Impressions Games was a British video game developer founded by David Lester. He sold the company to

Sierra On-Line Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genr ...

in 1995, who was then bought out by

Cendant Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New Yo ...

and eventually,

Vivendi Universal Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...

(now known as Vivendi SA). Impressions specialized in historical strategy games and is best known for its City Building Series, which include ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

'', ''

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

'', '' Zeus: Master of Olympus'', and '' Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom''. In 1998, Impressions Games was the most profitable division of

Havas Interactive Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Assoc ...

, with $20 million in net profit. This surpassed

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three gradu ...

for the period, according to

CNET Gamecenter ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

. Mike Ryder, former president of Sierra Entertainment, forced a change in management in October 2001, during development of ''

Lords of the Realm III ''Lords of the Realm III'' (also known as Lords 3) is a medieval themed real-time strategy computer game published in March 2004 by Sierra Entertainment, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal Games. It is the third installment in the '' Lords of the ...

''. Rod Nakamoto was installed as the new director. ''Lords III'' became Impressions's final game, and was released to mediocre reviews in March 2004. The studio was shut down in April 2004 when Vivendi Universal closed most of their game development studios. Many members of the studio moved on to form

Tilted Mill Entertainment Tilted Mill Entertainment is a video game developer located in Winchester, Massachusetts. It was founded in 2001 by former Impressions Games lead designer and general manager Chris Beatrice, business manager Peter Haffenreffer, and designer Jef ...

. Former notable employees of Impressions include

Chris Beatrice Chris Beatrice is a video game designer and artist noted for primary creative development of popular historical strategy games, including ''Lords of the Realm'' series and the '' City Building'' series. Beatrice worked at Sierra Entertainment's ...

and Peter Haffenreffer, co-founders of Tilted Mill Entertainment and Simon Bradbury, founder of

Firefly Studios Firefly Studios Limited (also stylized as FireFly Studios) is a British video game developer based in London. Formed in August 1999 by Simon Bradbury, David Lester, and Eric Ouellette, the company focuses on historic real-time strategy games for ...

Games developed

*''Kenny Dalglish Soccer Match'' (1989) *''Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1991) *''Tornado Ground Attack'' (1991) *''Afrika Korps'' (1991) *''Fort Apache'' (1991) *''Great Napoleonic Battles'' (1991) *'' Warriors of Releyne'' (1992) *'' Air Bucks'' (1992) **''Air Bucks v1.2'' (1993) *''Air Force Commander'' (1992) *''

'' (1992) **''Caesar Deluxe'' (1993) *''Conquest of Japan'' (1992) *''Air Force Commander WWII'' (1993) *'' Discovery: In the Steps of Columbus'' (1992) *''

Global Domination ''Global Domination'' is a 1993 strategy game modeled closely on the board game ''Risk''. Impressions Games expanded on the game dividing the world into more territories, adding unit types which could be controlled in a mini-game, adding the conc ...

'' (1993) *''The Blue & The Gray'' (1993) *'' When Two Worlds War'' (1993) *''D-Day: The Beginning of the End'' (1994) *''

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

'' (1994) *'' Front Lines'' (1994) *''

Lords of the Realm ''Lords of the Realm'' is a turn-based strategy computer game published and developed by Impressions Games. It was first released on June 15, 1994, and is the first game in the ''Lords of the Realm'' series. Summary The game takes place in a med ...

'' (1994) *'' Caesar II'' (1995) *'' Casino De Luxe'' (1995) *''

High Seas Trader ''High Seas Trader'' is a 1995 naval Business simulation game, business simulation video game. The player runs trade routes, fends off pirates, collects artifacts and offers transport to fellow countrymen in need, all for the sake of climbing up ...

'' (1995) *'' PowerHouse'' (1995) *''

Ultimate Soccer Manager ''Ultimate Soccer Manager'' (USM) is an association football management video game series for DOS, Commodore Amiga and Windows 95, produced by Impressions and distributed by Sierra from 1995 to 1999. The game was a massive hit in Europe (except ...

'' (1995) **''Ultimate Soccer Manager Data Disk'' (1996) *''

Lords of the Realm II ''Lords of the Realm II'' (also known as Lords 2) is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line and developed by Impressions Games. It was first released for the PC in 1996, and is the second game in the '' Lords of the Realm'' series. The game ...

'' (1996) **''Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack'' (1997) *'' Robert E. Lee: Civil War General'' (1996) *'' Space Bucks'' (1996) *'' The Rise & Rule of Ancient Empires'' (1996) *'' Ultimate Soccer Manager 2'' (1996) *'' Grant, Lee, Sherman: Civil War Generals 2'' (1997) *'' Lords of Magic'' (1997) **''Lords of Magic: Legends of Urak'' (1998) *''

Caesar III ''Caesar III'' is a city-building game released on September 30, 1998, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, developed by Impressions Games and published by Sierra On-Line. It is the third installment of the ''Caesar'' series of games and is part of ...

'' (1998) *'' Ultimate Soccer Manager 98'' (1998) **''Ultimate Soccer Manager 98-99 Season Update Add-On'' (1998) *''

'' (1999) **''Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile'' (2000) *'' Zeus: Master of Olympus'' (2000) **'' Poseidon: Master of Atlantis'' (2001) *'' Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom'' (2002) *''

'' (2004)

Games published

*''Emperor of the Mines'' (1989) *'' Breach 2'' (1990) *''

Rorke's Drift The Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the ...

'' (1990) *''The Final Conflict'' (1990) **''Breach 2 Enhanced'' (1991) *''Cohort: Fighting for Rome'' (1991) *''Merchant Colony'' (1991) *''Crime City'' (1992) *'' Paladin II'' (1992) *''Cohort II: Fighting for Rome'' (1993) *''Rules of Engagement 2'' (1993) *'' Breach 3'' (1995)

References

External links

Official website
via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Impressions Games
at MobyGames {{Authority control Sierra Entertainment Video game companies established in 1989 Video game companies disestablished in 2004 Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies