Mirage (video game)/Development

The development of Mirage has started in 2002, by Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Montreal.

The game was initially based on the cancelled Geo's World: Geo Guy and the lost Color Frog, developed by Midway Games San Diego and Midway Games Chicago in co-operation with Climax Nottingham, which was supposed to be released in 2001.

Overview
Geo's World: Geo Guy and the lost Color Frog's development period had always been relatively rocky. Playable models of the game had been described as unstable, with a jittery framerate. The developer chose to retool the graphics engine in mid-development. Also, Disney Interactive changed Geo's World: Geo Guy and the lost Color Frog's traditional publishing model to a budget game model.

Concept and pre-production
In 1995, after the release of Geo's World: Geo Guy and Green Bob, Turn on the Game!, Midway Games wanted to develop a 3D game, and so, San Diego and Chicago studios started working together.

Development of Geo's World: The Color Frog
Development of Geo's World: The Color Frog began shortly after Ubisoft acquired the license for Geo Adventure in 2002. Ubisoft Montpellier discovered the documents of the cancelled game done during development, and decided to pitch the re-creation to Ubisoft. Ubisoft greenlighted the project and the game has started development, with the release date of 2003, released to Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2 and PC by Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Montreal.

The game was leaked in May 2003, few weeks before E3 2003, where Ubisoft first acknowledged the game, along with prototype gameplay and concept art. The prototype was built with the then-upcoming Jade engine; Ubisoft stated that the game would be incorporating elements from the cancelled game.

In 2015, the development on the game was put on hold in favor of the Assassin's Creed and Far Cry franchises and Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Development of Mirage
The development was restarted in 2017 with start of a development on a companion app. Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita versions were cancelled, however.

In July 2018, Ubisoft Studios along with Gameloft, Sparx Animation Studios Paris, Starbreeze and Singularity Games announced to have completed their work on the game, saying that "the game is close to getting gold". It was announced that Ubisoft Montreal will continue to "polish" the game with assistance from the other Ubisoft studios in Asia, Canada and South America.

The release date was announced to be November 2018.

Development team
The game's development is led by Ubisoft Montreal, and since 2017, Ubisoft Toronto (the two studios now work under the Ubisoft Canada umbrella), with contributing work mainly provided by the following Ubisoft studios: Support studios: "Rookie studios", studios that utilize the development of the game in educating upcoming video game developers, internships, and on-the-job learning:
 * Bucharest (since 2009),
 * Quebec (since 2006),
 * Paris (since 2005),
 * San Francisco (since 2017),
 * Red Storm Entertainment (since 2017) - working on the VR ports,
 * Europe:
 * Ubisoft France:
 * Ivory Tower (since 2017) - assisting Reflections, while working on the multipayer mode and the engine,
 * Bordeaux (since 2017) - working on the multiplayer mode,
 * Owlient (since 2017) - working on the multiplayer mode and the engine,
 * Annecy (since 2006) - working on the multiplayer mode,
 * Paris Mobile and its subsidiary Ketchapp Studios (since 2017) - worked on the mobile app and the Switch port,
 * Nadeo (since 2017) - working on the engine and the VR & PC ports,
 * Montpellier (2002-2018 (main developer), since 2018 (support studio)) - a former main developer, stopped being one of the main developers to focus more on Beyond Good & Evil 2 and other Ubisoft projects. Will still work on the engine, multiplayer mode, VR, PC and handheld ports, mobile app and other related assets.
 * Sofia (since 2007) - working on handheld ports, now the Switch port,
 * Kiev (since 2009) - working on the PC port and the engine,
 * Belgrade (since 2017) - working on the engine and the PC ports,
 * Barcelona (since 2005) - mostly working on the VR ports and technology,
 * Barcelona Mobile (since 2017) - worked on the mobile app and the Switch port,
 * Milan (since 2005) - worked initially on handheld ports and then motion control components, now works on the Switch and VR ports,
 * Massive (since 2008) - mostly working on the engine, along being a support studio in general,
 * Blue Byte (since 2009) and Blue Byte Mainz (since 2013) - working on the PC port,
 * Reflections and Ubisoft Leamington (since 2017) - team work,
 * Stockholm (since 2017) - contributing to the engine as well,
 * Berlin (since 2017) - working on the PC port,
 * Gameloft Berlin (since 2017) - working on the mobile app, the engine, part-time programming and some assets,
 * RedLynx (since 2017) - working on the mobile app and the VR ports,
 * Future Games of London (since 2017) - working on the mobile app,
 * Asia:
 * Chengdu (since 2008) - working as a support studio in general, also as a Chinese translation studio,
 * Singapore (since 2009) - working as a support studio in general,
 * Pune (since 2008) - working mostly on quality assurance, technology and the mobile app,
 * Abu Dhabi (since 2011) - working on the handheld ports, now the Switch port, and the mobile app,
 * Osaka (since 2011) - working on handheld ports, now the Switch port,
 * Shanghai (since 2017) - mostly contributing to animation, AI, textures and the engine,
 * Gameloft New Delhi (since 2017) - working on the mobile app, VR & PC ports and the engine,
 * Canada:
 * Halifax (since 2017) - working on the mobile app and Switch port,
 * Quazal Technologies (since 2017) - working on the multiplayer mode,
 * Saguenay (since 2018) - working on the multiplayer mode,
 * Central and South America:
 * Gameloft Sao Paulo (since 2017) - works with Gameloft studios in New Delhi and Berlin
 * Philippines (since 2017),
 * Taiwan (since 2014) - Taiwan office was formed in 2012, but the development division/"rookie studio" was formed in 2014, working on the engine, the multiplayer mode, the Switch and VR ports and technology,
 * Craiova (since 2009) - Craiova studio, working under the Ubisoft Bucharest umbrella, serves as a "rookie studio", due to its relation to University of Craiova, and a support studio in general,

