MicroProse


MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the Civilization and X-COM series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games.
In 1993, the company lost most of its UK-based personnel and became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte. Subsequent cuts and corporate policies led to Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds leaving and forming Firaxis Games in 1996, as MicroProse closed its ex-Simtex development studio in Austin, Texas. In 1998, following an unsuccessful buyout attempt by GT Interactive Software, the struggling MicroProse became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive and its development studios in Alameda, California and Chapel Hill, North Carolina were closed the following year. In 2001, MicroProse ceased to exist as an entity and Hasbro Interactive sold the MicroProse intellectual properties to Infogrames Entertainment, SA. MicroProse UK's former main office in Chipping Sodbury was closed in 2002, followed by the company's former headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland in 2003.
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.
Since its' revival by Lagettie in 2019, it had announced 3 upcoming games: 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, and Operation: Harsh Doorstop by Drakeling Labs. MicroProse has also published Warfare 1944 by Drakeling Labs.

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. They planned to name it Smugger's Software, but chose MicroProse.. MicroProse became profitable in its second month and had $10 million in sales by 1986.
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 Atari 8-bit family of home computers: platformer Floyd of the Jungle, 2D shooter Chopper Rescue, and first-person airplane combat game Hellcat Ace. Hellcat Ace began a series of increasingly sophisticated 8-bit flight simulation games, including Spitfire Ace and Solo Flight, that defined the company.
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 compatibles. MicroProse released the air traffic control game Kennedy Approach, written by Andy Hollis, in 1985. Conflict in Vietnam 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. The PC market was, along with the Commodore 64, the company's top priority. By 1989, support for 8-bit machines was dropped. MicroProse supported the Amiga and developed for that machine its entire nine years on the market.
MicroProse also started a branch in the United Kingdom to cross-publish titles in Europe, and to import some European titles to be published in the United States. Notable products from this period include simulation games F-15 Strike Eagle, F-19 Stealth Fighter, Gunship, Project Stealth Fighter, Red Storm Rising and Silent Service, and action-strategy games such as Sid Meier's Pirates! and Sword of the Samurai. Several games from different developers were also distributed by MicroProse under the labels "Firebird" and "Rainbird", including Carrier Command, Midwinter and Savage.

1990s

In the early 1990s, MicroProse released the strategy games Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon and Sid Meier's Civilization, designed by Meier and developed by its internal division, MPS Labs, on multiple platforms. Critically acclaimed, both of them quickly became two of the best-selling strategy games of all time and spawned multiple sequels. Some of MicroProse's simulation games from the 1980s received remakes in the early 1990s, such as ', Silent Service II and Gunship 2000, and made some first cautious attempts to expand into the console market with F-117A Stealth Fighter and Super Strike Eagle. Brand new simulation and strategy titles included ', Dogfight, Fields of Glory, Formula One Grand Prix, Harrier Jump Jet, Knights of the Sky, Starlord, Subwar 2050 and Task Force 1942.
At the same time, MicroProse attempted to diversify beyond its niche roots as a sim and strategy game company. MicroProse designed further action-strategy titles such as Covert Action and Hyperspeed, and experimented with the role-playing genre by developing BloodNet and Darklands. The company invested a large sum of money to create its arcade game division as well as their own graphic adventure game engine. However, the arcade division was canceled after making only two games: F-15 Strike Eagle: The Arcade Game and Battle of the Solar System, 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.
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. During the same period, MicroProse created two labels: MicroStyle, and MicroPlay Software, using them for publishing a variety of externally developed games, such as Challenge of the Five Realms, Command HQ, Global Conquest, Elite Plus, Flames of Freedom, Rick Dangerous, Stunt Car Racer, Xenophobe and XF5700 Mantis. In 1992 MicroProse acquired Paragon Software. It also acquired Leeds-based flight simulation developer Vektor Grafix, which had already developed titles for them, turning it into a satellite development studio named MicroProse Leeds.

Under Spectrum HoloByte (1993–1998)

In December 1993, following Black Wednesday in the UK, MicroProse Software Inc. merged with Spectrum HoloByte, another game company that specialized in simulation games, to form MicroProse Inc. Bill Stealey, who was good friends with Spectrum HoloByte president Gilman Louie, convinced Louie to help MicroProse as Stealey was afraid that some bank would not understand the company culture. MicroProse UK was forced to close its two satellite studios of MicroProse in northern England and dispose of over 40 staff at its Chipping Sodbury head office. A core group of artists, designers, and programmers left MicroProse UK to join Psygnosis, which opened an office in Stroud specifically to attract ex-MicroProse employees. In 1994, Stealey departed MicroProse and Spectrum HoloByte agreed to buy out his shares. He later commented, "Spectrum Holobyte had a lot of cash and very few products. Microprose had a lot of products and no cash. It was a great marriage, but the new company only needed one chairman, so I resigned." Stealey went on to found an independent game company Interactive Magic, while Andy Hollis departed for Origin Systems, and Sandy Petersen joined id Software.
Spectrum Holobyte managed to line up licenses, including Top Gun, ', ' and MechWarrior. Strategy game ' proved to be an unanticipated hit in 1994, spawning multiple sequels. In 1996, Spectrum HoloByte/MicroProse bought out Simtex, earlier a developer of MicroProse-published bestsellers Master of Orion and Master of Magic. Simtex was re-branded as MicroProse Texas, based in Austin, Texas. Other MicroProse developed and/or published games during that period included 7th Legion, Addiction Pinball, ', Civilization II, Dark Earth, F-15 Strike Eagle III, Fleet Defender, Grand Prix 2, Pizza Tycoon, Sid Meier's Colonization, Tinhead, Transport Tycoon, ', ' and '. Insufficient financial resources largely prevented MicroProse from developing games for other game platforms, therefore MicroProse concentrated on the PC game market.
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. 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.
On October 5, 1997, GT Interactive Software announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire MicroProse for $250 million in stock, the deal had even been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of both companies. After the announcement MicroProse's stock price reached $7 a share. GT Interactive expected the deal to be completed by the end of that year. But the acquisition was cancelled on December 5, as according to both CEOs "the time is simply not right" for the deal. MicroProse's stock plummeted to just $2.31 after the announcement of the deal's cancellation. According to Computer Gaming World, the merger was annulled due to a "fundamental" disagreement over how the joint company would be writing off its research and development costs, as MicroProse insisted to keep their method of paying off the developer immediately.
In November 1997, MicroProse was sued by both Avalon Hill 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. 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 '.

