Rainbow Studios

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title: "Rainbow Studios" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1986-establishments-in-arizona", "2002-mergers-and-acquisitions", "2011-disestablishments-in-arizona", "2013-establishments-in-arizona", "american-companies-established-in-1986", "american-subsidiaries-of-foreign-companies", "companies-based-in-phoenix,-arizona", "re-established-companies", "thq", "thq-nordic", "video-game-companies-disestablished-in-2011", "video-game-companies-established-in-1986", "video-game-companies-established-in-2013", "video-game-companies-of-the-united-states", "video-game-development-companies"] description: "American video game developer" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Studios" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American video game developer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Rainbow Studios
logo	Rainbow Studios.svg
former_name
type	Private
industry	Video games
founded
founder	Earl Jarred
hq_location_city	Phoenix, Arizona
hq_location_country	United States
key_people	Lenore Gilbert (CEO)
products
parent
subsid	Rainbow Studios Montréal
num_employees	61
num_employees_year	2021
website
::

| name = Rainbow Studios | logo = Rainbow Studios.svg | former_name = | type = Private | industry = Video games | founded = | founder = Earl Jarred | hq_location_city = Phoenix, Arizona | hq_location_country = United States | key_people = Lenore Gilbert (CEO) | products = | parent = | subsid = Rainbow Studios Montréal | num_employees = 61 | num_employees_year = 2021 | website =

Rainbow Studios is an American video game developer based in Phoenix, Arizona, best known for developing offroad racing games, such as Motocross Madness and the MX vs. ATV series. It was established by Earl Jarred in 1986 under the name Rainbow Multimedia Group and rebranded as Rainbow Studios in 1992. In January 2002, the company was acquired by THQ, under the ownership of which it was renamed THQ Digital Studios Phoenix in February 2010 and closed in August 2011. The studio was re-instated as Rainbow Studios in 2013 by Nordic Games (later known as THQ Nordic), a publishing company that had purchased most assets of the then-bankrupt THQ earlier that year. The studio is now independent.

History

Rainbow Studios, originally named Rainbow Multimedia Group, was founded by Earl Jarred in 1986. In 1992, the company shifted its focus towards developing video games and was rebranded Rainbow Studios. On November 8, 2001, video game publisher THQ announced that it had agreed to acquire the studio in exchange for 1 million shares of common stock. An agreement of merger was signed between the two companies on December 21, 2001, and THQ announced that the deal had been completed on January 3, 2002, at which point THQ had issued 858,203 shares and expected to issue further 106,259 at a later point in time. In 2005, Jarred, alongside vice chairman Jeff Padden and employees Rick Baltman and Robb Rinard, left Rainbow Studios to form a new video game studio, 2XL Games. Three further Rainbow Studios veterans—Brad Ruminer, Dennis Booth, and Glenn O'Bannon—announced the formation of their studio, TimeFly Studios, in April 2008.

In mid-April 2008, Rainbow Studios laid off a team of 30 people working on an unannounced game. Because the team was "a minority" in the studio's multi-team setup, development on the game was able to continue despite the staff reduction. Further layoffs were instigated in November 2008 and February 2009 as part of larger restructurings within THQ. To push THQ's vision for digitally distributed games as part of its core portfolio, effective on February 3, Rainbow Studios and sister studio Juice Games were rebranded as THQ Digital Studios Phoenix and THQ Digital Studios Warrington, respectively. As a result of the restructuring, both studios collectively lost 60 employees. On August 9, 2011, THQ announced that, as part of another larger restructuring, THQ Digital Studios Phoenix would be closed down. The closure led to the elimination of 48 jobs at the Phoenix studio. THQ planned to retain a quality assurance department on-site.

THQ later filed for bankruptcy, and many of its assets, including the Rainbow Studios-developed MX vs. ATV franchise, were auctioned off to publisher Nordic Games (later known as THQ Nordic) in 2013. As Nordic Games planned to start developing new titles in that franchise, the company opted to resurrect Rainbow Studios under the former name and in its former location. The move was announced in December that year, at which point the new Rainbow Studios had hired many people previously employed by the former Rainbow Studios, including Ken George, Dave Dwire, Mike Mamula, Brad Bowling, Scott Hofmann, Justin Walsh, David Knudsen, and Lenore Gilbert. By June 2019, Rainbow Studios had 41 employees. As of October 2019, Gilbert serves as Rainbow Studios' chief executive officer.

