Raven Software Corporation, also known as Raven, is an American company that creates video games. It is based in Middleton, Wisconsin, and is part of Activision. The company was started in May 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. Raven is best known for creating the dark fantasy game series Heretic/Hexen, the first two Soldier of Fortune games, and games based on the Star Wars: Jedi Knight series and Marvel Comics’ X-Men characters, such as Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006). Since 2011, Raven has helped develop multiple Call of Duty games as both the main and supporting developer.
Raven’s first game, Black Crypt (1992), was originally planned as a paper-and-pen role-playing game by the Raffel brothers. They later changed the project into a video game. Though it was not successful financially, it received praise from critics and inspired John Romero to work with Raven on new computer games, starting with ShadowCaster (1993). ShadowCaster used Raven Engine, a modified version of the Wolfenstein 3D engine created by John Carmack. The game’s success led id Software and Strategic Simulations to publish Raven’s next projects, including CyClones and Heretic (1994). Heretic, inspired by Brian Raffel’s interest in Dungeons & Dragons-style games, was well-received, led to more sequels, and helped Raven grow to three development teams.
In August 1997, Activision announced it would buy Raven and take over the distribution of Hexen II. The other Raven teams continued working on Take No Prisoners and MageSlayer. After Heretic II (1998), Raven aimed to reach a larger audience. They acquired the rights to the name Soldier of Fortune to create a game of the same name and developed Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force, which was highly praised and gained a cult following. This success led LucasArts to partner with Raven on Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Raven also worked with id Software on Quake 4 and the 2009 game Wolfenstein, becoming one of the first studios to license id Tech 4.
In the 2000s, Raven created games based on Marvel Entertainment’s superhero characters, including X-Men Legends (2004), X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). This partnership ended when Raven released its own game, Singularity (2010), which was well-received. In 2011, Raven began working on Call of Duty games as a support developer. In 2014, the company opened a studio in Shanghai, China, to collaborate with Tencent Games on Call of Duty Online, though this studio is no longer active. Raven worked with Infinity Ward and Treyarch on Call of Duty: Warzone (2020) and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020), leading production on the latter’s single-player campaign. It also developed Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, released on October 24, 2024, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, released on November 14, 2025.
History
In 1986, Brian Raffel was an art teacher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a cross country-track coach at Middleton High School. His brother, Steve, worked in a screen-print shop. Their father, Don, played Dungeons & Dragons with them and inspired Brian to create a drawing called "The Well" by the end of 1988. This was originally a paper-and-pen role-playing game idea inspired by Dungeons & Dragons modules such as Palace of the Silver Princess, Tomb of Horrors, Lost Tomb of Martek, and Castle Amber. Steve helped Brian revise the idea to make it a unique game.
After seeing games released for the Amiga computer, Brian believed their artwork was as good as or better than what was available. He decided to move The Well to the Amiga to use its powerful computing features. Brian and Steve rewrote the project from the beginning while starting their own company, which they named Black Crypt. Raven Software was officially started on May 23, 1990.
Soon after founding Raven, Brian brought in programmers Rick Johnson and Ben Gokey, and musician Kevin Schilder to join the company. Johnson was the youngest team member at 18 years old. Production of Black Crypt began in April 1990 and took nearly two years. The Raffel brothers and team moved to a small office that cost $200 per month, located under a workshop in Madison. The game’s budget was $40,000. Black Crypt was described as a "first-person tile-based real-time combat dungeon simulator" and was inspired by the 3D real-time style of Dungeon Master by FTL Games. The game featured twelve connected dungeons displayed in 64-color graphics with special brightness settings. Players could customize their color palette using up to 64 colors, a feature not found in Dungeon Master or its copies.
Raven Software was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. It began as a three-person company and was discovered by John Romero, co-founder of id Software. Romero worked with Raven to create games using id Software’s game engines, starting with ShadowCaster. Raven later made games using id Software’s engines, including Heretic, Hexen: Beyond Heretic, and Hexen II.
In 2005 and 2009, Raven developed two games from id Software’s collection: Quake 4 and Wolfenstein.
Raven remained independent until 1997, when Activision bought the company for $12 million. Raven continued working with id Software but also created other games, such as Soldier of Fortune (2000), Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003), and X-Men Legends (2004).
In August 2009, Raven faced financial difficulties after Wolfenstein did not perform well and may have gone over budget. The company laid off 30 to 35 employees, leaving two development teams. More layoffs occurred in October 2010, reducing the team to one after delays with Singularity; up to 40 employees were let go. After id Software was bought by ZeniMax Media, Raven became a main developer for the Call of Duty series. By July 2021, Raven had grown to about 350 employees.
