Near Death Studios, Inc.

Near Death Studios, Inc. was founded in 2001 by a team of developers with a background in MMORPGs. The company resurrected The 3DO Company's MMORPG Meridian 59, whose servers had been shut down in 2000, as Meridian 59: Resurrection after acquiring the rights. Near Death updated the game and launched the first official expansion, Meridian 59: Evolution in October 2004. It featured a new graphics engine and was supported by a new subscription system.

On 6 January 2010, the company announces to close its doors. On his blog, co-founder Brian Green stated that despite attention from the press and its small, dedicated fanbase, the game never really grew again after the relaunch. The large 2004 upgrade was also superseded by the launch of World of WarCraft and eventually the studio lost its billing provider.