MicroProse
Infogrames (2001–2003) | |
Website | www |
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MicroProse is an American
In 1993, the company lost most of its UK-based personnel and became a subsidiary of
The brand was revived in 2007 when Interactive Game Group acquired it from Atari Interactive, formerly Infogrames. The MicroProse brand was licensed to the Legacy Engineering Group for consumer electronics. Cybergun owned the MicroProse brand from 2010 to 2018, which was then acquired by David Lagettie working with Stealey.
History
Independent company (1982–1993)
1980s
In summer 1982, mutual friends who knew of their shared interest in aviation arranged for retired military pilot Bill Stealey and computer programmer Sid Meier to meet in Las Vegas. After Meier surprised Stealey by repeatedly defeating him when playing Red Baron, he explained that he had analyzed the game's programming to predict future actions and claimed that he could design a better home computer game in one week. Stealey promised to sell the game if Meier could develop it. Although Meier needed two months to produce Hellcat Ace, Stealey sold 50 copies in his first sales appointment and the game became the first product of their new company.[3] They planned to name it Smugger's Software, but chose MicroProse. (In 1987 the company agreed to change its name to avoid confusion with MicroPro International, but MicroPro decided to rename itself after its WordStar word processor).[4] MicroProse became profitable in its second month and had $10 million in sales by 1986.[5]
MicroProse advertised its first batch of games in 1982, under the headline "Experience the MicroProse Challenge!!!" All three were written by Sid Meier for the
In 1983, MicroProse ported Floyd of the Jungle to the Commodore 64, their first product for that machine. By 1984, the company had begun supporting the Apple II and IBM PC compatibles. MicroProse released the air traffic control game Kennedy Approach, written by Andy Hollis, in 1985.[9] Conflict in Vietnam (1986) was the final MicroProse title for the Atari 8-bit line.
By 1987, Computer Gaming World considered MicroProse one of the top five computer game companies, alongside likes of Activision and Electronic Arts.[citation needed]
MicroProse also started a branch in the United Kingdom to cross-publish titles in Europe,
1990s
In the early 1990s, MicroProse released the strategy games
MicroProse attempted to diversify beyond its niche roots as a sim and strategy game company, looking for opportunities into the arcade game industry. MicroProse designed further action-strategy titles such as
The arcade division did not perform well, and was canceled after making only two games: F-15 Strike Eagle: The Arcade Game and Battle of the Solar System (both of which featured high-end 3D graphics but failed to become popular as they were too different from existing machines), while the adventure game engine was used for just three games: Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender, Return of the Phantom and Dragonsphere, before it was sold off to Sanctuary Woods.[citation needed]
In August 1991, MicroProse filed for an initial public offering. The company hoped to raise $18 million to help repay debts from its unsuccessful arcade games.[15] In 1992 MicroProse acquired Paragon Software.[16] It also acquired Leeds-based flight simulation developer Vektor Grafix,[17] which had already developed titles for them (such as B-17 Flying Fortress), turning it into a satellite development studio named MicroProse Leeds.
Under Spectrum HoloByte (1993–1998)
In December 1993, following
Spectrum Holobyte managed to line up licenses, including
MicroProse Software continued as separate subsidiary company under Spectrum HoloByte until 1996. That year, Spectrum HoloByte started cutting a majority of the MicroProse staff to reduce costs. Soon after, it consolidated all of its titles under the MicroProse brand (essentially renaming itself MicroProse). MicroProse's remaining co-founder Sid Meier, along with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds, departed the company after the staff cut, forming a new company named Firaxis Games.[21]
On October 5, 1997,
In November 1997, MicroProse was sued by both Avalon Hill (who had the U.S. publishing rights to the name Civilization)[27] and Activision for copyright infringement. MicroProse responded by buying Hartland Trefoil, which was the original designer and manufacturer of the Civilization board game, and then sued Avalon Hill and Activision for trademark infringement and unfair business practices as a result of Activision's decision to develop and publish Civilization video games.[28] Because Hasbro was negotiating the acquisition of both Avalon Hill and MicroProse, the lawsuits were settled in July 1998. Under the terms of the settlement MicroProse became the sole owner of the rights of the name Civilization and Activision acquired a license to publish a Civilization video game which was later titled Civilization: Call to Power.[27][29]
Under Hasbro Interactive (1998–2001)
In preparation for its sale, MicroProse closed down its studio in Austin in June 1998; as a result of the closure, 35 employees lost their jobs.
