The Razorworks team was founded in 1996 by Kevin Bezant, Todd Gibbs, Dave Proctor and Matthew Smith - who had all previously worked together for the combat flight simulator specialists Digital Integration. The team, then operating under the name Razorback Studios (and before that, Proactive Software), developed the Enemy Engaged flight sim series for Empire Interactive. In November 2000 Razorworks was acquired by Empire Interactive, and begin a string of racing games (including the Ford Racing franchise) for Empire.