Raven Software Corporation

Raven Software is a computer game developer based in Madison, Wisconsin. The company was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel, and initially had a staff of five people. Their first game was Black Crypt (1992). Later, they shifted their focus from first-person RPGs to first-person shooters, a genre in which they created their best-known works such as Heretic and Hexen, Soldier of Fortune and other series, primarily in engines made by id Software or their derivatives.

In 1997, Raven Software made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was eventually acquired by that company.

During the time they shared a published with id Software in Activision, the two companies would closely collaborate, and Raven would even lead the development of Quake 4 and Wolfenstein (2009) instead of id Software. Additionally, Raven Software would develop several games making use of Activision's Marvel license in the mid-to-late-2000s.

After id Software was acquired by ZeniMax Media in 2009, Raven Software would no longer use id Tech engines. Their last standalone title was Singularity from 2010, which used Unreal Engine 3. After this, Raven Software would assist in development and support of the Call of Duty franchise, starting with Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2011.