Cyan Worlds

Background
Cyan Worlds, formerly Cyan, is a computer game company most famous for creating the Myst series of computer games. After the release of Riven: The Sequel to Myst in 1997, the company's founder Rand Miller changed the name from "Cyan" to "Cyan Worlds", to clarify that the company was headed in a new direction. Due to the financial failure of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, the company found itself in dire financial straits, and after the online component, Myst Online: Uru Live, failed twice (once in beta testing and once again after a year of being sponsored by Gametap), the company had to lay off almost all of its employees. However, the company was not gone long, and after a few weeks Cyan Worlds found its head back above water, had re-hired its employees, and began work on a new game, Cosmic Osmo's Hex Isle. The company attempted to relaunch Myst Online: Uru Live again, but this failed and the company has since re-released Myst Online: Uru Live to the fans as an open-source project. The company still makes games, their latest being 2016's Obduction.

1st Logo (June 21, 1990)


Logo: On a black background, a white ring draws in. Upon completion of the ring's drawing, black particles form below the start point, and it spins until the darkened part is positioned at the top right. This forms a stylized "C", and the text "CYAN" and "PRODUCTION" fade in, at the top and bottom of the "C" respectively, in a particle fashion.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Cosmic Osmo and The Worlds Beyond the Mackerel.

2nd Logo (1991)
Logo: On a black background, a bar with the stylized "C" from before, but with the black replaced with, and "CYAN" at the top of it drops down. Then, the text "A CYAN PRODUCTION" fades in underneath via a particle effect.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Spelunx.

3rd Logo (September 24, 1993-November 15, 2000)
Logo: On a black background, we see a small circle in which waves are seen at first. The camera pans over to a small island, in which there are several trees and a few houses as well, all represented by geometric shapes (even the land is made of shapes). As we get to the edge, several larger cones representing mountains are seen in view, and the camera goes up to the highest peak, revealing a dark blue sky, land, and a white band of light representing the horizon and separating the 2. A sphere then drops down behind the mountain as the entire scene fades to white, with the cone forming a black streak in the ring. The text "CYAN" fades in below in, as the sphere rotates to forming a black circle, and the streak rotates about 135 degrees to the top right portion, forming the Cyan logo. As this happens, the text below fades to.

Variants:
 * A still version exists on the PlayStation version of Myst.
 * On the original release of realMYST, the black dot in the center fades to a yellow sun, which leads into the intro of the titular game.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A calm electric piano/guitar tune, ending with a drum roll and an echoing orchestral hit.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the Mac and most recent GOG.com versions of Myst: Masterpiece Edition, a remix of the tune is used. The tune now uses just a piano during the beginning, and the orchestral hit sounds more powerful.

Availability: Common; it's easily found on all copies of Myst, realMYST, and Myst: Masterpiece Edition.

4th Logo (October 31, 1997-1999)


Logo: On a starfield, we pan over the stony surface of a spinning planet, a nearby sun shining on it from the right for light. Eventually, we pan out to realize that the planet is no more than a sphere sitting on a table. The word "C Y A N" flies in from the right, coming to rest on the still spinning sphere. The background shifts to a sky with clouds, the text turning black as it does so, and the sphere zooms out as the text turns, compresses, and slides below the sphere. A black cutout of a stylized "C" zooms and rotates in to engulf the sphere, creating the then-new Cyan logo.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A mysterious-sounding tribal theme.

Availability: Rare. Seen on all releases and re-releases of Riven.

5th Logo (November 11, 2003-June 2013)
Logo: The logo starts off like the 3rd logo, but the island is now colored in a light color, and when nearing the mountain, several notable objects from the Myst games can be seen (like the rocket ship, the clock tower, what appears to be the entrance to their headquarters but completed, and even the Moiety Dagger) before the camera zooms up the mountain. When we get to the mountain, the sky is now more realistic, and the sphere is now. Then, the camera rotates towards the sphere. The sky disappears from view, the mountain becomes thicker and more like a wedge shape, and the sphere is much larger, as a smaller sphere, being the same color as the mountain and briefly seen when the camera rotates, flies in, forming a "C" out of the sphere. The entire circle rotates 90 degrees to the right, drawing a grid on the entire thing, and remains unchanged for a second. The entire scene turns into a metallic version of the image, with the "C" being defined by a lighter shade of, and a  sphere orbits in from behind and places itself onto the spot designed for it on the grid. It then shifts up to make room for the text "CYAN WORLDS", in with a embossed effect, and arranged like this:

CYAN -- W O R L D S

The entire logo then fades to black.

Variants: There are two other existing variants:
 * A still version of the finished logo, used on later Cyan Worlds games.
 * A special logo seen only on the Evolving The Vision featurette. A metal circle fade-transforms in, a la a Transformers robot transforming. A metal wedge slides out of it, sliding out two arms to connect and form the new logo. A {{color|gold|golden plate slides out to fill the C-shaped gap, and the sphere flies behind the logo in an orbit pattern to fill its place between the arms of the "C". The text "CYAN WORLDS" fades-in below at the logo shifts up to make room for it. The logo fades to black.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A higher-quality version of the third logo's tune, but with a more dramatic version of the hit that ends with some dreamy synthesized effects as the sphere flies in. For the second variant, we hear metallic sliding sounds and a soft whoosh-hiss as the sphere flies in.

Availability: Common for the still and moving variants. Rare for the Evolving The Vision variant, as it's only seen on that featurette.

6th Logo (October 17, 2013-)
Logo: On a black background, a circle blurs into view, showing the same animation as the previous logo, but with effects that make it look like it's being viewed out of a lens. When it reaches the mountain, the lens seems to be cleaned up a bit, and a sphere, being smaller than the  sphere from before, quickly drops down. The logo then continues like the previous logo, sharpening its color, but then just rotates and blurs into the final product, which is a "C" and a  dot right beside it, not unlike the current Cyan Worlds logo. Below, "C Y A N" can be seen in white. The logo then fades out via a blurring effect.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A vibraphone-esque rendition of the Cyan theme, ending in the same manner as the last logo but without the dreamy sound effects.

Availability: Current. Was first seen on RealMYST: Anniversary Version, and then later appears on Obduction.