Ritual Entertainment

Ritual Entertainment was a computer game software developer established in 1996 and based in Dallas, Texas. It was formerly known as Hipnotic Interactive, during which period they began development of their signature computer game SiN.

Members of the Ritual development team have contributed game assets to other titles such as 25 to Life and American McGee's Alice, and are also the creators of "Übertools" for id Tech 3, which has been licensed for a number of other games.

On January 24, 2007, developer MumboJumbo announced the acquisition of Ritual Entertainment. With this acquisition Ritual's focus on traditional action-oriented games was changed to casual games essentially canceling Ritual's latest game series, SiN Episodes after releasing only one episode out of a planned nine.

The purchase followed months of departures of several employees including chief executive officer Steve Nix who became director of business development at id Software, long-time vice president and co-founder Tom Mustaine who left to become director of game development for the competitive multiplayer online FPS, Severity for the Cyberathlete Professional League, level designer John Schuch who accepted a position with 3D Realms and quality assurance manager Michael Russell who accepted a position with Meeting Professionals International. Several months after the acquisition, community relations manager Steve Hessel left the company to join Splash Damage. Thearrel McKinney, a former employee of Ritual who left in 2003, also founded Mangled Eye Studios, the developer of 2009's Dark Salvation.

Prior to the announcement, on December 6, 2006, Ritual announced the appointment of Ken Harward as the company's new studio director.

Games developed by Ritual Entertainment

 * Quake Mission Pack: Scourge of Armagon (1. expansion pack) – (1997) (PC) developed as Hipnotic Interactive
 * SiN – (1998) (PC (Windows and Linux), Linux on PowerPC) both Linux versions ported by Hyperion Entertainment
 * Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.² – (2000) (PC (Windows and Linux), Mac (Mac OS and Mac OS X), Dreamcast) Linux version ported by Loki Software, Mac OS Classic version ported by Contraband Entertainment, Mac OS X version ported by The Omni Group
 * Blair Witch Volume 3: The Elly Kedward Tale – (2000) (PC)
 * SiN Gold (port) – (2000) (Mac) ported by Contraband Entertainment
 * Counter-Strike: Condition Zero – (PC) Ritual Entertainment was working on the title in 2002 after Gearbox Software and before Turtle Rock Studios took over in mid-2003
 * Star Trek: Elite Force II – (2003) (PC)
 * Counter-Strike (port) – (2003) (Xbox)
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance – (2003) (PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC) External collaboration with Crystal Dynamics
 * Delta Force: Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre (expansion) – (2004) (PC)
 * SiN Episodes: Emergence – (2006) (PC)

Unreleased

 * The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – (PC) cancelled
 * SiN II publisher demo – (2003) (PC) Ritual Entertainment made a game demo to show potential publishers.
 * Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy (2004) – cancelled