3DO

3DO, also known as The 3DO Company, was an American video game developer active between 1993 and 2003 and headquartered in Redwood City, California. It was established in 1991 by Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts, in a partnership with several other companies and initially operated as SMSG, Inc. (San Mateo Software Games). The company focused on manufacturing home video gaming consoles and introduced the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in October 1993. In 1996, after 3DO's flagship console failed on the market, the company sold exclusive rights to an unreleased follow-up console, M2, to Matsushita for $100 million and restructured to focus on software development and publishing. 3DO acquired several other game studios, including New World Computing, and established a new office in Redmond, Washington, devoted to PC games development. In mid-1997, 3DO sold off the remaining hardware business to Samsung for $20 million. After struggling for several years, the company filed for bankruptcy in May 2003, laying off employees without pay. 3DO sold its intellectual property to rivals, such as Microsoft, Namco, Take-Two Interactive, and Ubisoft.