Monolith was founded in October 1994 with a view to making first-person and third-person action games using a propriety 3D engine, LithTech (which, remarkably, powered all of their games from first to last, with heavy development and iteration). The engine had been developed for use by Microsoft as a possible inhouse 3D engine, but Microsoft eventually rejected it.
Monolith made a splash with their first game, Blood (1997), a very solid first-person shooter. They followed that up with a direct sequel, but also a different game called Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (both 1998). This game featured the player as the pilot of a large-sized mech, with different-scaled levels depending on if you were piloting the mech or engaging in direct combat inside buildings as the pilot. It was basically Titanfall long before Titanfall was actually a thing.
Monolith launched their third major game series with The Operative: No One Lives Forever (2000), a first-person shooter with a female protagonist, a spy setting and a colourful, comedic tone, all of which were very unusual for a time. The game warranted a sequel, No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s War (2002), but repeated attempts to launch a third game were thwarted, although a spin-off, Contract J.A.C.K., was released in 2003.
Monolith also developed tie-in works for other IP, including Aliens versus Predator 2 (2001), Tron 2.0 (2003) and The Matrix Online (2005), a co-production with Sony.
In 2004 the company was acquired by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment (later Warner Brothers Games), giving them access to the various Warner Brothers-owned IP. Despite this, their first two games out of the game under the new owners were actually new IP: F.E.A.R. and Condemned: Criminal Origins (both 2005), both quite successful and resulting in sequels, with Condemned 2 launching in 2008 and F.E.A.R. 2 in 2009 (other developers worked on expansions and F.E.A.R. 3, released in 2011). F.E.A.R. was particularly feted for its graphical developments, physics, real-world locations and its mix of first-person action and South Korean-influenced horror.
After these, the company switched to working on WB IP, first on the downloadable-only multiplayer games Gotham City and Guardians of Middle-earth (both 2012), and then the Lord of the Rings licence. This resulted in the incredibly well-received and well-reviewed Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014), which was famed for its Nemesis System, where enemies would remember you for defeating them and develop grudges, becoming more powerful and returning for revenge. Warner Brothers were so impressed by this system they copyrighted it, but only used it again in the sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017).
With the second game concluding the story, Warner Brothers decided to move the developers onto working on a Wonder Woman game, which was announced in 2021. Bloomberg had recently reported that the Wonder Woman game's development had been held up by unspecified development issues, spooking Warner Brothers who had been battered by a series of indifferent or poorly-performing video games based on their DC IP, with both Gotham Knights (2022) and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2024) underperforming.
Monolith being shuttered is a massive shame. An inventive, interesting developer, their hit ratio was frankly ridiculous, with the Blood, No One Lives Forever, F.E.A.R. and Middle-earth: Shadow franchises all being extremely well-regarded. But under Warner Brothers' recent management, its questionable if they could have reached those creative heights again.
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