Sid Meier | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Meier at the 2010Game Developers Conference | |
| Born | (1954-02-24)February 24, 1954 (age 71) |
| Education | University of Michigan (BA) |
| Occupations | Businessman, computer programmer |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Employer | 2K Games |
| Known for | MicroProse,Firaxis Games,Civilization series |
| Spouse | Susan Meier |
| Children | Ryan Meier |
| Awards | AIAS Hall of Fame Award (1999)[1] |
Sidney K. Meier (/ˈmaɪər/MIRE; born February 24, 1954) is an American businessman and computer programmer. Aprogrammer,designer, andproducer of manystrategy andsimulation video games, including theCivilization series, Meier co-foundedMicroProse in 1982 withBill Stealey and is the Director of Creative Development ofFiraxis Games, which he co-founded withJeff Briggs andBrian Reynolds in 1996. For his contributions to thevideo game industry, Meier was inducted into theAcademy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
Meier was born inSarnia,Ontario, Canada, to parents of Dutch and Swiss descent, which conferred on him both Canadian and Swiss citizenship upon birth. When he was about three years old, his family moved toDetroit,Michigan, where he was raised.[2] At theUniversity of Michigan, he studied history andcomputer science, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science in 1975.[3][4][5]
Following college, Meier worked in developing cash register systems for department stores.[5] During this timeframe, Meier acquired anAtari 800 around 1981, an experience that led him to the realization of the potential for employing computer programming in the creation of video games. He found a co-worker,Bill Stealey, who had a similar interest in developing games, and shared the games that Meier had developed. The two decided to establish a new company for computer game development subsequent to the widespread advancement and growth of the software and personal computer industries, which were developing extensively during the initial years of the 1980s.[6]
Sid Meier has stated on numerous occasions that he emphasizes the "fun parts" of a simulation and throws out the rest.
— Computer Gaming World, 1994[7]
Meier foundedMicroProse with Stealey in 1982.[8] After a few initial2D action games, such as Meier's platformerFloyd of the Jungle,[9] MicroProse settled into a run of flight simulation titles beginning withHellcat Ace (1982) and continuing withSpitfire Ace (1982),Solo Flight (1983), andF-15 Strike Eagle (1985), all designed and programmed by Meier.[10]
The first appearance of Meier's name on the retail box of a game was as the credited creator ofFormula 1 Racing in 1982. In 1984 Stealey began marketing Meier himself, hoping to attract other developers by promoting him as anauteur;[5] by 1986 MicroProse was using Meier's name and face in advertisements for its games.[11] In 1987, the company releasedSid Meier's Pirates!, the first game with Meier's name in the title. He later explained that the inclusion of his name was becausePirates! is very different from the company's earlier titles. Stealey decided that Meier's name would make those who purchased the flight simulators more likely to play the game. Stealey recalled: "We were at dinner at aSoftware Publishers Association meeting, andRobin Williams was there. And he kept us in stitches for two hours. And he turns to me and says 'Bill, you should put Sid's name on a couple of these boxes, and promote him as the star.' And that's how Sid's name got onPirates, andCivilization."[3][6]
The idea was successful; by 1992, an entry inComputer Gaming World's poetry contest praised Meier's name as "a guarantee they got it right".[12] While emphasizing that he did not encourage MicroProse promoting his name, Meier did insist on doing all of the work on games himself, including sound and art, until work by artist Michael Haire,[13] whom Stealey had hired forSilent Service (1985), persuaded him.[5] Meier is not always the main designer on titles that carry his name. For instance,Brian Reynolds has been credited as the primary designer behindSid Meier's Civilization II,Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, andSid Meier's Colonization,[14][15] whileJeff Briggs designedSid Meier's Civilization III,[16]Soren Johnson ledSid Meier's Civilization IV,[17]Jon Shafer ledSid Meier's Civilization V,[18] and Will Miller and David McDonough were the designers ofSid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth.[19]
After the release ofF-19 Stealth Fighter, Meier focused on strategy games, later saying "Everything I thought was cool about a flight simulator had gone into that game."[20] Inspired bySimCity andEmpire, he createdSid Meier's Railroad Tycoon and later the game series for which he is most widely recognized,Sid Meier's Civilization,[15] although he designed only the first installment.
