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| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1988 |
| Defunct | 1997 |
Key people | Steve Barcia |
| Products | Master of Orion Master of Magic 1830 |
Simtex was a video game developer established by Steve Barcia in 1988. It created a number of turn-based strategy games for the PC, most notably the first two Master of Orion games. The company closed in 1997.
The rights to Simtex's games were held by Atari until sold to various parties in a 2013 auction. Wargaming now owns the rights to the Master of Orion series, while Slitherine holds the publishing rights to Master of Magic; [1] it is eXtremePro Group Inc, that owns the full IP, based on trademark records. [2] A third Master of Orion game named Master of Orion III was published by Atari (a subsidiary company of Infogrames) in 2003, having been developed by Quicksilver Software.
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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 II, and 1830: Railroads & Robber Barons the adaptation of the Avalon Hill strategy game 1830. They also developed the unreleased projects Mech Lords and Guardians: Agents of Justice.
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Stardock Systems, Inc. v. Paul Reiche III and Robert Frederick Ford, 2018 WL 7348858 is a legal case that led to a settlement confirming an intellectual property split for the Star Control series of games. After a motion at the United States District Court, the parties agreed that series creators Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford owned the copyrights for the games Star Control (1990) and Star Control II (1992), while Stardock owned the Star Control trademark, with neither side using each other's intellectual property in future releases.
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