In December 2021, Activision did not renew the contracts of several quality assurance (QA) workers who were not full-time employees. An associate manager said some valuable workers were fired even though Activision had promised to increase their wages. These firings, along with other issues at Activision Blizzard, led to a strike. On January 21, 2022, Raven’s QA team formed a union called the Game Workers Alliance with the Communications Workers of America.
In May 2022, Raven’s QA team voted to unionize, with 19 to 2 votes in favor. In June 2022, Activision Blizzard’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, said the company would recognize the union and begin negotiations. After Raven’s QA team successfully unionized, the 20-member QA team at Blizzard Albany started a unionization effort in July 2022, named GWA Albany. The vote passed (14–0), forming the second union at an Activision Blizzard subsidiary.
On March 8, 2024, 600 QA testers at three Activision studios in Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minnesota; and El Segundo, California joined Raven and Blizzard’s union efforts. They voted to unionize (390–8) in favor, creating the largest video game union in the United States. After Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, which included Raven Software, the company voluntarily recognized the union.
Games
Heretic (also called Hexen) is a series of first-person shooter games that include action-adventure and action role-playing features. The first game, Heretic (1994), was among the first to allow players to manage items in the game and look up and down. It also introduced multiple pieces that appeared when characters died from strong impacts or heat. Heretic was the first game in the "Serpent Riders" trilogy, followed by Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995) and Hexen II (1997). A direct sequel, Heretic II, was released in 1998. Set in "City of the Damned," the capital of the fictional world Silverspring, the series combined 3D realistic graphics with a fantasy setting. The games used Silverspring and its people to enhance the story and exploration.
In 2025, Bethesda Softworks re-released Heretic and Hexen together in a bundle called Heretic + Hexen. The bundle was developed by Id Software and Nightdive Studios with help from Activision and Raven Software.
Raven Software created Soldier of Fortune, a military first-person shooter series based on a magazine of the same name. The first game, Soldier of Fortune (2000), used a special system called GHOUL, which helped create realistic graphics of firearms damaging the human body. This focus on graphic violence was a key feature of the series. The games used body parts that could be damaged individually (called gore zones). Players controlled John Mullins in the first game and Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002). After Raven stopped making new games, other companies continued the series. Soldier of Fortune: Payback (2007) was made by Cauldron HQ, and Soldier of Fortune Online, an online multiplayer game, was made by Dragonfly in 2010.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight is a series of first- and third-person shooter games with action-adventure and combat elements. Originally made by LucasArts, the series was transferred to Raven Software after several changes at LucasArts in the 2000s. The games take place years after Return of the Jedi and follow Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial officer who becomes a mercenary for the Rebel Alliance and later a Jedi. Raven created sequels Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002) and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003).
On April 3, 2013, after LucasArts closed, Raven Software released the source code for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy on SourceForge under the GPL-2.0-only license.
In 2012, Raven began hiring employees for a new game. They worked with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Ghosts, announced in May 2013.
In April 2014, Raven became the main developer of Call of Duty: Online, a free-to-play Chinese Call of Duty game that later shut down. The company also recreated Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.
In 2020, Raven Software worked with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Warzone. Raven is responsible for maintaining, updating, and fixing the game, sharing updates and patch notes on Twitter and its website.
Raven Software collaborated with Treyarch to develop Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, released on November 13, 2020.
Raven Software and Treyarch created Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, released on October 24, 2024.
Raven Software and Treyarch developed Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, released on November 14, 2025.
Development philosophy
Raven is recognized for its method of managing teams working on multiple projects. The company uses project leads and advanced tools to help ideas develop before they become official products. Eric Biessman, Raven's project director, stated, "The environment here is relaxed. We are given freedom to use our creativity." The work culture at Raven emphasizes team-driven projects, thorough playtesting, gameplay that focuses on stories developing naturally, and limited involvement from middle management. Brian Raffel explains that Raven's motto, "move or die," reflects the importance of exploring different creative directions to determine the target audience for their games. Steve Raffel, the studio's vice-president, also leads Raven Scout Team (RST), a research group within the company. This team analyzes, plans, and creates detailed project models to improve future projects at Raven.
Accolades and recognition
In 2016, Raven was named the 77th best place to work by Fortune, and in 2017, it was ranked the 66th best, both while part of Activision Blizzard studios. Brian Raffel, a co-founder of Raven, was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame for his visionary leadership and extraordinary passion in the gaming industry. He helped create a successful company and inspired many people in the gaming community. His work contributed to a friendly and teamwork-focused environment among employees, earning him recognition as a true icon in the field.