SegaSoft was responsible for, among other things, the Heat.net multiplayer game system and publishing the last few titles made by Rocket Science Games.
In 1996, SegaSoft announced that they would be publishing games for all viable platforms, not just Saturn and PC.[4] This, however, never came to fruition, as in January 1997 SegaSoft restructured to focus on the PC and online gaming.[5]
SegaSoft disbanded in 2000 with staff layoffs.[6] Many of them were reassigned to Sega.com, a new company established to handle Sega's online presence in the United States.
Unreal Tournament's game page and a private chat window
Heat.net, stylized HEAT.NET, was an online PC gaming system produced by SegaSoft and launched in 1997 during Bernie Stolar's tenure as SEGA of America president. Heat.net hosted both Sega-published first- and second-party games, as well as popular third-party games of the era, such as Quake II and Baldur's Gate. Much like Kali, it also allowed users to play any IPX network-compatible game, regardless of whether or not it was designed for the Internet.[16] Each supported game had its own chat lobby and game creation options.[16] In addition, players could add friends and chat privately with them. Heat.net and its sister service, SEGANet, are considered ahead of their time and precursors to both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.[17]
Heat.net essentially combined the network, client, and protocol technologies of the MPlayer system (obtained under license) with the IPX tunneling package Kahn.[18] However, the client software eliminated the Voxware voice features, as SegaSoft's engineers found that most bugs in the MPlayer software were in the voice module.[18] Heat.net branded itself as a peaceful alternative to real-world violence with advertising slogans such as "Total peace through cyberviolence" and "Kill pixels not people."
It featured a currency system where the player earned "degrees" through playing games, trivia contests (both game-related and general), viewing ads, or other actions.[16][18] Degrees could be spent, but only by premium members, at Heat.net's online store, the Black Market,[19] which had computer games and related merchandise. On May 6, 1999, SEGA announced it had partnered with Chips & Bits' online game superstore which allowed players a vast selection of games, hardware and even magazine subscriptions.[20]
The degree system was highly flawed and non-active players could leave their PCs logged into servers and earn degrees. Rooms were established for idle players to sit and earn degrees. Heat.net established "parking police" to discover these servers but players discovered other ways to falsely earn points.
Other features included tracking of user rankings on individual profile pages.[18] Heat.net had a loyalty program, in which members, known as "Foot Soldiers", received shirts and Heat.net dog tags.
Heat.net was also the home of a collegiate gaming league called HeatCIGL (College Internet Game League). Students from 1,100 registered schools would play Quake III: ArenaorUnreal Tournament in teams representing their colleges, with play-offs at the end of the season. The championship team received $5,000. The league also gave away a $5,000 "Excellence in Gaming" College Scholarship.[21]
In September 2000, it was announced that Heat.net and HeatCIGL would be shutting down on October 31, 2000.
In June 2008, CNET hailed Heat.net as one of the greatest defunct websites in history.[22]
^ abcdDan Elektro (September 1997). "NetPro: Turning Up the Heat". GamePro. No. 108. IDG. p. 24.
^"Archived copy". crave.cnet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
