs. Our mission is to provide high-quality art, programming, and design solutions for today's game developers and publishers delivered consistently on time and on budget. Our principals have been creating and managing projects collectively for well over three decades. We have been in the trenches. We know what you are going through. Let us help you reach your goals.
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Spark Unlimited approached CMI as they were coming up on a very important milestone where they needed a large amount of assets to be created in a very short amount of time. Assets ranged from benches to complete automobiles. CMI took on the project and completed the assets on time and on budget. Click on this link to see some of the assets for the project. |
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Project One: Audio Needs for E3. NCsoft required audio assets for their E3 demo as their audio technician was ill at a very inopportune moment. CMI pulled one of our key audio technicians and put them on-site at NCsoft for the duration of the project. Project Two: Programming / Engineering. CMI provided an engineer on-site for an internal milestone. Project Three: Technical Art. NCsoft required a technical artist to complete some very intricate tasks. CMI worked off-site and eventually provided an artist on-site to help the TR team reach their goals. "We were in a panic getting ready for E3 and had no hope of getting the number of sound effects we needed done. We called CMI at the last minute and they totally saved our butts!" "I recommend Billy highly. He is easy to get along with, responsible, communicative and shines brightly under very tight deadlines." "Billy Cain understands that pursuit of excellence in the business of game development requires real professionalism. I was particularly impressed with the quality and consistency of organizational skills Billy's group brought to bear on the needs of my project at the time. I definitely recommend Billy and Critical Mass." |
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The Outfit THQ approached CMI to create some next-generation, high polygon models with normal maps, etc. for The Outfit. The schedule was tight, and work was completed on time and on budget. "Critical Mass provided our environment assets on time and to a high level of quality. We enjoyed working with Billy and Matt and would do it again on the next project." |
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Majesco came to CMI with a problem: they needed to create some early levels in the game that would help the player learn to do the basic shark movements and learn some early gameplay features. CMI was given the dimensions of a rectangular room and told to "make it look great and play well." CMI divided the room into two basic areas, connected by a main puzzle that needed to be solved, with many sub-puzzles as well. When the player (Jaws) figures out the main puzzle, the second room becomes available and another main puzzle (with sub-puzzles) is presented to the player. When the main puzzle is solved, Jaws escapes the building and the remainder of the game progresses. First, CMI provided sketches to the client from 3DS Max, then after approval, CMI built out the rooms. When the rooms were approaching a final state, CMI worked with the client's editor to ensure that the level would work. After extensive testing and working back and forth with the client, the levels were signed off. “Billy and his company stepped up to the plate on a title that was in dire need of help and nailed one out of the park for us. He is professional, courteous and a heck of a guy. I would GLADLY work with him and his team on anything in the future.” "Critical Mass Interactive not only fulfilled our request to populate the world, but created interesting gameplay elements for the player thereby making the world look good AND play well." |
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Best Direction presented CMI with a playable game of Shoot 'em Poker. We were challenged to give it a makeover, both through art and through adding new gameplay features. CMI worked closely with Best Direction to create the new features that the game needed, and to hone the gameplay until it was considered to be a blast! At that point, we brought in one of our best 'pixel artists,' and we re-did all the placeholder art. The timer bar was replaced with a stick of dynamite with a burning fuse, cutscenes were added, and animated faces were added to bring the characters to life. Many more additions were done, such as adding new icons that added more time to your play, freezing cards, and swapping rows of cards. The game launched on Verizon in July of 2006. |
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CMI utilized its Game Review Service to provide the needed feedback. Click here to learn more. |
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Electronic Arts utilized CMI's particular skillset with the Ultima Online (UO) game on many individual projects, including quite a few that we cannot discuss here. Ultima Online has relied on Critical Mass for two projects so far this last year. We have been delighted by the team relationship, impressed with their ability to meet deadlines, and satisfied with the assets we’ve received. Good communication is so important in these relationships – Matt and Billy are always helping us stay on top of the project and expectations. "Billy is phenomenally passionate and always willing to make the extra effort to ensure the work is done right. I've hired Billy and CMI for several service contracts, and I've always been impressed by his passion, knowledge and service-oriented attitude." |
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Gearbox approached CMI for some additional world assets for their upcoming game. Everything had to be created for Unreal 3, because the game is being built with that engine. CMI set a budget and schedule and delivered everything on budget one month ahead of schedule. |
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Guppy Games came to CMI for playability feedback and artwork for their titles. CMI provided a splash screen for Stick Fighter Fury, and its Game Review Service on Egg Fry, Kung Fu Academy, and Quarters. |
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HBO came to CMI for a producer on each of these titles. CMI produced and provided design feedback on each of the titles. |
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Indiagames hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on their titles. CMI provided its Game Review Service for these titles. “I have had the pleasure of working with Billy and his team on many projects. All I have to say is he is very good at his work and always delivers on time! Billy is your man... if you want to have the "extra glitter" on your games.” |
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International Biophysics Corporation (IBC) approached CMI with an interesting engineering request: they needed to reverse engineer one of their products that was already in the channel, because the programmer that created it was no longer with the company. An engineer was brought to the task and created an elegant, automated solution for the client, saving them thousands of dollars on the already shipped product. "CMI analyzed our situation, presented a solution plan and executed it on budget. I highly recommend their services." |