In September 2023, Rainbow Studios suffered an unknown number of layoffs as part of the Embracer Group's effort to reduce costs. At some point, Rainbow Studios went independent and is now employee owned.

Games developed

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Platform(s)	Publisher(s)	1994	1995	1996	1998	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2009	2010	2011	2014	2015	2018	2019	2021	2022
Air Havoc Controller	Microsoft Windows	Trimark Interactive
The Hive	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation
Deadly Tide	Microsoft Windows	Microsoft
Ravage D.C.X	Inscape
Motocross Madness	Microsoft
Motocross Madness 2
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000	EA Sports
ATV Offroad Fury	PlayStation 2	Sony Computer Entertainment
Splashdown	PlayStation 2, Xbox	Infogrames
ATV Offroad Fury 2	PlayStation 2	Sony Computer Entertainment
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2	PlayStation 2, Xbox	Activision
Star Wars Racer Revenge	PlayStation 2	LucasArts
Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild	THQ
MX Unleashed	PlayStation 2, Xbox
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
Cars	Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360
Cars Mater-National Championship	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
MX vs. ATV Untamed	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Deadly Creatures	Wii
MX vs. ATV Reflex	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Dood's Big Adventure	Wii
MX vs. ATV Alive	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
MX vs. ATV Supercross	Nordic Games
MX vs ATV: Supercross Encore	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
MX vs ATV All Out	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One	THQ Nordic
Monster Jam: Steel Titans	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One
Monster Jam: Steel Titans 2	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One
MX vs ATV Legends	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
::

References

References

1. (25 August 2021). "Embracer Group Annual Report & Sustainability Report 2020 / 2021". [[Embracer Group]].
2. "About Us".
3. (1999). "Corporate Information".
4. (2000). "Corporate History".
5. IGN Staff. (November 8, 2001). "THQ Buys Rainbow".
6. (December 21, 2001). "Agreement of Merger – THQ Inc. and Rainbow Multimedia Group Inc.".
7. IGN Staff. (January 3, 2002). "THQ Completes Rainbow Studios Acquisition".
8. Jenkins, David. (November 11, 2005). "Rainbow Studios Veterans Form 2XL Games".
9. Boyer, Brandon. (April 1, 2008). "''MX Vs. ATV, Cars'' Vets Form TimeFly Studios".
10. Remo, Chris. (April 30, 2008). "Report: THQ's Rainbow, Sandblast Studios See Layoffs".
11. Welsh, Oli. (November 4, 2008). "THQ closes five US studios".
12. Martin, Matt. (February 5, 2009). "THQ cuts 600 staff as losses hit $192 million".
13. Sinclair, Brendan. (February 3, 2010). "Juice Games, Rainbow Studios get downloadable focus, layoffs".
14. Faylor, Chris. (February 4, 2010). "THQ Rebrands Studios Under New Digital Initiative, Laying Off 'Approximately 60'".
15. McWhertor, Michael. (August 9, 2011). "THQ Cuts 200 Jobs, MX vs. ATV Series, de Blob Studio and More".
16. O'Grady, Patrick. (August 16, 2011). "THQ closing Phoenix game development operations, cutting 48 jobs".
17. Corriea, Alexa Ray. (December 20, 2013). "Nordic Games developing new MX vs. ATV launching early next year".
18. Crecente, Brian. (May 15, 2014). "MX vs. ATV Supercross is playable at E3".
19. Sinclair, Brendan. (December 20, 2013). "Nordic bringing back MX vs. ATV".
20. Wingefors, Lars. (August 27, 2019). "THQ Nordic Annual Report 2018/19".
21. Payne, Christopher. (October 1, 2019). "Gaymer Night: Representation, Support and Inclusivity".
22. Kerr, Chris. (September 11, 2023). "Report: Embracer layoffs impact staff at MX vs ATV developer Rainbow Studios".
23. "About Us".

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