Turbine, Inc.
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| Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Johnny Monsarrat, Jeremy Gaffney, Kevin Langevin, Timothy Miller |
| Headquarters | Needham, Massachusetts, United States |
| Products |
Asheron's Call Asheron's Call 2 Dungeons & Dragons Online The Lord of the Rings Online |
| Owner | Time Warner |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| Website | turbine.com |
Turbine, Inc. (formerly Turbine Entertainment Software, Second Nature, and originally CyberSpace, Inc.) is an American computer game developer that develops 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Turbine was founded by Johnny Monsarrat, Jeremy Gaffney, Kevin Langevin, and Timothy Miller as CyberSpace, Inc., changing their company name in 1995 to Turbine, Inc. In April 2007, Turbine released their most recent MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online.
Turbine was a privately held company backed by Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, and other private investors since 1998. On April 20, 2010, the company was formally acquired by Warner Bros..
Turbine is known for employing fans of the game to the customer service side. Examples for Dungeons & Dragons Online include "Tolero" (who hosted a long running role play segment on the unofficial DDO podcast, DDOcast), and Jerry Snook (creator and host of said cast).
Turbine was founded in April 1994 by Johnny Monsarrat and fellow students at Brown University, as a project with the goal to create the world's largest game. Monsarrat was hit by a car in 1994, which resulted in a payout he used to fund the company. In 1995 the company was based in his mother's house with 12 staff members. They found an office in Providence, RI, but later moved to Westwood, Massachusetts to better take advantage of the software engineers coming out of Boston's colleges. As CEO, Monsarrat used free food and office pranks to keep staff motivated.
The company was originally called CyberSpace because "that seemed cool". Its name was later changed to "Second Nature", but since that was taken, "Turbine" was chosen. Asheron's Call was the company's first game. It was notable for being the second 3D MMORPG, following the launch of EverQuest. Its most notable feature, designed by Monsarrat, was a "loyalty" system giving new and experienced players incentives to work together. The Olthoi was the first monster developed for Asheron's Call, designed by Joe Angell.
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