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Kaneva came to CMI to create new art assets for their 3D social networking game world. CMI created hundreds of new art assets for World of Kaneva over multiple contracts. |
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periMind needed an update of their most popular game, Air Attack. CMI worked closely with periMind and came up with new ideas for the game that would be able to be implemented within the schedule and budget available for the project. Air Attack II was the result. “Working with the team at CMI has been great. We have done a number of projects together and throughout each project they have been collaborative, easy to work with, offered and taken suggestions, and most importantly - hit their deadlines and stayed within their budgets. We plan on working together for a long time!” |
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Reaxion hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on their titles. CMI completed its Game Review Service for each game. |
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Skyzone hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on these titles. CMI provided its Game Review Service for these games. |
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Tablestar Games approached CMI with a card game they wanted to turn into a video game. CMI assessed the needs of the client, including their budget restrictions and their schedule and created a development plan for the game that worked for them. The game is now in Open Beta testing. Try it out by clicking here. The game is being created for the iPhone as well as internet play. |
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Turbine required concept art for The Lord of the Rings franchise because they acquired the book rights, not the movie rights. Everything had to match Tolkien's vision, but it had to be different from the movie's vision at the same time. We provided both new concept art as well as high polygon models for War of the Ring. |
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GSD&M (the marketing group for the US Air Force in Austin) came to CMI and requested that CMI put together a pitch for a flight simulator for the USAF to be used at live events. The purpose was to spread the word about the mission of the USAF and to also get recruits interested. The project would need to be completed within three months. From the review of USAF: Air Dominance in National Defense Magazine: "“USAF: Air Dominance” is simpler to play than “America’s Army.” While the Army game intends to provide a realistic rendition of Army doctrine and tactics, the Air Force aimed more for an arcade game than an ultra-realistic flight simulator. The game is easy to grasp, and each mission only lasts a minute or so. It’s designed to briefly let spectators at NASCAR and other events play for a couple of minutes, and then direct them to the recruiters. “We were trying to have a three to five minute experience, so multiple people could experience it,” said Lee. “We can’t have hundreds of people playing the game for an unlimited amount of time.” |
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Vivendi hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on their titles. CMI provided its Game Review Service for these titles. |
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VMC Game Labs approached CMI to create a game in two months that would be used as a marketing tool at GDC '08 to promote their studio. It needed to be a turnkey solution start to finish in two months. They wished to give the game away at GDC '08 on Flash Drives, on their website, and they wanted it to continue to live throughout 2008 at other trade shows. CMI designed a 'match three' game with a twist. The game has launched! Click here to download it! |
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Your World Games brought CMI on to provide some initial design work on The Shroud. CMI created multiple design documents, described many of the game's systems, and took the main ideas that YWG had for the game and brought them into a tighter focus. Critical Mass Interactive helped Your World Games to narrow our game designs and objectives, ultimately setting our company on a path that resulted in the creation and development of “The Shroud,” a game that IGN have named as the most anticipated wireless game of 2007. CMI gave Your World Games the motivation and push we needed to achieve our goals. |
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The Acton Foundation approached CMI to create a handful of educational games. CMI listened to the client, designed the first game, and is in the process of building the first game. |
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Namco hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on this title. CMI provided its Game Review Service for this game. |
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Bonus Mobile hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on this title. CMI provided its Game Review Service for this game. “Critical Mass Interactive provided us with the CRITICAL information we needed to make The Dozens™ into the ground breaking multiplayer mobile game it is. I only wish I had this sort of pre-release review resource during the 25 years I designed and produced computer and video games. I’m sure it would have improved the products I worked on at Activision, Lightspan, and Avalon Hill.” |
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CoVi Technologies approached CMI with a very interesting problem: they have been in the security camera business for years, and had just released an "HD" camera. They wanted to completely redo the user interface so it reduced the amount of time required to master its controls. Plus they wanted it "to feel more like a video game." CMI took a look at what the client's needs were and approached the user interface from a complete restart. The UI designer took elements from many video games and completed the work with a 'corporate' look, while incorporating many new video game surveillance ideas. The client was thrilled and the marketing director commented that many of these new ideas were completely new to the surveillance market and would help them sell many new systems. |
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Delfin interactive approached CMI with an urgent art need for their mobile game. CMI provided all the Gumby face icons for the game. |
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Digimation approached CMI with a huge project: they wanted to take all the models in their library and convert them to another format. CMI converted the files and provided them to the client in the format they required. |
