Human Head Studios
Human Head Studios was founded in October 1997 by a group of six developers formerly from Raven Software: Ben Gokey, Chris Rhinehart, Paul MacArthur, Ted Halsted, James Sumwalt, and Shane Gurno—later joined by game producer Tim Gerritsen as co-owner in June 1998. Regarding the origin of the studio's name, Gerritsen explained: "When the guys were thinking of leaving Raven Software, someone posted a message via e-mail that they had lost some money. This started people saying they had lost all sorts of things. One person posted that they had misplaced a bag of human heads and this gave the inspiration for the name." Their first game was Rune, a third-person Viking action game. The company also worked on the long-anticipated first-person shooter Prey, a game that was executive produced by 3D Realms. On November 13, 2019, the studio announced its closure, immediately after the release of Rune II. The whole team subsequently formed a new studio, Roundhouse Studios, under ZeniMax Media. Chris Rhinehart of Human Head/Roundhouse stated that "Sadly, we had to wind down the business of Human Head Studios and close its doors", but had been able to reach out to ZeniMax to establish this new studio. Roundhouse Studios was closed in May 2024 and its team was moved to ZeniMax Online Studios.
Human Head Studios at a Glance
Human Head Studios operated from October 1997 until November 2019, when the company announced its closure right after releasing Rune II. Founded by six developers who previously worked at Raven Software, the studio took its name from an inside joke about misplaced bags of human heads during a group email discussion. The team later grew to include Tim Gerritsen as a co-owner. Over two decades, the studio released 10 titles on PlayPile, serving as the developer for nine of them and the publisher for two others. Their work focused heavily on PC platforms, with every listed game available for Microsoft Windows. They also released titles for Xbox 360, Linux, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox, PlayStation 3, and a single legacy mobile device. The studio's catalog spans shooter, adventure, hack and slash, role-playing, puzzle, and indie genres. Their strongest showing came in the shooter category with five titles, followed by four adventure games. The quality of their output was inconsistent across the years. Out of six titles with ratings, none reached a great score above 80. Four games fell into the good range between 60 and 79. One title received a mixed rating, and one title scored poorly below 40. Their highest-rated game is Prey from 2006, which holds a 76.5 out of 100 score. Rune from 2000 followed with 74.8 points. Other notable titles like Dead Man's Hand and Blair Witch Volume 2: The Legend of Coffin Rock both scored 60. Output trends show a shift in volume between decades. The studio released four games during the 2000s, including their first title Rune and the shooter Prey. They produced five games in the 2010s, but the reception to these later works varied widely. Minimum from 2014 scored 50 points. Survived By appeared in January 2018 without a specific score listed on PlayPile. The Quiet Man launched in November 2018 and received a very low score of 21.4 out of 100. Rune Classic released in June 2012, and the final game Rune II came out in November 2019 just before the studio shut down. After closing, the original team formed Roundhouse Studios under ZeniMax Media. That new entity eventually closed in May 2024, with staff moving to ZeniMax Online Studios.
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