Simtex was a

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 ...

established by

Steve Barcia Steve Barcia is a game programmer, game producer and entrepreneur, having founded the computer game developer Simtex Studios Inc. in 1988. The company released computer games such as ''Master of Magic'', ''Master of Orion'', '' Master of Orion I ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. It created a number of

turn-based In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based. Real-time Real-time games have game time progress cont ...

strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...

s for the PC, most notably the first two ''

Master of Orion ''Master of Orion'' (abbreviated as MoO) is a turn-based, 4X science fiction strategy game in which the player leads one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing technology, exploring a ...

'' games. The company closed in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Games

*''

'' (1993) *''

Master of Magic ''Master of Magic'' is a single-player, fantasy turn-based 4X strategy game in which the player plays as a wizard attempting to dominate two linked worlds. From a small settlement, the player manages resources, builds cities and armies, and r ...

'' (1994) *'' 1830: Railroads & Robber Barons'' (1995) *'' Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares'' (1996) *''Mech Lords'' (renamed ''Metal Lords'' during development following

FASA Fasa ( fa, فسا, Fasā, also Romanized as Fassa) is a city and capital of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 110,825, in 33,379 families. Fasa is the fourth most populous city of the province. The city date ...

dispute) (1995 — unreleased) *''Guardians: Agents of Justice'' (in development at time of closure — never finished) The rights to Simtex's games were held by

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

until sold to various parties in a 2013 auction.

Wargaming A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

now owns the rights to the Master of Orion series, while Slitherine holds the publishing rights to Master of Magic; it is eXtremePro Group Inc, that owns the full IP, based on trademark records. A third ''Master of Orion'' game named

Master of Orion III ''Master of Orion III'' is a 4X turn-based strategy game and the third in the ''Master of Orion'' series. ''Master of Orion III'' was developed by Quicksilver Software and published by Infogrames Interactive on February 25, 2003. Backstory In ...

was published by Atari (a subsidiary company of

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. Bec ...

) in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, having been developed by

Quicksilver Software Quicksilver Software may refer to: * Quicksilver Software, Inc. - Irvine, CA based developer of computer and video games and other software * Quicksilver (software) - Utility software program for Mac OS X {{Disambig ...

References

Video game companies established in 1988 Video game companies disestablished in 1997 Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies {{videogame-company-stub