Firaxis Games is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. [1] It was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds as Firaxis Software, following their departure from MicroProse, which Meier had co-founded. [2] [3] [4] The company was renamed to Firaxis Games in July 1997 prior to releasing any titles. [2] It produced seven games primarily for Microsoft Windows personal computers over the next nine years through multiple publishers; these games include wargames such as their first title, Sid Meier's Gettysburg! (1997), and 4X turn-based strategy games, all with the prefix "Sid Meier's" in their official titles. Three of the games were part of the company's flagship Civilization series of 4X games, which was originally begun by Meier at MicroProse. In November 2004, Take-Two Interactive purchased the publishing rights to the series from then-rights holder Infogrames, [5] and a year later in November 2005, after the release of Civilization IV , acquired Firaxis. It became part of the publisher's 2K Games label, and has published exclusively through them since. [6]
Since 2005, Firaxis has released nine further titles related to the Civilization series, primarily 4X games. The other releases include three titles in the X-COM series of turn-based tactics games, three other tactics games, a railroad business simulation game, and a mobile real-time strategy game. Meier is the only founder remaining at the company, where he is the creative director. [7] [8] Firaxis' most recent title is Marvel's Midnight Suns (2022), and they are in development on Civilization VII . Firaxis Games has worked on 25 games since 1996, 13 of which are part of the Civilization series.
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Original release date: October 16, 1997 [9] | Release years by system: 1997 – Windows [9] |
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Original release date: February 12, 1999 [11] | Release years by system: 1999 – Windows [11] 2000 – Mac OS, Linux [12] [13] |
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Original release date: December 10, 1999 [17] | Release years by system: 1999 – Windows [17] |
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Original release date: October 31, 2001 [19] | Release years by system: 2001 – Windows [19] 2002 – Mac OS [19] |
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Original release date: January 24, 2002 [25] | Release years by system: 2002 – Windows [25] |
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Original release date: November 23, 2004 [26] | Release years by system: 2004 – Windows [26] 2005 – Xbox [26] 2007 – PlayStation Portable [26] 2008 – macOS [26] 2010 – Wii [26] 2011 – iOS [26] 2012 – Windows Phone [27] |
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Original release date: October 25, 2005 [28] | Release years by system: 2005 – Windows [28] 2006 – macOS [28] |
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Original release date: July 25, 2006 [34] | Release years by system: 2006 – Windows [34] |
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Original release date: October 17, 2006 [35] | Release years by system: 2006 – Windows [35] 2012 – macOS [35] |
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Original release date: June 6, 2008 [36] | Release years by system: 2008 – PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS [37] 2009 – iOS [37] 2012 – Windows Phone [38] |
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Original release date: September 21, 2008 [39] | Release years by system: 2008 – Windows [39] 2009 – macOS [39] |
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Original release date: September 21, 2010 [40] | Release years by system: 2010 – Windows, macOS [40] 2014 – Linux |
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Original release date: July 7, 2011 [46] | Release years by system: 2011 – Facebook Platform [46] |
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Original release date: October 9, 2012 [49] | Release years by system: 2012 – Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [49] 2013 – macOS, iOS [49] 2014 – Android, Linux [49] [50] 2016 – PlayStation Vita [51] |
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Original release date: May 2, 2013 [53] | Release years by system: 2013 – iOS [53] |
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Original release date: May 9, 2013 [54] | Release years by system: 2013 – Windows, iOS [54] |
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Original release date: November 7, 2013 [55] | Release years by system: 2013 – Windows, iOS [55] |
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Original release date: July 2, 2014 [56] | Release years by system: 2014 – Android, iOS [56] 2015 – PlayStation Vita [57] |
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Original release date: October 24, 2014 [58] | Release years by system: 2014 – Windows, macOS, Linux [58] |
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Original release date: March 12, 2015 [60] | Release years by system: 2015 – Windows, macOS, iOS [60] |
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Original release dates: February 5, 2016 [61] | Release years by system: 2016 – Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One [61] 2020 – Nintendo Switch, iOS 2021 – Android [62] |
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Original release date: October 21, 2016 [64] | Release years by system: 2016 – Windows, macOS [65] 2017 – Linux, iOS [65] 2018 – Switch [66] 2019 – PlayStation 4, Xbox One [67] 2020 – Android [68] |
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Original release date: April 24, 2020 [70] | Release years by system: 2020 – Windows [70] |
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Original release date: December 2, 2022 [71] | Release years by system: 2022 – Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
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Proposed release date: February 11, 2025 | Proposed system release: 2025 – PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
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Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is a 4X video game, considered a spiritual sequel to the Civilization series. Set in a science fiction depiction of the 22nd century, the game begins as seven competing ideological factions land on the planet Chiron ("Planet") in the Alpha Centauri star system. As the game progresses, Planet's growing sentience becomes a formidable obstacle to the human colonists.