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. On August 14, 1998, Hasbro issued a $70 million cash tender offer to purchase all MicroProse's shares for $6 each. This deal was completed on September 14, when Hasbro bought 91% of MicroProse's shares and announced that MicroProse had become a wholly owned subsidiary. The remaining shares would also be acquired for $6 in cash. MicroProse was merged with Hasbro Interactive. At the time of Hasbro's acquisition, MicroProse had 343 employees, including 135 at Alameda, California, with a total operating cost of $20 million per year. Besides the development studio in Alameda, MicroProse had three other studios: Hunt Valley, Maryland ; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Chipping Sodbury, England.
In December 1998, MicroProse finally managed to publish Falcon 4.0, to disappointing sales. In December 1999, Hasbro Interactive closed down former MicroProse studios in Alameda and Chapel Hill. Among titles in development that got canceled during that period was '. The last MicroProse developed game under Hasbro, ', was published in 2000.

Under Infogrames (2001–2003)

In January 2001, after French game publisher Infogrames Entertainment, SA took over Hasbro Interactive for $100 million, MicroProse ceased to exist and the long development of ' was finally aborted. Their latest title in the U.S., European Air War, was reissued with Infogrames' logo instead of the MicroProse logo. The final 2 games published with the MicroProse name were ' and the European version of Grand Prix 4. Infogrames shut down the former MicroProse studio in Chipping Sodbury in September 2002. Hasbro Interactive was renamed to Infogrames Interactive and then to Atari Interactive.
Infogrames intermittently used the Atari name as a brand name for selected titles before officially changing the U.S. subsidiary's name to Atari, Inc. in 2003. In November 2003, Atari Inc. closed the last former MicroProse development studio in Hunt Valley, which was MicroProse's original location and had just completed work on . However, several game developers now exist in the area, including Firaxis Games and BreakAway Games, who all owe their origin to MicroProse.

Brand revival (2019–present)

In 2019, the MicroProse brand was purchased and revived by David Lagettie, one of the makers of TitanIM open world military simulation software. Lagettie was a former developer for Bohemia Interactive at their Australian studios before starting his own company to create video game simulations to be used by military groups. Lagettie had been a fan of the original MicroProse games growing up, and as he saw the games transition ownership and 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, allowing him to establish the new Microprose as a games publisher by 2019. Lagettie's acquisitions drew the attention of Stealey, who subsequently inquired to Lagettie about his plans and leading to Stealey to join Lagettie in an unofficial manner in the new Microprose.
The new company announced in May 2020 the first of three new games to be released for personal computers, Triassic Games' Sea Power and Drydock Dreams' Task Force Admiral, and Hexdraw's Second Front, with about twenty additional titles planned out for publishing in the future. Lagettie said that while the new Microprose will branch out to other game genres such as adventure and racing games, their core portfolio will be centered on combat-based games.

Games

Games by MicroProse include Civilization, Civilization II, Darklands, F-15 Strike Eagle, F-19 Stealth Fighter, Formula One Grand Prix, Grand Prix 2, Gunship, M1 Tank Platoon, Master of Magic, Master of Orion, ', Midwinter, Pirates!, Project Stealth Fighter, Railroad Tycoon, Red Storm Rising, Silent Service, and '.

Legacy

Sid Meier, who now works at Firaxis Games, eventually got the rights of most of his games back under his control from Atari Inc. Railroad Tycoon series rights was sold to PopTop Software, who developed Railroad Tycoon II and Railroad Tycoon 3. Eventually, Poptop was acquired by Take-Two Interactive, which later also acquired Firaxis as well, thus returning the rights to the series to Meier, resulting in Sid Meier's Railroads!, released by Take-Two's 2K Games along with a new Sid Meier's Pirates! and the new Civilization games, including Sid Meier's Civilization III, Sid Meier's Civilization IV, Sid Meier's Civilization V, ' and Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution. Firaxis Games also developed the X-COM series' reboot ', which was followed by 2K Marin's spin-off '.
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 '.

Brand name

In 2007, Interactive Game Group acquired the MicroProse brand from Atari Interactive Inc, which filed for transfer of trademark protection on December 27, 2007. Interactive Game Group then shared a percentage of the MicroProse brand to I-Drs At in January 2008. Originally, claims as to what titles and other intellectual properties were also acquired by the Interactive Game Group from Infogrames were originally unverified, and the last verified owner of MicroProse properties was Infogrames. Later on, however, MicroProse's IPs that remained with Atari/Infogrames were eventually included as part of asset sale and sold to Tommo, who have been republish the titles under their "Retroism" brand.
The Interactive Game Group also licensed the MicroProse brand to the Legacy Engineering Group, 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 2008, 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.
In 2010, the Cybergun Group, manufacturer of airsoft gun products, merged with Interactive Game Group and MicroProse, giving them access to officially licensed weapons. The name has been used by a video game studio Microprose.
Since 2018, the MicroProse brand has been owned by David Lagettie, working with Bill Stealey's own company iEntertainment Network on the Warbirds series of combat flight simulators.