Firaxis Games
Parent 2K (2005–present) | | |
Website | firaxis.com |
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Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meier's earlier venture. They were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in August 2005, and subsequently became part of the publisher's 2K label. Firaxis Games is best known for developing the Civilization and XCOM series, as well as many other games bearing Meier's name.
History
Firaxis Software was founded on May 1, 1996,
Firaxis Software announced their first title, Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, in June 1997.[6] Interimly, on July 24, 1997, the company was legally renamed Firaxis Games.[2][9] Electronic Arts announced to have acquired a minority interest in Firaxis Games, to undisclosed terms, in August 1997.[10] By September 1997, Firaxis Games signed life insurances for its three founders.[11] Gettysburg! was released in October 1997 to critical and commercial success, scoring near-perfect reviews from critics,[12] and selling 200,000 copies by August 1999.[13] Starting with Gettysburg!, Firaxis Games prefixed all games designed by Meier with "Sid Meier's", a trend the three founders carried over from MicroProse, as they believed that Meier's name added more recognizability to their games.[14] For his works on many MicroProse games, as well as Gettysburg! and Firaxis Games' second title, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Meier became the second-ever person in the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences's Hall of Fame, following Shigeru Miyamoto.[15] Co-founder Reynolds left Firaxis Games to pursue his personal interests in February 2000.[16] To compensate his departure, the company started hiring various industry veterans by March 2000.[17] For his executive engagement at Firaxis Games, co-founder and chief executive officer Briggs was named "CEO of the Year" by Smart CEO Magazine in October 2004.[18] Briggs later left the company in November 2006, and was succeeded by Steve Martin.[19] Also for his executive work at Firaxis Games, Martin was awarded the "Maryland International Business Leadership Award" by the World Trade Center Institute in March 2011.[20]
In November 2004,
In August 2014, Firaxis Games announced Firaxicon, a convention dedicated to Firaxis games.
By December 2015, Firaxis Games expanded their Sparks headquarters, which they moved to in 2009, to 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2), and employed 40 new staff, totaling to 180 employees present at the company.[41] In June 2016, at the Games for Change festival, Firaxis Games announced that they had partnered with GlassLab to develop CivilizationEDU, an educational derivative of Civilization V optimized for classrooms.[42] On July 23, 2018, David Ismailer of 2K confirmed that Firaxis Games was working on a new IP.[43]
On February 17, 2023, it was announced that Midnight Suns creative director Jake Solomon and longtime Firaxis boss Steve Martin were exiting the company. COO Heather Hazen was promoted to replace Martin.[44] On May 30, 30 employees were laid off from Firaxis as part of cost-saving measures implemented by parent company Take-Two Interactive.[45]
Games developed
Further reading
- Gamespot Staff (December 15, 2004). "An Interview with Brian Reynolds". GameSpot.
- Donlan, Christian (July 6, 2014). "The grand strategies of Firaxis". Eurogamer.
References
- ^ a b Keefer, John (March 31, 2006). "GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins, Page 2 of 19". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007.
- ^ a b "FIRAXIS GAMES, INC.: D04399861". Maryland Business Express. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ The Business Journals. Archivedfrom the original on April 15, 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- The Business Journals. April 28, 1997. Archivedfrom the original on July 8, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- Imagine Media. July 1997. p. 12.
- ^ a b Mullaney, Timothy J. (June 23, 1997). "A young business with a game plan Firaxis: The year-old company just unveiled its first product and expects in a year 'have two successful products on the market and be working on the next two.'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Noer, Michael (July 25, 1997). "Sid starts up. Again". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ The Business Journals. Archivedfrom the original on November 28, 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- The Business Journals. Archivedfrom the original on July 1, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ "COMPANY BRIEFS". The New York Times. August 22, 1996. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- The Business Journals. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ E., Michael (October 30, 1997). "Sid Meier's Gettysburg! Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Campbell, Colin (August 30, 1999). "What's Up With Sid Meier's Antietam?". IGN. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Suellentrop, Chris (May 8, 2017). "'Civilization' Creator Sid Meier: "I Didn't Expect to be a Game Designer"". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- The Business Journals. Archivedfrom the original on December 13, 2002. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Ajami, Amer (February 7, 2000). "Brian Reynolds Leaves Firaxis". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ IGN Staff (March 23, 2000). "Firaxis Growing Strong Again With Promotions And New Hires". IGN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Gamespot Staff (October 11, 2004). "Firaxis' Jeffery Briggs named CEO of the Year". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Bozeman, Bobby (November 16, 2014). "Developing Civilization". TimesDaily. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
- ^ IGN Staff (March 17, 2011). "Firaxis Games' President, Steve Martin, Receives Business Leadership Award". IGN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ GamesIndustry International (November 25, 2004). "Infogrames sells Civilisation franchise for $22.3m". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Feldman, Curt (November 24, 2004). "Civilization sold off to mystery buyer". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- Gamasutra. Archivedfrom the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Winegarner, Beth; Thorsen, Tor (January 26, 2005). "Take-Two takes over Civilization". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- GamesIndustry.biz. Archivedfrom the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Adams, David (November 7, 2005). "Take-Two Buys Firaxis". IGN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- Gamasutra. Archivedfrom the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Thorsen, Tor (November 7, 2005). "Take-Two takes in Firaxis". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ GamesIndustry International (November 8, 2005). "Firaxis acquired by Take-Two". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Ross (April 18, 2007). "From Firaxis to Maxis: Civ IV designer leaves to work on Spore". Engadget. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Purchese, Robert (December 22, 2010). "Civilization V leader leaves Firaxis". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (August 22, 2014). "Civilization Dev Opening Its Doors for First-Ever Firaxicon, Tickets On Sale Now". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Mahardy, Mike (August 21, 2014). "Firaxis Games Announces First Ever Firaxicon". IGN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Hillier, Brenna (August 22, 2014). "Every Civilization tragic has their day at Firaxicon". VG247. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Cavalli, Earnest (August 25, 2014). "Civilization dev launches Firaxicon fan conference". Engadget. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Dean, Paul (October 5, 2014). "Firaxis opens its doors at the first Firaxicon". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (July 29, 2015). "Second annual Firaxicon is happening in October". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Brown, Fraser (July 29, 2015). "Firaxis' second annual Firaxicon kicks off in October". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Reilly, Luke (July 29, 2015). "Firaxis Games Confirms Second Annual Firaxicon". IGN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Mejia, Ozzie (July 29, 2015). "Firaxicon 2015 comes to Baltimore in October". Shacknews. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Dance, Scott (December 8, 2015). "Firaxis Games growing slowly as its legacy competes with a changing industry". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- Gamasutra. Archivedfrom the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (July 23, 2018). "A new game is in the works at Firaxis, and it's not Civ or XCOM". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- ^ "A New Era Begins at Firaxis Games". www.businesswire.com. February 17, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (May 31, 2023). "Firaxis is latest video game studio hit by layoffs". Axios. Retrieved March 3, 2024.