independent industry computer and video games interactive entertainment founded 2006 headquarters austin texas united states key people josh bear president and cco michael wilford ceo products the maw splosion man comic jumper ms. splosion man the gunstringer number of employees 25 parent independent 2006 2011 ; 2015 present microsoft studios 2011 2015 website http www.twistedpixelgames.com twisted pixel games is a video game developer based in austin texas . originally a contractor twisted pixel now releases games based on their own intellectual properties such as the maw and splosion man . the company uses their own proprietary engine known as beard to power their games . on october 12 2011 it was announced that twisted pixel had become part of microsoft studios . however twisted pixel was separated from microsoft and become an independent company again starting from september 30 2015 . contents 1 history 1.1 controversy 2 technology 3 developed games 4 references 5 external links history edit twisted pixel games was founded in 2006 by industry veterans michael wilford frank wilson and josh bear . 1 the company first performed contract work for the now defunct midway games providing engineering work for nba ballers chosen one and blitz the league ii . in 2008 twisted pixel announced that their focus had shifted to digitally distributed games based on their own new intellectual properties . 1 in 2008 the company moved from madison indiana to their current location in austin texas . according to ceo michael wilford the move was to tap into a broader talent pool . 2 initially twisted pixel targeted wiiware as their service of choice . speaking of the 2005 planned state of the service back then wiiware was planned to be more like xbox live arcade stated ceo michael wilford . 3 he noted the original plans for the service would require companies to submit games to nintendo for approval similar to the submission process microsoft uses for xbox live arcade . early discussions with microsoft were not positive but wilford stated that nintendo was eager to work with them . twisted pixel was the first company to get a green light for wiiware . 3 nintendo later changed their wiiware model to one that required no submission process . twisted pixel opted not to use the service and continued talks with microsoft . in 2007 wilford met with david every the portfolio planner for xbox live arcade at that time . twisted pixel pitched multiple games including the maw which would become their first xbox live arcade title . 3 released on january 21 2009 the maw tells the story of the extraterrestrial frank and a purple amorphous creature called the maw who have crash landed their spacecraft on an alien planet . 4 their second title splosion man is a platform game where players control an escaped science experiment with the ability to explode himself repeatedly . 5 it was released on july 22 2009 . twisted pixel s third title comic jumper the adventures of captain smiley was released october 6 2010 . players control captain smiley a comic book hero whose comics are poorly received . seeking help from twisted pixel themselves he jumps in other comics hoping to glean from each genre s popularity . 6 on december 3 2010 twisted pixel announced ms. splosion man a sequel to 2009 s splosion man . 7 it was released on july 13 2011 . on february 1 2011 the company revealed their fifth original game the gunstringer a third person shooter designed for use with the xbox 360 kinect peripheral . the game was originally intended to be the first xbox live arcade game to be featured as a kinect title but instead became a retail release . 8 it is set as a live action play set in the old west . the protagonist killed by his posse has been resurrected and seeks revenge . live action sequences for the game were filmed at the paramount theatre in austin texas where the company is located . 9 on september 30 2015 twisted pixel games announced that they had been separated from microsoft studios and become an independent studio again . 10 their games have been generally well received by critics and collectively have won several awards . the maw won the 2008 audience choice award at pax10 11 and was a finalist at the independent games festival 2009 . 12 splosion man was voted by the xbox live community as the best original xbox live arcade game of 2009 . 13 in a september 2010 ranking ign listed it eleventh in their top twenty five xbox live arcade titles of all time . 14 it also received several best of e3 awards in 2009 . 15 captain smiley the lead character in comic jumper received the best new character award from official xbox magazine in 2010 . 16 controversy edit in 2009 the company released its first teaser trailer for comic jumper the adventures of captain smiley . this caught the attention of an independent comics publisher fierce comics who produces the maniacal smile a character that has been in print form since 1998 . captain smiley retained many similarities to the maniacal smile and fierce comics and twisted pixel agreed to showcase their differences by having the maniacal smile appear in the comic jumper video game to include an unlockable issue and have captain smiley appear in a stand alone issue of the maniacal smile . in january 2011 capcom released an ios game entitled maxplosion which featured several similarities to splosion man including the same game mechanics . speaking on twitter twisted pixel programmer mike henry believed the game to be a complete theft . twisted pixel ceo michael wilford also pointed out that they once pitched splosion man to capcom but was rejected . 