Dallas, TX. - June 4, 1998 - Ritual Entertainment, makers of the highly acclaimed QUAKE
Mission Pack #1: Scourge of Armagon and the highly anticipated Sin have indoctrinated two new
craftsmen into the tribe. Computer graphic artists Murphy Michaels and Mike "Chaos" Werckle.
Both artists will add their considerable talents to some of Ritual’s hottest new projects, including
Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2.
Murphy Michaels has been expressing his own unique artistic style for quite some time now
providing contract work for Saffire Corporation (previously Cygnus Multimedia) on such notable
products as Rise of the Triad, Pitfall, Duke Nukem, and Shadow Warrior. Hungry for more of a
hands on experience in the gaming industry he jumped deep into two notable products, Enemy
Nations and Legends ’98. New opportunities continued to flourish for Murphy and it lead to a
position over at Ion Storm where he worked as one of the key animators on their upcoming
release, Daikatana.
"Rather than lateral moves within companies, my employment history has been a steady climb.
Each company I’ve worked with has afforded me more creative freedom and the chance for
self-improvement and Ritual continues that exciting progression for me.", said Murphy.
Robert Atkins, SINful artist of Ritual said, "Murphy has some very radical ideas and concepts
that will lend themselves perfectly to what we’re going to accomplish with our future projects. His
unique flare and style are what attracted us to his work and his energy is infectious, we look
forward to working with him."
And on the other half of the blue plate special here, we’ve got Mike "Chaos" Werckle who joins
us from Raven Software. Mr. Chaos has spent considerable time inside a computer and is quite
familiar with what makes a virtual character work. Once he obtained his BFA from CalArts –
Character Animation School in Valencia, California, he ventured forth and has worked on many
titles for some high profile companies such as Dynamix, Viacom New Media, and Raven
Software. He directed and helped animate a spectacular seven minute cinematic sequence used
in the D&D: Core Rules CD-ROM and contributed to the delinquency of America’s youth in
Beavis & Butthead’s Virtual Stupidity. His talent really shines in his work with Raven Software,
working on such projects as Hexen II and it’s Mission Pack: Portal of Praevus, where he
animated some of the fiercest creatures and bosses.
"One of THE most attractive options of joining Ritual Entertainment was the freedom given to
work on and create such a wide range of unique and truly bizarre creatures for their future
products. I want to take it to the limit and it’s that over-the-top style that really makes this such a
cool place to work.", so says Mr. Chaos.
Michael Hadwin, Art Director at Ritual, said, "We’re very impressed with the body of work that
Mike has created. He has such incredible talent that will help round out our circle of artists and
we are looking forward to seeing his own unique style expressed in our projects."
Ritual Entertainment can be found on the web at http://www.ritual.com.
Quake® is a registered trademark of id Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hexen II® is a registered trademark of Activision Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respected owners, and are
hereby acknowledged.
For Information Contact:
Harry Miller
CEO, Ritual Entertainment
(214) 871-0400
harrym@ritual.com
