Presto Studios

Presto Studios was a computer game development company of the 1990s, especially famous for its award-winning The Journeyman Project series and the 2001 sequel to Cyan's hit Myst series, Myst III: Exile.

Presto Studios, Inc.
TypePrivate company
IndustryVideo game developer
FoundedSan Diego, California (1991)
Defunct2002
HeadquartersEncinitas, California, United States
ProductsThe Journeyman Project
Myst III: Exile
Websitepresto.yune.me

In August 2002, Presto Studios shut down new development after the release of the Xbox title Whacked!. In a statement, Greg Uhler (executive producer) announced the closing of the company:[1]

Due to business, financial, and personal reasons, Presto Studios is discontinuing software development. Whacked! for the Xbox will be the last product that we ship. The company will remain as a corporate entity for many years, but will not be developing products. A minimal staff, including Michel and myself, will be here until the end of October.

Closure of the company

Whacked! for Xbox was Presto Studios' final title before closing its doors shortly afterward. Though still in decent financial shape, Presto was facing an uphill challenge in the transition from the PC to console game market. The directors of the company anticipated a rapidly shrinking PC game market and decided to close the company while it was ahead.[2] A significant number of the creative staff moved on to high-profile roles in motion picture and animation production.

Games

Beneath

Beneath is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Presto Studios that was scheduled to be published by Activision in 1999, but was cancelled.[3]

In 1906, Jack Wells travels to the Arctic in search of his father, who has gone missing on an archeological expedition. The exploration leads underground into a vast subterranean world.[4]

The 3D game engine was to feature 16-bit graphics and hardware acceleration.[5]

References
  1. Andy Largent (2002-08-28). "Presto Studios Closing Down". Inside Mac Games.
  2. Cohen, Peter (2002-09-02). "Game maker Presto Studios closes doors | Macworld". Macworld.
  3. "Presto Studios - Titles". Presto Studios Archives. Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  4. Next Generation Magazine. 48. December 1998. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. Chris Couper. "Beneath (Canceled)". Allgame. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
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