Underground Development, Ltd. (formerly Z-Axis, Ltd.) was an American
video game developer based in
Foster City, California. The company was founded in 1994 by David Luntz and sold to
Activision in May 2002. Following a rebranding to Underground Development in February 2008, the company was closed in February 2010.
History
Z-Axis was founded by David Luntz in 1994,[1] originally located in
San Mateo, California.[2] On May 22, 2002,
Activision announced that they had acquired Z-Axis in exchange for a payment of US$20.5 million in cash and stock, and up to 93,446 additional shares in Activision linked to the studio's performance.[3][4] At the time, the studio was located in
Hayward, California.[3] In February 2008, Z-Axis was rebranded as Underground Development.[5][6]
Activision reported in April 2008 that they were closing Underground Development, which had the time had under 45 employees in a
Foster City, California office, at the end of the coming May.[7][8][9] The studio was fully closed on February 12, 2010.[10][11]