17 twisted pixel does not plan to take legal action against capcom . 18 capcom responded to the allegations saying that the game was developed independently by capcom mobile a different division from the one that had discussions with twisted pixel and the game s similarities to splosion man was a coincidence . 19 wilford later explained that the pitch to capcom was presented to the us branch of the company and that the uk division handles all mobile game development . he stated that it was unlikely that capcom us passed on the game pitch to capcom uk . 3 technology edit all of twisted pixel s games are powered by beard a proprietary engine . 20 content is developed with the company s proprietary razor editor in conjunction with rad game tools granny 3d animation toolset . 21 22 razor can be adapted to develop in 3d or 2.5 d configurations . games are scripted using lua which allows the developers to share code between titles . 21 developed games edit year title platform s genre 2009 the maw xbox 360 windows action adventure 2009 splosion man xbox 360 action platformer 2010 comic jumper the adventures of captain smiley xbox 360 side scroller beat em up 2011 ms. splosion man xbox 360 windows platformer 2011 the gunstringer xbox 360 third person shooter rail shooter 2013 lococycle xbox 360 xbox one windows racing vehicular combat 2017 wilson s heart oculus rift references edit a b kumar mathew 2008 07 09 . q & a twisted pixel s wilford on being swallowed by the maw . gamasutra . retrieved 2011 01 20 . gamesetinterview the maw s deleted scenes a twisted pixel approach to dlc . game set watch . 2009 03 18 . retrieved 2009 04 07 . a b c d game informer september 2011 . the zen of twisted pixel whitehead dan 2009 01 29 . the maw xbox 360 review . eurogamer . retrieved 2010 10 08 . sessler adam 2009 06 15 . splosion man hands on preview . g4tv . retrieved 2010 10 15 . oxm staff 2010 10 04 . comic jumper the adventures of captain smiley . official xbox magazine uk . retrieved 2010 10 06 . grant christopher 2010 12 03 . ms. splosion man makes her debut sploding fall of 2011 . joystiq . retrieved 2010 12 03 . navarro alex 2011 06 07 . the gunstringer is a retail game now but is it any good . giant bomb . retrieved 2011 06 12 . fletcher jc 2011 01 26 . twisted pixel shooting video in austin for unannounced game . joystiq . retrieved 2011 03 02 . dyer mitch september 30 2015 . lococycle developer twisted pixel is an indie studio again . ign . retrieved september 30 2015 . fahey mike 2008 09 23 . the maw devours pax 10 audience choice award . kotaku . retrieved 2010 10 08 . the 12th annual independent games festival finalists and winners . independent games festival . retrieved 2010 10 08 . hryb larry 2010 04 06 . xbox live marketplace release schedule . majornelson.com . retrieved 2010 10 03 . the top 25 xbox live arcade games . ign . 2010 09 16 . retrieved 2010 09 16 . ferry 2009 07 22 . on xbox live arcade today splosion man . video games blogger . retrieved 2011 01 20 . oxm officialxboxmagazine . official xbox magazine via twitter . 2011 01 13 . retrieved 2011 01 20 . well deserved give the cap our congrats . rt mrwilford thanks oxm for voting captain smiley as 2010 s best new character awesome ivan tom 2011 01 12 . splosion man dev accuses capcom of complete game theft . computer and video games . retrieved 2011 01 12 . mcelroy justin 2011 01 13 . twisted pixel ceo we won t pursue legal action over capcom s maxplosion . joystiq . retrieved 2011 01 20 . good owen 2011 01 13 . capcom saddened by plagiarism allegations . kotaku . retrieved 2011 01 20 . gilbert ben 2010 12 03 . twisted pixel s josh bear on giving ms. splosion man more than just a bow . joystiq . retrieved 2010 12 03 . a b dev talk twisted pixel games . gamer s mint . 2010 02 17 . retrieved 2011 01 20 . alexander leigh 2010 07 19 . twisted pixel uses rad s granny 3d in comic jumper beard engine . gamasutra . retrieved 2011 01 20 . external links edit video games portal official website v t e microsoft studios franchises age of empires alan wake banjo kazooie battletoads black & white blinx conker crackdown crimson skies dance central the dishwasher fable forza gears of war halo hexic hydro thunder jetpac joy ride killer instinct kinect party kinect sports lips max & the magic marker mechwarrior microsoft flight simulator midtown madness minecraft miss teen usa motocross madness ninety nine nights perfect dark pinball fx project gotham racing quantum redshift rallisport challenge rise of nations scene it shadowrun splosion man viva pi ata zoo tycoon current subsidiaries 343 industries bigpark the coalition good science studio launchworks lift london mojang rare turn 10 studios former subsidiaries aces studio bungie carbonated games digital anvil ensemble studios fasa studio hired gun lionhead studios press play twisted pixel games xbox entertainment studios people phil spencer phil harrison larry hryb casey hudson bonnie ross joseph staten related list of microsoft studios video games msn games retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title twisted pixel games & oldid 730566964 categories video game companies established in 2006companies based in austin texasvideo game development companiesvideo game companies of the united states navigation menu personal 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