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Frontline Studios approached CMI as they were working on a crosswords game with New York Times-style puzzles to be released in English, but as they are developers from outside the U.S., they did not have the capabilities of creating the puzzles and clues. Critical Mass created hundreds of puzzles for use in the game. |
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Global FUN hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on this title. CMI provided its Game Review Service for this game. |
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Glofun hired CMI to provide design, gameplay feedback, and playability feedback on their title. CMI provided its Game Review Service for this title. |
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iWin hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on these titles. CMI provided its Game Review Service for these games.. |
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JAMDAT came to CMI for gameplay and playability feedback on a number of their titles. CMI provided its Game Review Service for this title. |
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Kallisto Productions required a game writer and producer for their new game system. CMI teamed up Jason Henderson (Sword of Dracula, Command and Conquer, and more) with Kallisto to create an interactive story for their game system. |
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Knockabout Games required a mobile game tester on a moment's notice. CMI provided a tester that worked on the remainder of the project the very next day. "Critical Mass Interactive was able to provide Knockabout with a great QA tester for one of our titles literally overnight. As independent developers, this is just the type of response that we need. We are very happy to recommend CMI to anyone!" |
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Midway approached CMI with a need for in-game animation and level scripting in their game that was based upon Unreal 3 technology. Within a few days, CMI provided a scripter that stayed on until the end of the project. |
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minoraxis hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on these titles. CMI provided its Game Review Service for these titles. |
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Multimedia Games approached CMI when they had a need for a 3D puzzle for their Tomb Raider casino game. CMI worked with the original Tomb Raider assets and assembled a level with special animations and additional objects that would match the look and feel of both Tomb Raider and the casino game itself. |
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Mumbo Jumbo needed a game design for a hunting game that would incorporate a new 'hook': animals that can kill you! CMI worked with the client and created a design based upon Big Boar hunting - the premise is that you work your way up to purchasing dogs that can corner the boars, and you kill them with knives! We're still waiting to see this game go into production... :) |
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NXN approached CMI with an idea for an ad campaign, but they needed art that was being used in an actual video game for it. CMI provided some art from their recent projects, styled in the way that NXN required it. |
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Pixel Mine Productions called CMI for new art as they were approaching a deadline yet did not have enough art staff to complete the work required for the project milestone. CMI completed their art asset list in time for the deadline. "Billy Cain and Critical Mass have breathed new life of integrity and honesty into the game business. Couple those attributes with hard work and know-how and you end up with excellent partners." |
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Roxor came to CMI to get their game in front of publishers. CMI worked with Roxor to create marketing materials, set up meetings at GDC, and Roxor eventually landed a deal for their game. |
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Sierra (Inevitable Entertainment) approached CMI at the eleventh hour for a complete pass through all the text in the game, ensuring grammar, spelling, and Tolkien names were all 100% correct. Since the work had to be completed by 8am the morning after the text was provided, CMI worked through the night to ensure its completion. "I have worked with Billy on two projects over the last five years. His professionalism, attention to detail, and passion for games is unmatched. He has an ability to lead and manage projects that I have not seen in too many people, and I've worked with an awful lot of project leads. I would unhesitatingly work with Billy again, and I recommend working with him to everyone I can." |
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Sony Online Entertainment hired CMI to create assets for an unannounced project. CMI created dozens of assets for the project, which has since been cancelled. |
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Timpani Communications was working on a website for a client and needed to hand work off to another group as they were overloaded with another project. CMI took over the website, completed art assets and layout for it based upon feedback from Timpani and the client and launched the site on time and on budget. |
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Tournament Games approached CMI for gameplay and playability feedback on this title. CMI provided its Game Review Service for this game. |
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WayForward Technologies came to CMI for artwork for Toon Twister 3D. CMI created all the art required for the project on time and on budget. |
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West of Pluto teamed up with CMI for splash screens and game reviews for these titles. CMI provided splach screens for Canasta Master, Kakuro, and Euchre. Dodge Ball and Paper Route Nightmare received our Game Review Service. "I’ve worked with Critical Mass on a couple of game design and development projects and have been very impressed with the extremely high quality of the work they do. They always make sure the job is done right, within budget, and on time. They’re also very easy to work with and I look forward to working with them on many future projects." |
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Wimos hired CMI to provide gameplay and playability feedback on these titles. CMI provided its Game Review Service for these games. |
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York Zimmerman approached CMI with a unique project: they wanted CMI to re-design their video game for a second release. The first version was created in 3D and would not run on as many PC game systems as a 2D version would, so they wanted a complete re-design. On top of that, they asked three game design groups to pitch their ideas so the client could pick the best one. CMI analyzed the client's needs, played the first version of the game, took notes on what should be kept, what should be changed or improved, and provided a new design document on time and on budget to the client. Of the three, CMI's design was chosen as the blueprint for the final game. |