History Creator / LookingGlassStudios

* Creator/IonStorm. A large number of staffs were relocated here from LGS, making Ion Storm perhaps the closest thing to an "official" LGS successor. Best known for creating Franchise/DeusEx, which is no less influential than the LGS games of old. They also have the honor to make the sequel to [[VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge Thief 2]], making Ion Storm the only one of the successors to make a sequel to an old LGS game.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld: The Stygian Abyss'' (1992) - The first true 3D roleplaying computer game and the first universally-recognized ImmersiveSim. An underground-themed spinoff installment of Richard Garriot's ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' game series.

* Ion Storm. A large number of staffs were relocated here from LGS, making Ion Storm perhaps the closest thing to an "official" LGS successor. Best known for creating Franchise/DeusEx, which is no less influential than the LGS games of old. They also have the honor to make the sequel to [[VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge Thief 2]], making Ion Storm the only one of the successors to make a sequel to an old LGS game.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld: The Stygian Abyss'' (1992) - The first true 3D roleplaying computer game. An underground-themed spinoff installment of Richard Garriot's ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' game series.

* Ion Storm. A large number of staffs were relocated here from LGS, making Ion Storm perhaps the closest thing to an "official" LGS successor. Best known for creating Franchise/DeusEx, which is no less influential than the LGS games of old. They also have the honor to make the sequel to [[VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge Thief 2]], making Ion Storm the only of the successors to make a sequel to an old LGS game (System Shock 2 technically does not count, because LGS was yet to be bankrupt when it was made).
* Creator/IrrationalGames. Founded by 3 former LGS developers: Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier. While the company was founded before LGS's bankruptcy, it was essentially LGS's sister company and became one of the closest things to it overtime. In a stunning display of luck, while they were working on a SurvivalHorror game unrelated to System Shock, EA (who owned the System Shock's IP) picked up the game and allowed the company to retool it into a sequel for System Shock. Years later, they would go on to make a SpiritualSuccessor to System Shock, you probably know it as VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}.

* Ion Storm. A large number of staffs were relocated here from LGS, making Ion Storm perhaps the closest thing to an "official" LGS successor. Best known for creating Franchise/DeusEx, which is no less influential as the LGS games of old, as well as the sequel to VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge.
* Creator/IrrationalGames. Founded by 3 former LGS developers: Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier. In a stunning display of luck, while they were working on a SurvivalHorror game unrelated to System Shock, EA (who owned the System Shock's IP) picked up the game and allowed the company to retool it into a sequel for System Shock. Years later, they would go on to make a SpiritualSuccessor to System Shock, you probably know it as VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}.

* Creator/IrrationalGames. Founded by 3 former LGS developers: Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier. In a stunning display of luck, while they were working on a SurvivalHorror game unrelated to System Shock, EA (who owned the System Shock's IP) picked up the game and allowed the company to retool it into a sequel for System Shock. Years later, they would go on to make a SpiritualSuccessor to System Shock, you probably know it as VideoGame/Bioshock.
* Creator/ArkaneStudios. While not founded by any LGS veteran, many developers have past ties with LGS and other successor studios games (Harvey Smith was the lead QA for System Shock as well as a lead developer of Deus Ex). The studio shares many design philosophies with LGS, especially in the field of ImmersiveSim. Most notably, VideoGame/Dishonored is widely regarded as the best successor to VideoGame/{{Thief}}, to the extent that critics and fans alike have claimed Dishonored to be a far superior Thief game than the official reboot VideoGame/Thief2014 itself. In addition, VideoGame/Prey2017 is generally agreed to be a far closer to System Shock than VideoGame/Bioshock. With its impressive portfolio, many have considered Arkane to be the best of all LGS successors

* CreatorThumbprint: The recurring use of the code "[[Literature/Fahrenheit451 0451]]" in LGS's immersive sims, and even in games that descend from the LGS development tradition, by virtue of having LGS alumni or LGS-influenced people among their devs. Discussed about at length [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtAyycx-uY here]].

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' (1994) - One of the earliest and then most advanced RPG/shooter hybrids. Kicked off the shortly lived series of the same name.

* ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' (1998) - A groundbreaking FantasticNoir action adventure which introduced the world to master thief Garrett and the {{steampunk}} metropolis called The City. Highly praised, frequently appearing in various "Best Game" ladders to this day. Along with ''Franchise/MetalGear'', '''the''' TropeMaker[=/=]TropeCodifier for all modern [[StealthBasedGame stealth games]]. Runs on the the Dark Engine, later used in ''Thief II'' and ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' as well.

** The predecessors of ''Thief'' alone went from [[AffectionateParody a comedic tongue-in-cheek]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext action game about communist zombies]] to an action roleplaying game set within a DarkerAndEdgier version of the ArthurianMythos to what would eventually become a prototype for the first game in the series.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: The amount of details and clever alternative side-solutions that players could discover and utilise in many of their games are a testament to this trope. LGS was almost infamous for their great attention to detail and thinking deeply about how gameplay mechanics, the game world and the player's personal experience all play off each other and complement each other.

* ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' (1998) - A groundbreaking FantasticNoir action adventure which introduced the world to master thief Garrett and the {{steampunk}} metropolis called The City. Highly praised, frequently appearing in various "Best Game" ladders to this day. Along with ''Franchise/MetalGear'', '''the''' TropeMaker[=/=]TropeCodifier for all modern [[StealthBasedGame stealth games]]. Runs on the the Dark Engine, later used in ''Thief II'' and ''VideoGame/SystemShock II'' as well.

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock II'' (1999) - The now-legendary sequel to ''SystemShock''. Co-developed with their then-recently founded sister studio, {{Creator/Irrational Games}}.

Former staff members include major game design personalities like Ken Levine, Warren Spector, Emil Pagliarulo and others. Many of the former devs found a home at {{Creator/Irrational Games}}, formerly an affiliate developer studio of LGS. Others later worked for Ion Storm, Bethesda and othr notable developers, or focused on the indie dev side of the industry.

** ''VideoGame/TerraNovaStrikeForceCentauri'' played this trope rather straight.

** Also, one of the many ambitious GameplayRoulette sections originally planned for ''System Shock II'', but ultimately scrapped, was a section involving a zero-G walk through the interiors, or a spacewalk through an area exposed to vacuum. Newer games like '''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' or ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'' arguably pay homage to this abandoned idea, both being space survival horrors with spacewalk sections. A bit of a remnant of the concept for ''Shock II'' is a part of the game where you reverse the artificial gravity aboard and walk on what was once the ceiling of several rooms.

For a detailed history of Looking Glass Studios, [[http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/audio/looking_glass_studios_podcast/ visit this excellent podcast]], which features detailed interviews with the former developers. To see some rare videos showing early concepts of their famous games, go to their [[http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLookingGlassVault official rememberance channel]].

* ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld: The Stygian Abyss'' (1992) - The first true 3D roleplaying computer game. An underground-themed spinoff installment of Richard Garriot's ''VideoGame/Ultima'' game series.

A legendary game development studio of the 1980s and especially the [[TheNineties 1990s]], creator of many [[GenreBusting revolutionary and groundbreaking]] game titles, especially first person action adventure games. It was based in Cambridge, Massachusets. Its former staff members include major game design personalities like Ken Levine, Warren Spector and others. Most of the former staff found a home at {{Creator/Irrational Games}}, formerly an affiliate developer studio of LGS.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld: The Stygian Abyss'' (1992)
* ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds'' (1993)

* ''VideoGame/TerraNovaStrikeForceCentauri'' (1996)

* ''Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri'' (1996)

* ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld: The Stygian Abyss (1992)

* ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'' (2000) - The succesful sequel to the first ''Thief'' game. Unfortunately, it was also Looking Glass Studio's swan song. The Gold edition never materialized and the third installment (''Deadly Shadows'') was eventually developed with the help of former LGS staff at Ion Storm Austin.

* GenreBusting: A very creative and innovative studio for their time, often leaving professional game critics and theorists outright ''stumped'' by some of their latest titles. This trope got to the point that [[GenreLaunch they were at the founding of at least two different game genres]] that still exist today: The first-person 3D RPG and the ''especially'' the stealth game.

* DoingItForTheArt: They genuinely focused on making fresh, innovative and fun games, even at the (all too reoccuring) expense of making loads of money off them (to their regret).

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock II'' (1999) - The now-legendary sequel toCo-developed with their then-recently founded sister studio, {{Creator/Irrational Games}}.