Aces Game Studio (ACES) was an American

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

based in

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an an ...

, owned by

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

. It was founded in 1988 under the name Bruce Artwick Organization Limited (BAO Ltd.) at

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, by Bruce Artwick, creator of ''

Microsoft Flight Simulator ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed sig ...

'', ''

Microsoft Space Simulator ''Microsoft Space Simulator'' is a space flight simulator program, based on ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' for MS-DOS. It was one of the first general-purpose space flight simulators and it incorporated concepts from astrodynamics, motion, and ce ...

'' and also co-founder of

Sublogic Sublogic Corporation (stylized as subLOGIC) is an American software development company. It was formed in 1977 by Bruce Artwick, and incorporated in 1978 by Artwick's partner Stu Moment as Sublogic Communications Corporation. Sublogic is best kno ...

. Following the purchase of BAO Ltd. in December 1995,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

renamed the studio to Microsoft Simulation Group, moving employees from Champaign, Illinois, to the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, where it became part of its Games Group division, which at the time was also co-owner of

DreamWorks Interactive Danger Close Games (formerly DreamWorks Interactive LLC and EA Los Angeles) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in March 1995 as joint venture between DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft (later moved to Mi ...

. The studio continued to develop its

simulation games Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...

, acting as the developer of the ''

'' and ''

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator ''Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe Series'' is the first version of all three combat flight simulation games from Microsoft. It was released on 28 October 1998 and it is set in the European Theatre of World War II, European Theatre ...

'' series. The group had also assisted

Kuju Entertainment Kuju Entertainment Ltd. is a British video game developer. The original company was Simis, formed in 1989 and purchased by Eidos Interactive in 1995. Kuju was formed in 1998 in Shalford, Surrey, England, after a management buyout of Simis from Ei ...

in developing ''

Microsoft Train Simulator ''Microsoft Train Simulator'' is a 2001 train simulator developed for Microsoft Windows. It was released on May 31, 2001, and developed by the UK-based company Kuju Entertainment. It sold one million units worldwide by 2005. Features Microsoft ...

''. With the launch of the first Xbox console, the group was moved to

Microsoft Games Xbox Game Studios (formerly Microsoft Games, Microsoft Game Studios and Microsoft Studios) is an American video game publisher that acts as a division of technology company Microsoft. The division was created in March 2000 and replaced Microsoft' ...

(later renamed Microsoft Game Studios) in 2000 and renamed to Aces Game Studio in 2002. They worked with

Stormfront Studios Stormfront Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. In 2007, the company had over 50 developers working on two teams, and owned all its proprietary engines, tools, and technology. As of the end of 2007, ...

to develop ''

Blood Wake ''Blood Wake'' is a naval combat video game released in 2001 for the Xbox as part of Microsoft's wave of launch titles. It was developed by Stormfront Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Set in an Asian-themed fictional world, ''Bl ...

'' as a launch title for the Xbox in 2001. In the following years, Aces led development on the next three iterations of ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'', including '' Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight'' (2004) and ''

Microsoft Flight Simulator X ''Microsoft Flight Simulator X'' (abbreviated as ''FSX'') is a 2006 flight simulation video game originally developed by Aces Game Studio and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to '' Microsoft Flight S ...

'' (2006). As part of a move that cut 5,000 jobs at Microsoft, Aces Game Studio was closed on January 22, 2009. In October 2009, Rick Selby and Kathie Flood, alongside other former members of Aces Game Studio, launched a new studio, Cascade Game Foundry, for the development of simulation games. Notable alumni of Aces include

Rod Fergusson Rod Fergusson is a Canadian video game producer, best known for overseeing the development of the ''Gears of War'' franchise, originally at Epic Games and then as head of The Coalition. More recently, Fergusson moved over to Blizzard Entertainm ...

, who after Aces worked at both

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...

and The Coalition as one of the lead designers in the ''

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter vide ...

'' series.

References

Microsoft Flight Simulator Former Microsoft subsidiaries Video game development companies Video game companies disestablished in 2009 Defunct video game companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Redmond, Washington Defunct companies based in Washington (state) 2009 disestablishments in Washington (state) {{US-videogame-company-stub