Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly known as Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American company that created video games. It was based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was started in 1990 by Paul Neurath and Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Productions. In 1992, it combined with Lerner's Lerner Research to form LookingGlass Technologies. From 1997 to 1999, the company was part of Intermetrics and was called Looking Glass Studios. Due to money problems, the studio closed in May 2000.

Important games made by Looking Glass include Ultima Underworld, System Shock, and the Thief series.

History

Paul Neurath and Ned Lerner, co-founders of Looking Glass, met at Wesleyan University. Lerner studied physics, and Neurath studied environmental science. They worked together on the game Deep Space: Operation Copernicus (1987). Later, Lerner moved to the West Coast and worked for Electronic Arts. Neurath joined Origin Systems, which had moved its business to New Hampshire in 1984. He worked on projects like Ogre (1986) and Omega (1989). His largest project was leading the design of Space Rogue (1989), which he collaborated with Lerner on technical details. Space Rogue inspired Wing Commander (1990) by combining storytelling and space combat.

After Space Rogue was completed, Origin Systems moved back to Texas with most of its staff. Neurath chose not to move and started his own studio, Blue Sky Productions, in Salem, New Hampshire, in 1990. Lerner, who had his own company called Lerner Research, provided money to help start the studio.

Neurath wanted to create a first-person dungeon crawler similar to Dungeon Master (1987). He hired local workers, including Doug Church, a programmer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Church and Chris Green of Lerner Research created a 3D model with textures and animation by former Origin artist Douglas Wike. The demo was shown at the 1990 Summer Consumer Electronics Show. Richard Garriott and Warren Spector of Origin Systems saw the demo and decided to fund the game.

The demo was first called Underworld but later became part of the Ultima series. Initial funding was $30,000, allowing Neurath to hire staff. The final cost was $400,000, and the game, Ultima Underworld (1992), was released in March 1992. By the end of production, the company moved to Lexington, Massachusetts.

Blue Sky Productions began work on a sequel to Ultima Underworld while Neurath and Lerner discussed merging their companies. Lerner Research had just finished Car & Driver (1992) and needed more support to develop a new Madden game for the Sega Genesis. They changed their name to differentiate from Blue Sky Software, first using "Flying Fish Designs" and later settling on "Looking Glass." The name was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s book Through the Looking Glass and the idea that their games transported players to new worlds.

LookingGlass Technologies Inc. was officially formed on June 29, 1992, with Neurath as president and Lerner as vice president and treasurer. The studio’s first game was John Madden Football '93 (1992), followed by Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (1993). Origin Systems became a part of Electronic Arts in September 1992, and EA handled future publishing deals.

Doug Church led the development of System Shock (1994), a game that combined first-person shooter gameplay with immersive systems. The game was successful but initially released on floppy disks, which removed voice dialog from data logs. A later CD-ROM version included voice acting by members of the local band Tribe, including Terri Brosius, who later worked in game design.

LookingGlass moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1994 and received $3.8 million in investment that year. In 1995, the company started publishing its own games, beginning with Flight Unlimited (1995), designed by Seamus Blackley. The game was noted for its realistic physics and sold 300,000 copies by 1997. The series had several sequels.

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centuri (1996) was a large multimedia project. Full-motion cutscenes were filmed in the LookingGlass offices using a greenscreen, with staff members acting and producing the film. The game used procedural animation but cost more than it earned.

Due to financial struggles, including the failure of Terra Nova and British Open Championship Golf (1997), Neurath sought outside investment. Intermetrics, a software company, bought LookingGlass in 1997. The company’s name changed to Intermetrics Entertainment Software, LLC, but it continued operating as Looking Glass Studios.

After the buyout, several key staff members left. Ned Lerner formed a new company with Art Min, and Ken Levine, Rob Fermier, and Jonathan Chey left to start Irrational Games. Irrational worked on System Shock 2 (1999) and other projects before becoming independent.

LookingGlass hired Warren Spector from Origin Systems to lead a development team in Austin, Texas, which opened in 1995. Spector later left to join Ion Storm, but the Texas office remained open to create console games. Projects included a Command & Conquer port for the Nintendo 64 and Destruction Derby 64 (1999), along with canceled games.

LookingGlass struggled with financial issues and difficulty finding publishers. Eidos Interactive published Flight Unlimited II (1997) and the Thief games, while Electronic Arts published System Shock 2 and Flight Unlimited III (1999). In 1999, Intermetrics sold its ownership, leaving the studio without financial support. Publishing deals with Eidos, Sony, and Microsoft also failed.

On May 24, 2000, Neurath announced the studio was closing. Employees left that day, and public statements followed. Irrational Games continued work on Deep Cover until it was canceled, and many former LookingGlass staff joined them. Development on Thief III was handed to Steve Pearsall’s team until it was canceled. A Flight Unlimited spin-off, Flight Combat, was completed by Mad Doc Software as Jane's Attack Squadron (2002), the final game credited to LookingGlass.

LookingGlass faced increasing financial pressure in the late 1990s due to costly projects and funding losses. Many projects required resources but did not generate enough revenue. The studio relied heavily on outside funding and publishers. After Thief II: The Metal Age was released, funding was cut, leaving the company without reliable support.