Total Annihilation

Total Annihilation (abbreviated TA) is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain. Two expansion packs were released, The Core Contingency on April 30, 1998 and Battle Tactics on June 30, 1998. After the closure of the Cavedog Entertainment Studios in 1999, the intellectual property fell to Infogrames (now Atari).

Total Annihilation is no longer officially supported, due to the closure of Cavedog. However, the last remaining site, tauniverse hosts unofficial mods. The Cavedog team ended, but ex-Cavedog and Lead Designer Chris Taylor, went on with Gas Powered Games to create Supreme Commander, popularly considered the "spiritual successor" of Total Annihilation, while other members of the team, including the game engine's developer, Jon Mavor, later went on to develop Planetary Annihilation, another game in the same vein as TA. The creators of XTA, a mod for Total Annihilation, independently developed the open source 3D graphics Spring game engine. Also, the Total Annihilation 3D (TA3D) project was begun in the summer of 2006. Total Annihilation is currently played online via The WarZone, Game Ranger, and Phoenix Worx gaming lobbies, with The WarZone being the most active.