Other studios
Studios who participated in the development: They also managed to get Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Beggars Group to participate, due to music licensing and other related processes.
 * Singularity Games (since 2018) - participating studio in New York, also temporary development/"rookie" studios in Austin, Vancouver and Tokyo
 * Singularity Games Cheltenham (since 2018) - working as a support studio
 * Noda Games (since 2018) - Singularity's partner studio
 * Sparx Animation Studios Paris (since 2012)
 * Starbreeze Studios (since 2017)
 * Overkill Software (since 2017)
 * Starbreeze Studios Los Angeles (since 2017)
 * Starbreeze Studios - Dhruva Interactive (since 2017)
 * Lion Game Lion (since 2017) - a Starbreeze partner studio

Former studios
Studios that were closed down during development (or if mentioned, left or acquired mid-production).


 * Vancouver (2009-2012) - worked on technology,
 * Tiwak (2004) - eventually merged to Montpellier studio,
 * Casablanca (2006-2015),
 * Porto Alegre (2009-2012) and Sao Paulo (2009-2010) - worked on handheld ports and the engine,
 * Zurich (2012-2013) - worked on the multiplayer mode,
 * Chertsey (2011-2018) - established for the game's development, became a "rookie studio" in 2017, working on the engine, technology and the multiplayer mode (studio acquired by Singularity Games),
 * Vienna (as Ubisoft Austria; since 2010) - established for the game's development, studio acquired by Singularity Games
 * Warsaw (as Ubisoft Poland Development Studio, 2009-2018) - established for the game's development, working on the multiplayer mode and technology (studio acquired by Singularity Games),
 * Gameloft Studios (2017-2018) - working on the mobile app, the engine, the AI, animation, art, part-time programming and some assets (staff and closed studios contributing to the game acquired by Singularity Games)

