games developed by the studio would be surprising and associated with the developer, rather than with a franchise. Further games (1996–2001) The next game produced by Shiny was MDK, produced fully in 3D. The studio's team successfully switched from 2D to 3D development, and MDK, released in 1997, became a very successful game. Aside from being used as a benchmark test for new graphics cards by various magazines, Shiny scored between 40 and 60 deals to include support for peripherals, including joysticks and 3D glasses, as well as deal with Apple Inc. that saw MDK pre-installed on every first-generation iMac. Perry believed that selling Shiny because he was unconfident of his team's ability to produce a 3D game was the worst mistake he had ever made. After MDK shipped, Shiny employees Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson left the company to form Planet Moon Studios with the same development principles as Shiny. Further Shiny games—Wild 9, R/C Stunt Copter, Messiah, and Sacrifice—were developed in parallel at the company, leading to what Perry said was simultaneously diluting focus and talent, and none of the games sold as well as MDK. Sale to Infogrames and Foundation 9, and merger (2002–2007) In April 2002, during financial instability at Interplay, Shiny was sold off to Infogrames, Inc. (later renamed Atari, Inc.) for . Enter the Matrix, which was in development at Shiny at time, also changed hands to the buyer. Under Atari, Perry conceptualized a game named Plague, which Atari forced him to significantly size down to meet budget requirements. This led Perry to leave the company on February 16, 2006. He was succeeded by Michael Persson, who became the studio's studio head. Perry went on to found GameConsultants.com, a consultancy firm for video game investors, in May 2006, and by September had joined Acclaim Games and was working on a massively multiplayer online game called 2Moons. Shortly following Perry's resignation, Atari announced that it was reducing its staff count by 20% and sell all of its internal studios, both actions also affecting Shiny. Perry's role as not an employee of Atari meant that he could aid Shiny find the best possible buyer. Thus, on October 2, 2006, Atari agreed to sell Shiny to Foundation 9 Entertainment under the terms that Shiny would at some point co-locate with The Collective, another Foundation 9 studio. On October 9, 2007, Foundation 9 announced that Shiny and The