Demonware

DemonWare is a software development company and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc.It was originally founded in 2003 by Dylan Collins and Sean Blanchfield. They were purchased in May 2007 by Activision, the deal also included Demonware's management and employees signing long-term contracts with Activision. The firm will continue to be headquartered in Dublin, with North American offices in Vancouver.


 * DemonWare openly stated that they will no longer licence their software to third party developers.

The acquisition of DemonWare will enable us to eliminate many of the challenges associated with online multiplayer game development, reducing development time and risk, and allowing us to deliver consistent, high-quality online gaming experiences. In addition to increasing our talent pool of highly skilled engineers, DemonWare's suite of technologies combined with Activision's own library of tools and technologies will enable us to easily share online development capabilities on multiple platforms across our development studios. DemonWare's products enable games publishers to outsource their networking requirements, allowing them to concentrate on playability.
 * Activision CEO Mike Griffith explained in a statement on the deal:


 * The two main products developed by DemonWare are the "DemonWare State Engine" and "Matchmaking+". The State Engine is a high-performance state synchronization C++ programming framework that eliminates the need to re-invent netcode multiplayer games. Matchmaking+ provides services for multiplayer games such as matchmaking, user profiling and gaming statistics.


 * as of 2009 DemonWare has offices in both Dublin, Ireland and Vancouver, Canada.