Unlike MicroProse, Firaxis Software aimed at being a "design house", leaving manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of their games to outside contractors.[3][5] As such, the company talked to six potentialvideo game publishers for their games,[6] and finally signed an agreement withElectronic Arts, through which their games would be distributed under Electronic Arts'Origin Systems label.[3][7]
The studio's opening was announced on June 24, 1996.[8] Firaxis Software was originally located in a 2,500-square-foot office on Gilroy Road inHunt Valley, Maryland, temporarily sharing office space.[3][8] To accommodate their growth, in February 1997, they announced that they were moving their corporate headquarters to a 7,200-square-foot office suite in Executive Plaza III, an office building at 11350 McCormick Road and part of the Hunt Valley Business Community.[8] The deal, assisted by broker William W. Whitty Jr. of MacKenzie/O'Conor, Piper & Flynn Commercial Real Estate Services, was expected to be completed by March that year.[8] The company had 13 employees at the time.[8]
Firaxis Software announced their first title,Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, in June 1997.[6] Interimly, on July 24, 1997, the company was legally renamed Firaxis Games.[2][9] Electronic Arts announced they had acquired aminority interest in Firaxis Games, at undisclosed terms, in August 1997.[10] By September 1997, Firaxis Games signedlife insurances for its three founders.[11]Gettysburg! was released in October 1997 to critical and commercial success, scoring near-perfect reviews from critics,[12] and selling 200,000 copies by August 1999.[13] Starting withGettysburg!, Firaxis Games prefixed all games designed by Meier with "Sid Meier's", a trend the three founders carried over from MicroProse, as they believed that Meier's name added more recognizability to their games.[14] For his works on many MicroProse games, as well asGettysburg! and Firaxis Games' second title,Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Meier became the second-ever person in theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences's Hall of Fame, followingShigeru Miyamoto.[15] Co-founder Reynolds left Firaxis Games to pursue his personal interests in February 2000.[16] To compensate his departure, the company started hiring various industry veterans by March 2000.[17] For his executive engagement at Firaxis Games, co-founder andchief executive officer Briggs was named "CEO of the Year" bySmart CEO Magazine in October 2004.[18] Briggs later left the company in November 2006, and was succeeded by Steve Martin.[19] Also for his executive work at Firaxis Games, Martin was awarded the "Maryland International Business Leadership Award" by theWorld Trade Center Institute in March 2011.[20]
In November 2004,Infogrames, at the time owner of theCivilization franchise and parent to the series' publisher, sold allintellectual property (IP) to an undisclosed buyer forUS$22.3 million.[21][22] The buyer was announced to beTake-Two Interactive on January 26, 2005.[23] The publisher announced that the franchise would be managed by their2K label, which was founded the day before, and that Firaxis Games would stay in charge of the series' development.[24] In March 2005, NDL announced a partnership with Firaxis Games, wherein theirGamebryo engine would be used for the development ofCivilization IV, which was to be released later that year.[25] On November 7, 2005, Take-Two Interactive announced that they had acquired Firaxis Games.[26] Through the deal, Firaxis Games became part of 2K, although its present management and development plans would stay intact.[27] Meier and Briggs both expressed that the acquisition saw a great opportunity for Firaxis Games in terms of creative development and marketing capabilities, and were fortunate to have re-gained full control over theCivilization franchise.[28][29] In April 2007,Soren Johnson, lead designer onCivilization IV, left the company to move toMaxis and work onSpore.[30] Similarly,Civilization V's lead designerJon Shafer departed following the game's release, in December 2010.[31]
In August 2014, Firaxis Games announced Firaxicon, a convention dedicated to Firaxis games.[32][33] The event was held from September 27 to 28, 2014, at a hotel in Hunt Valley, and includedmeet and greets with the company's staff, a presentation titled "An Evening with Sid Meier", and earlyplaytests ofCivilization: Beyond Earth.[34][35] A tour of Firaxis Games' offices was also held at the event.[36] The event was renewed for a second edition in July 2015, and held on October 3, 2015, at theBaltimore Convention Center.[37][38] Events were similar to that of the 2014 event, withXCOM 2 andCivilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide up for early testing.[39][40]
By December 2015, Firaxis Games expanded their Sparks headquarters, which they moved to in 2009, to 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2), and employed 40 new staff, totaling to 180 employees present at the company.[41] In June 2016, at theGames for Change festival, Firaxis Games announced that they had partnered with GlassLab to developCivilizationEDU, an educational derivative ofCivilization V optimized for classrooms.[42] On July 23, 2018, David Ismailer of 2K confirmed that Firaxis Games was working on a new IP.[43]
On February 17, 2023, it was announced thatMidnight Suns creative director Jake Solomon and longtime Firaxis boss Steve Martin were exiting the company. COO Heather Hazen was promoted to replace Martin.[44] On May 30, 30 employees were laid off from Firaxis as part of cost-saving measures implemented by parent company Take-Two Interactive.[45]
180 (2015)
