- Name
- Kesmai Corporation
- Abbreviation
- Founded
- Location
- Charlottesville,Virginia,USA
- Website
- Aliases
Kesmai Corporation
Charlottesville,Virginia,USA
Kelton Flinn and John Taylor founded Kesmai in 1982, and began working with CompuServe to offer multi-player games on a pay-to-pay basis.
Company Images Related Pages
Overview
Founded in 1981, Kesmai has led the online gaming industry as a developer and publisher of online-multiplayer games. The company was best known for the combat flight sim Air Warrior on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical massive multiplayers online games (MMOG), launched in 1987. They also developed an text-based multi-user-dungon (MUD), Island of Kesmai, which ran on CompuServe. Kesmai GameStorm was unique among early online services. Instead of being a matchmaking service for players of popular retail computer games, GameStorm specialized in proprietary, online-only games for large numbers of players, but it was an expensive service charging $9.95 a month. However, it should be noted it was one of the earliest browser-based service where the player need not download the full game to play. The company was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. in 1994. The company continued to develop massively multiplayer games such as Air Warrior 2 and Legends of Kesmai. News Corp distributed their games through AOL. However, this proved a contenius countship when in 1997 Kesmai Corp. filed a suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia chargeing that AOL is exercising "monopolistic control" over on-line services and Internet access, preventing small on-line content developers, like Kesmai, from distributing its product. It was revealed by the lawyer for News Corp ( Jonathan S. Abady) that the case was settled in Kesmai favor. ( http://www.ecbalaw.com/attorneys/abady.html) Electronic Arts bought the company from News Corp in 1999, but Kesmai studios and subsidaries were closed in 2001 as changes to how online servies were sold to consumers less through services and more through cable providers interested less in making destination landing pages online.
Games
- Air Warrior
- Air Warrior II (Game)
- Air Warrior III (Game)
- Aliens Online
- Legends of Kesmai
- MultiPlayer BattleTech SolarisStarship Troopers: Battlespace
- Stellar Emperor
Credits for Information
- http://web.archive.org/web/19990902072142/www.kesmaistudios.com/company
- [1] Ryan, Michael E. "GameStorm." PC Magazine (1999): 289
- "Delphi Internet Services Corp." InterActive Week 1.2 (1994): 39
Developed Games
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Aliens Online (Game)
Aliens Online was a multiplayer-only game based on the 1986 film "Aliens". Playing as either the Colonial Marine or the vicious Alien, players would wage war in a number of different scenarios and take on various objectives to climb the ranks in either faction.
Rolemaster: Magestorm (Game)
An online-only 3D arena game, based on Iron Crown's "Rolemaster" rule set. Features a fantasy theme with persistent RPG stats.
Silent Death Online (Game)
A top down arena style space shooter MMO involving players earning money by taking out other players.
Godzilla Online (Game)
Godzilla Online was a multiplayer only game based on the 1998 film "Godzilla" from Centropolis Entertainment. Players assumed the role of the Soldier, Scientist, Baby Godzilla, or Reporter and competed in various match types in arenas that were similar to locations in the movie; gaining EXP to progress through ranks.
Fierce Harmony (Game)