Simtex Sofware was a

video game developer A video game developer is 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 business with em ...

established by Steve Barcia in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. It created a number of

turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...

strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a 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 decision tree-style think ...

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 character, player leads one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing techn ...

'' games. The company closed in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

History

Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher. The company, founded in 1983, was known for its simulation games, notably the ''Falcon'' series of combat flight simulators, and for publishing the first version of ''Te ...

'' acquired SimTex in 1995.

Games

*''

'' (1993) *''

Master of Magic ''Master of Magic'' is a single-player, fantasy turn-based strategy, turn-based 4X, 4X strategy game in which the player plays as a Magician (fantasy), wizard attempting to dominate two linked worlds. From a small settlement, the player manages ...

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

FASA FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargaming, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA In ...

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 holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

until sold to various parties in a 2013 auction.

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

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 was published by Atari (a subsidiary company of

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA ()), also known as Atari Group, is a French holding company headquartered in Paris that owns mainly video gaming-related interactive entertainment properties. Atari SA's core subsidiaries include ...

) in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, having been developed by

Quicksilver Software Quicksilver Software, Inc. was an American privately-owned video game developer based in Irvine, California, United States. The company was founded on May 1, 1984 by three former Mattel Electronics programmers: Bill Fisher, Stephen Roney, and ...

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