Simtex Sofware 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.
History
Spectrum HoloByte acquired SimTex in 1995.1
Games
- Master of Orion (1993)
- Master of Magic (1994)
- 1830: Railroads & Robber Barons (1995)
- Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (1996)
- Mech Lords (renamed Metal Lords during development following FASA 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 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;2 it is eXtremePro Group Inc, that owns the full IP, based on trademark records.3 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.
References
"Corporate Background". MicroProse. Archived from the original on December 21, 1996. Retrieved March 27, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/19961221145952/http://www.microprose.com/corporatedesign/corporate/index.html ↩
Brown, Fraser (5 August 2019). "Master of Magic acquired by strategy publisher Slitherine". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/master-of-magic-acquired-by-strategy-publisher-slitherine/ ↩
Sliwinski, Alexander. "More Atari IP auction winners announced, Stardock plans Star Control reboot". Joystiq. Retrieved 13 November 2013. http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/22/more-atari-ip-auction-winners-announced-stardock-plans-star-con/ ↩