Other former studios

 * GRIN (2006-2009)
 * Studios whose contributions in the game were handed to Singularity Games after acquisition of staff who worked on them:
 * Capcom Vancouver (2012-2018) - staff moved to Singularity Games Vancouver
 * Racjin Co Ltd, Arzest, Crafts & Meister, Sparx Animation Studios, Arika, ArtPlay and Intercept/DiNG (2017-2018) - staff moved to Singularity Games Tokyo
 * Dambuster Studios, Fishlabs, Feral Interactive, Wushu Studios, Chimera Entertainment, Splash Damage, Sumo Digital, Traveller's Tales (TT Fusion, Playdemic, TT Animation)  (2017-2018) - staff moved to Singularity Games Cheltenham
 * Creative Assembly (2012-2018)
 * Creative Assembly Sofia (formerly Crytek Black Sea, 2012-2018)
 * Exient Entertainment (2002-2018)
 * Virtuos, XPEC Entertainment, Triptych Games, Glu Mobile, Certain Affinity, Techland, Monolith/Avalance (WB Games), King Digital Entertainment and Bandai Namco Studios (2012-2018) - duties and staff moved to Singularity Games
 * Hyperion Entertainment (2017-2018) - working on the AmigaOS port, while assisting Aspyr Media on the Linux and MacOS ports
 * OtherSide Entertainment (2014-2018) - staff moved to Singularity Games New York, contributed to narrative elements, also worked on the VR and Switch ports
 * Starbreeze UK (2005-2018) - formerly Living Pixel Games (independent), Travelship Studios (under Vivendi Universal) and Crytek UK - Fareham Studio (under Crytek) - studio acquired by Singularity Games
 * Jolla Oy, the Sailfish OS community and Sailfish Alliance (2014-2018) - worked on the Sailfish OS port
 * Aspyr Media (2005-2018) - worked on the MacOS and Linux ports
 * Studio Khara (2012-2018)
 * Gearbox Software (2015-2018)
 * Gearbox Studio Quebec (2016-2018) - also worked as a "rookie studio"
 * Digital Extremes (2005-2018)
 * Crytek (2012-2018)
 * Crytek Budapest, Seoul and Shanghai (2012-2015)
 * Crytek UK (2009-2014)
 * Free Radical Design (2002-2009)

In-house engine (2002)
The game engine was programmed in Ubisoft Montpellier, after the production started.

Phantasm Engine (2017-2018)
The new game engine with it's multiplayer components, to be used for the game now called Mirage, is developed mainly by Ubisoft Montreal and Montpellier, with additional work, including VR & PC optimization, assets and online components, by rest of Mirage's development team. The engine doesn't have a confirmed name yet, but it's internally known as Butterfly, named after one of the main plot elements in the game.

The engine name was announced, with the release date of the game, as Phantasm. It is a ultra-heavily modified Singularity Engine with components from CryEngine and past engines used during the development.

After the release of the game, the engine's development was continued by Phantasm Technology Group, and after them, Mars Dedicated Unit.

Abandoned projects
After the license was acquired, THQ, Acclaim Entertainment and Vivendi Universal Games abandoned their projects based on the franchise. Then, Acclaim's project's game mechanics were acquired from Acclaim Studios Austin and London, after the studios (and it's parent company) were closed in 2004, while Vivendi Universal's source code and models, developed by Sierra Entertainment, was acquired in 2005 and THQ's codes and other assets of the game, done by THQ Digital Studios (Warrington, Phoenix), Kaos Studios, Locomotive Games, Incinerator Studios, Helixe and Concrete Games, was acquired and merged in 2006. However, THQ has a Geo Adventure game which was in development at the same time.

These abandoned games were:
 * 3D open world platformer game based on Geo Adventure 1, by Acclaim Entertainment.
 * Action game by Vivendi Universal Games.
 * Unknown video game, by THQ studios Rainbow Studios, Juice Games, Kaos Studios, Locomotive Games, Incinerator, Helixe and Concrete Games.

Postphoned games and/or games that are on hold
Despite the fact that Ubisoft entirely owns the license of Geo Adventure games, THQ developed a game called The Adventure Starts Again. It was put on indefinite hold, after THQ filed for bankruptcy and THQ Studio Toronto was sold to Ubisoft and eventually merged to Ubisoft Toronto.

Other works
It was also said that all of the elements, plot details, items and other things related to cancelled, postponed, unproduced and unfinished work related to Geo's World, Geo Universal, Geo TV, The Geo Team, Geo Adventure, Fiox, etc, etc., were all used and merged to the game. However, those exact elements were erased when the production was rebooted as Mirage in 2017.

Franchise
In E3 2014, it was revealed, that Michel Ancel considered making the game into the franchise whenever it's ready.

Rumours and announcements
Prior to it's first announcement at E3 2003, Ubisoft registered trademarks of the game, such as "Geo Adventure: The Color Frog" and "thecolorfroggame.com". The game was used to be part of Geo Adventure series until 2008, when Geo Guy Land was released.

In the interview, Michel Ancel wished the game would've been ready until atleast 2016. Sadly, when Michel left the production, Sam Garcia announced the production will be delayed with atleast 2 years.

A teaser trailer was released in February 2018.