Aspyr Media, Inc. (pronounced " aspire") is an American video game developer and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

founded by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Originally founded to bring top gaming titles to

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

, the company, since 2005, has become a publisher and developer of entertainment for multiple gaming platforms. Aspyr was acquired by

Embracer Group Embracer Group AB (formerly Nordic Games Licensing AB and THQ Nordic AB) is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company was established under the name Nordic Games Licensing in 2011 as part of Nordic Games Grou ...

in February 2021 and placed within

Saber Interactive Saber Interactive Inc. is an American video game developer and video game publisher, publisher founded in 2001 with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Saber was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2020, making the studio a direct subs ...

History

In 1996, Aspyr Media, Inc., was established by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Staloch, who had a background in sales and marketing and Rogers, who worked with TechWorks, noticed that there was a lack of gaming titles available to Mac owners and set out to change it. According to Rogers, when naming the company, they “wanted something meaning ‘to aspire and be great’” and also “memorable and unique.” Aspyr made its name specializing in

porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...

video games from Microsoft Windows to

. By 2003, they owned 60 percent of the Mac entertainment market. In 2005, Aspyr partnered with Alex Seropian of

Wideload Games Wideload Games was an American video game developer located in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 2003 by Alexander Seropian—the co-founder of Bungie and head behind the games '' Halo: Combat Evolved'', ''Myth'', and ''Marathon''—and six ...

and released their first originally-published AAA game, '' Stubbs The Zombie'', to Mac OS, Windows and Xbox. In 2015, Aspyr Media expanded their platform catalog again by releasing an iOS port of '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' and later, Bioware's classic-action RPG, ''

Jade Empire ''Jade Empire'' is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare, originally published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2005 as an Xbox exclusive. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows personal computers (PC) and published by 2K Games in 200 ...

'' - a title they extended to Android as well. In 2015, Aspyr updated '' Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords'' (native widescreen resolutions up to 5K,

Steam Workshop Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to distributing and offering third ...

, support for controllers, 57 achievements, etc.) and also ported it to macOS and Linux. In 2015, Aspyr developed and published '' Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered'', a remaster of a game developed by

Quantic Dream Quantic Dream SA is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in May 1997, Quantic Dream has developed five video games: ''The Nomad Soul'' (1999), ''Fahrenheit'' (2005), ''Heavy Rain'' (2010), '' Beyond: Two Souls'' ...

, to a worldwide audience with enhanced game features, updated visuals and controls, as well as content that was censored in the original North American release. According to Elizabeth Howard, vice president of publishing at Aspyr Media, the company's current focus is less on internal IP and more on company growth, establishing bigger undertakings with big brands. Aspyr has published over 190 games, and have added 90 plus members to their team since 1996. In February 2021, Aspyr was acquired by

. The company was added as a studio under the

label within Embracer. In September 2021, it was announced that Aspyr was developing a remake of ''Knights of the Old Republic'' for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 5 as a

timed exclusive This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

. In August 2022, Embracer announced that Aspyr is no longer working on the game and development has been moved to another studio. On April 12, 2022, Aspyr announced that it would publish ''MythForce'', the debut title from Canadian studio

Beamdog IdeaSpark Labs Inc. (trade name: Beamdog) is a Canadian video game developer founded in 2009 by BioWare co-founder Trent Oster and former BioWare lead programmer Cameron Tofer. Beamdog's distribution service was launched in July 2010. History ...

. The following day, Embracer Group acquired Beamdog and placed it as a subsidiary of Aspyr.

Games

Currently, Aspyr's catalog includes popular games such as ''

Sid Meier's Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a turn-based strategy 4X video game developed by Firaxis Games, published by 2K Games, and distributed by Take-Two Interactive. The mobile port was published by Aspyr Media. The latest entry into the ''Civiliz ...

'', developed in 2018 on Mac, Linux, iOS and Nintendo Switch, '' Torn'', and the re-releases of LucasArts titles: '' Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast'' and '' Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy''.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1996 establishments in Texas 2021 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1996 Apple Design Awards recipients Companies based in Austin, Texas Linux companies Linux game porters Macintosh software companies Saber Interactive Video game companies based in Texas Video game companies established in 1996 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Video game publishers