Liquid Entertainment
Liquid Entertainment was an American independent video game developer founded in April 1999 by Ed Del Castillo and Mike Grayford, with Holly Newman also listed among its key people. Based in California, the studio released several notable titles over the years.
Their first game, Battle Realms (2001), was a real-time strategy PC game praised for its fresh take on resource management, 3D engine, and East Asian-inspired visuals, though sales were disappointing. An expansion, Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf, followed in 2002 but drew less enthusiasm than the original.
Liquid then worked on licensed titles, releasing The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring (2003) for Sierra and Dragonshard (2005) for Atari. Dragonshard was later re-released on GOG.com. Buena Vista Games published Desperate Housewives: The Game in 2006, which won PC Gamer’s Adventure Game of the Year for 2007.
In 2008, Rise of the Argonauts (published by Codemasters) landed on Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It received mixed reviews due to technical problems and other criticisms. Sega released Thor: God of Thunder for Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2011, tied to the Marvel film.
Starting in 2012, Liquid shifted toward casual games for Facebook, doing contract work on InstantJam, Deadline Hollywood: The Game, and Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter. In 2013–2014 they expanded into mobile games with Karateka, Cuddle Pets, Paper Galaxy, and Max Steel.
By the end of 2014, founder Ed Del Castillo downsized Liquid to a holding company and consultancy, selling some assets and licensing technology while keeping others. The company was listed as defunct in 2018, but continued to manage various properties and released Battle Realms: Zen Edition on Steam in December 2019 as an Early Access title.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:47 (CET).