In December 1998, MicroProse finally managed to publish Falcon 4.0 (in development by Spectrum HoloByte since 1992), to disappointing sales. In December 1999, Hasbro Interactive closed down former MicroProse studios in Alameda and Chapel Hill.[36][37] Among titles in development that got canceled during that period was X-COM: Genesis. The last MicroProse developed game under Hasbro, B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th, was published in 2000.
Under Infogrames (2001–2003)
In January 2001, after French game publisher
Infogrames began to slowly phase out the brand name, with many MicroProse branded titles that were previously released by Hasbro being reissued with Infogrames' logo on the packaging. The final two games branded under the MicroProse name were Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror and Grand Prix 4. The two remaining MicroProse studios were also renamed under Infogrames branding as well, becoming Infogrames Hunt Valley and Infogrames Chippenham respectively. Infogrames would later shut down the Chippenham studio in September 2002.[40]
Infogrames intermittently used the Atari name as a
Brand sale to Interactive Game Group and Cybergun Group (2007-2019)
In 2007, the MicroProse brand name was sold by
In January 2008, the Interactive Game Group sub-licensed the MicroProse brand and trademark to I-Drs At in January 2008.[45][46] The company also licensed the MicroProse brand to the Legacy Engineering Group (LEG), which used the license to form subsidiaries called Microprose Systems and Microprose Consumer Electronics Division, selling consumer electronics from February 2008 to the second half of 2008. In October, the licensing agreement between LEG and Frederic Chesnais, owner of Interactive Game Group, was discontinued, forcing LEG to rebrand its subsidiaries to Legacy Consumer Electronics.[47]
In 2010, the Cybergun Group, manufacturer of airsoft gun products, merged with the Interactive Game Group, acquiring the MicroProse brand within the merger.[48] In 2011, the Interactive Game Group was rebranded under the MicroProse name and began licensing and executive producing various casual and budget video game titles that the Interactive Game Group had already licensed[49] including Jaws: Ultimate Predator[50] and fitness games featuring Jullian Michaels.[51] In August 2012, MicroProse announced that they would re-partner with their former owner Atari to release Special Forces: Team X for 2013.[52] The MicroProse brand continued in use until the end of 2013, when it's domain lapsed and the brand fell into dormancy.
On July 22, 2013, during the Atari bankruptcy sale, most of MicroProse's former IPs that remained with the publisher were sold to Tommo.[53] In October 2014, Tommo announced the launch of the "Retroism" brand and re-released a majority of MicroProse's catalogue through digital media platforms such as Steam.
Brand revival (2018–present)
In 2018, David Lagettie, an Australian simulation software entrepreneur and one of the makers of TitanIM open world military simulation software, purchased the MicroProse brand from the Cybergun Group. Lagettie was a former developer for Bohemia Interactive at their Australian studios before starting his own company to create video game simulators to be used by military groups. Lagettie had been a fan of the original MicroProse games growing up, and as he saw the games ownership transition made the company eventually disappear, he started investigating the fate of MicroProse around 2005. When possible, he began buying whatever IP from MicroProse he could, including the name and original logo trademarks.[54] In February 2019, MicroProse was officially revived as a full publisher of video game and simulation titles, working with the iEntertainment Network on the WarBirds series of combat flight simulators.[55] Within the rest of 2019, MicroProse announced Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age by the developer Triassic Games AB, Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles by Drydock Dreams Games, Operation: Harsh Doorstop by Drakeling Labs, and Warfare 1944 by Drakeling Labs. Lagettie's acquisitions drew the attention of Stealey, who subsequently inquired Lagettie about his plans, leading to Stealey joining Lagettie in an unofficial manner in the new MicroProse.[54]
The new company announced in May 2020 the first of three new games to be released for personal computers: Triassic Games' Sea Power, Drydock Dreams' Task Force Admiral, and Hexdraw's Second Front,[56] with about twenty additional titles planned out for publishing in the future. Lagettie said that while the new MicroProse will branch out to other genres such as adventure and racing games, their core portfolio will be centered on combat-based ones.[54]
MicroProse re-released B-17 Flying Fortress on Steam in November 2021.[57] On May 4, 2023, the company announced it had re-acquired the copyright to the Falcon (series).[58]
Games
Games by MicroProse include (1994).
Legacy
It was a great run. We should've done better. We had great people.
I think all our people are still very proud of their MicroProse days.
Bill Stealey in 2013[59]
Sid Meier, who now works at Firaxis Games, eventually got the rights of most of his games back under his control from Atari Inc.
Master of Orion III was developed by Quicksilver Software and released under the Infogrames label. Falcon 4.0 rights were sold to Graphsim Entertainment, who developed Falcon 4.0: Allied Force.
Notes
- ^ The original company closed in 2003. The current MicroProse is founded by David Lagettie.
References
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