Sidney K. Meier is an American businessman and computer programmer. A programmer, designer, and producer of several strategy video games and simulation video games, including the Civilization series, Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bill Stealey and is the Director of Creative Development of Firaxis Games, which he co-founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996. For his contributions to the video game industry, Meier was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
XCOM is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth. The series began with the strategy video game X-COM: UFO Defense created by Julian Gollop's Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1994. The original lineup by MicroProse included six published and at least two canceled games, as well as two novels. The X-COM series, in particular its original entry, achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games; including the creation of a number of clones, spiritual successors, and unofficial remakes.
Sid Meier's Civilization II is a turn-based strategy video game in the Civilization series, developed and published by MicroProse. It was released in 1996 for PCs, and later ported to the PlayStation by Activision.
Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meier's earlier venture. They were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in August 2005, and subsequently became part of the publisher's 2K label. Firaxis Games is best known for developing the Civilization and XCOM series, as well as many other games bearing Meier's name.
Brian Reynolds is an American videogame designer. Reynolds has designed at SecretNewCo, Zynga, Big Huge Games, and MicroProse and has been chairman of the International Game Developers Association. He has played a major part in designing a number of multi-million selling games including Civilization II, Rise of Nations, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and FrontierVille. He has also founded or co-founded three game companies, SecretNewCo, Big Huge Games, and Firaxis Games.
4X is a subgenre of strategy-based computer and board games, and includes both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The gameplay generally involves building an empire. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of military and non-military routes to supremacy.
Civilization IV is a 4X turn-based strategy computer game and the fourth installment of the Civilization series, and developed by Firaxis Games. It was designed by Soren Johnson. It was released in North America, Europe, and Australia, between October 25 and November 4, 2005, and followed by Civilization V.
Sid Meier's Antietam! is a real-time computer wargame designed by Sid Meier, the co-founder of Firaxis Games, then released in December 1999. It is the prequel to the 1997 Sid Meier's Gettysburg!.
Sid Meier's Railroads! is a business simulation game developed by Firaxis Games on the Gamebryo game engine that was released in October 2006 and is the sequel to Railroad Tycoon 3. Although Sid Meier created the original Railroad Tycoon, subsequent versions were developed by PopTop Software. Railroads! was the first game in the series since the original to have direct input from Sid Meier himself. After a visit to Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany, Meier was inspired to reinvent his original creation. A version for the Mac OS X was published by Feral Interactive on November 1, 2012, under the latter's Feral Legends label. A mobile version was released in April 2023.
Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy video games, first released in 1991. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of the rest, and his name is usually included in the formal title of these games, such as Sid Meier's Civilization VI. There are six main games in the series, a number of expansion packs and spin-off games, as well as board games inspired by the video game series. The series is considered a formative example of the 4X genre, in which players achieve victory through four routes: "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate".
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is a 4X, turn-based strategy game developed in 2008 by Firaxis Games with Sid Meier as designer. It is a spin-off of the Civilization series. The video game was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Windows Phone, and iOS. A Wii version was originally expected but was cancelled. The absence of a PlayStation Portable version was attributed to a lack of development manpower.
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a remake of the 1994 turn-based strategy game Sid Meier's Colonization. Players control settlers from one of four European nations – Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands – that are trying to conquer/colonize the New World in the period 1492–1792. The victorious player is the first to build up his colonies and army, declare independence from the mother country, and defeat the military force that the king inevitably sends to crush the rebellion.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactics video game that was developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It presents a "reimagined" version of the 1994 strategy game X-COM: UFO Defense—also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is set during an alien invasion of Earth in an alternative version of 2015; the player controls an elite, multinational, paramilitary organization called XCOM and commands troops in a series of turn-based tactical missions. Between missions, the player directs the research and development of technologies from recovered alien technology and captured prisoners, expands XCOM's base of operations, manages finances, and monitors and responds to alien activity.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is a turn-based strategy, 4X video game in the Civilization series developed by Firaxis Games, published by 2K Games and released for Microsoft Windows on October 24, 2014, the Mac App Store on November 27, 2014 and for Linux on December 18, 2014. The game's premise is that Earth became uninhabitable due to an undescribed disaster known as "the Great Mistake", forcing humanity to colonize space. As a spiritual successor to the 1999 game Alpha Centauri, Beyond Earth shares much of its development team and some concepts, most notably its setting on an exoplanet in the future.
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution 2 is a 4X turn-based strategy video game for portable platforms, developed in 2014 by Firaxis Games with Sid Meier as designer. It is a spin-off of the Civilization series and a sequel to Civilization Revolution.
Sid Meier's Starships is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It was released on March 12, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and iOS. The game is a stand-alone title but shares the same universe as Civilization: Beyond Earth, putting the player in control of a fleet of space-faring craft. The player will use the fleet to explore the galaxy, meeting other human and alien forces, and dealing with problems through a combination of military, diplomatic, and other strategic options. Spacecraft in the fleet can be highly customized for meeting certain goals. The game features cross-connectivity features with Beyond Earth for those that own both titles.
Sid Meier's Ace Patrol is a WWI combat flight simulation game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K for iOS and Microsoft Windows (Steam) in 2013.