Around 1990, Stealey wanted to expand MicroProse to produce arcade games, which Meier felt was too risky. One arcade video game was released without Meier's involvement: an improved version ofF-15 Strike Eagle II under the nameF-15 Strike Eagle.[21] Unable to resolve the matter with Stealey, Meier sold Stealey his half of the company, but remained with the company in his same role.[22]
MicroProse, after it had become apublic company, merged withSpectrum HoloByte in 1993 under Spectrum's name, with Spectrum as the operating company. As a cost-cutting measure, Spectrum cut many of the jobs at MicroProse in 1996 and consolidated much of their operations. Meier, along with MicroProse employeesJeff Briggs andBrian Reynolds, were dissastified with these decisions, and opted to leave the company to formFiraxis Games in 1997.[23][24]
Firaxis continued to develop the same type of strategy games that Meier had developed at MicroProse, many of which are follow-ups to those titles, such as the newCivilization games and a remake ofSid Meier's Pirates! (2004). In 1996, he was granted a patent for a "System for Real-Time Music Composition and Synthesis" used inC.P.U. Bach.[25]Next Generation listed him in their "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995", calling him "a prolific developer of some of the best games in [MicroProse]'s catalog".[26]
According to Firaxis employees, Meier has been constantly developing a special game engine since around 1996 which he uses toprototype his game ideas and which he has not shared with anyone else. Dennis Shirk, a senior producer, said in 2016 that Meier would sometimes arrive at the office and announce he had a new game prototype for the company to try out and see if it could be developed further. The engine is believed by Firaxis employees to be based on his originalCivilization source, but expanded over the years with updates that he or other engineers will write for him.[27]
Meier worked with a team on adinosaur-themed game starting in early 2000, but announced in an online development diary in 2001 that the game had been shelved. Despite trying various approaches, includingturn-based andreal-time gameplay, he said he found no way to make the concept fun enough. In 2005, he said, "We've been nonstop busy making other games over the past several years, so the dinosaur game remains on the shelf. However, I do love the idea of a dinosaur game and would like to revisit it when I have some time."[28]
An autobiography,Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games, was published on September 8, 2020, byW. W. Norton & Company.[29]
Computer Gaming World reported in 1994 that "Sid Meier has stated on numerous occasions that he emphasizes the 'fun parts' of a simulation and throws out the rest".[7] The magazine reported that year how "Meier insisted that discovering the elusive quality of fun is the toughest part of design."[30] According toPC Gamer, "Though his games are frequently about violent times and places, there is never any blood or gore shown. He designs and creates his games by playing them, over and over, until they are fun."[31]
Meier lives inHunt Valley, Maryland, with his second wife Susan. He is a devout Christian, and he and his wife attendFaith Evangelical Lutheran Church inCockeysville, where he is the Director of Contemporary Music.[3][32] Susan was one of the original 13 employees atFiraxis Games along with Sid.[33] Meier has a son, Ryan Meier, who worked forBlizzard Entertainment,Firaxis Games, andGoogle.[34][35]
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In 1996,GameSpot put Meier at the top of their listing of the "Most Influential People in Computer Gaming of All Time", calling him "ourHitchcock, ourSpielberg, ourEllington".[36] That same year,Computer Gaming World ranked him as eighth on the list of the "Most Influential Industry Players of All Time", noting that no game designer has had as manyCGW Hall of Fame games as Sid Meier.[37] In 1997,Computer Gaming World ranked him as number one on the list of the "Most Influential People of All Time in Computer Gaming", for game design.[38] In 1999, he became the second person to be inducted into theAcademy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.[39]
In 2008, Meier received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008Game Developer's Conference.[40] In 2009, he came fifth in aDevelop survey that asked some 9,000 game makers about their "ultimate development hero".[3] In 2009, he was ranked second inIGN's list of "Top Game Creators of All Time", and was called "the ideal role model for any aspiring game designer".[41] In 2017, he was awarded the Life Achievement by theGolden Joystick Awards.[42]
Meier has been the developer, co-developer, and producer of many games.[43][44] A complete list of his works which includes early non-commercial titles is available in the appendix ofSid Meier's Memoir![45]
| Release | Game | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Bank Game I | Meier was paid to make a game for a bank with a piggybank catching falling coins.[45] |
| Bank Game II | In Meier's second bank-game the goal was to cross the road to the bank.[45] | |
| Faux Space Invaders | Written in assembly, and a local store bought five or ten copies.[45][46] | |
| Faux Pac-Man | Pac-Man rip-off, developed as training and shared with the users group.[45] | |
| 1982 | Formula 1 Racing | The first commercial game by Sid Meier, published by Acorn Software Products Inc.[47][48] |
| Hellcat Ace | Sid Meier's first project for MicroProse according toBill Stealey.[49] | |
| Chopper Rescue | Improved and commercial version ofHostage Rescue. Sid Meier has said this was the first game he wrote at MicroProse.[46] | |
| Spitfire Ace | ||
| Floyd of the Jungle[9] | ||
| 1983 | NATO Commander | |
| Wingman[50] | ||
| Floyd of the Jungle II | ||
| Solo Flight | ||
| 1984 | Air Rescue I[51] | |
| F-15 Strike Eagle | ||
| 1985 | Silent Service | World War II submarine simulation game |
| Crusade in Europe | ||
| Decision in the Desert | ||
| 1986 | Conflict in Vietnam | Last Sid Meier game released for Atari 8-bit computers.[52] |
| Gunship | ||
| 1987 | Sid Meier's Pirates! | A pirate simulation game based around life of apirate, aprivateer, or a pirate hunter in the 16th-18th centuries. The first game to have Sid Meier's name included in its title. |
| 1988 | Red Storm Rising | Nuclear submarine simulation game, based on thenovel byTom Clancy. |
| F-19 Stealth Fighter | ||
| 1989 | F-15 Strike Eagle II | |
| 1990 | Covert Action | An espionage game offering a range of arcade-style game modes. |
| Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon | Abusiness simulation game that paints the early development of railroads in the United States and Europe. With the release ofSid Meier's Railroads!, this series now has four installments. | |
| 1991 | Sid Meier's Civilization | A vastly successful turn-based strategy game, that has now run to a franchise (see below). This is Meier's most successful game franchise to date, having sold over 73 million copies as of August 2024.[53] |
| 1993 | Pirates! Gold | Remake of 1987'sPirates! game that included several new features, such as extra missions. Paul Murphy was lead designer on the game. |
| 1994 | Sid Meier's Colonization | A turn-based strategy game themed on the early European colonization of theNew World. |
| C.P.U. Bach | Meier's patented music-making program for3DO, that became a commercial failure.[45][54] | |
| 1995 | Sid Meier's CivNet | A remake ofCivilization with support for internet-based multiplayer gameplay. |
| 1996 | Sid Meier's Civilization II | Follow-up to Sid Meier's successfulCivilization;Brian Reynolds was lead designer on the game. |
| 1997 | Magic: The Gathering | This would be the last game that Sid Meier worked on for MicroProse. |
| Sid Meier's Gettysburg! | Sid Meier's firstreal-time tactical game. | |
| 1999 | Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | Brian Reynolds was lead designer on this adaptation ofCivilization to an extraterrestrial theme. |
| Sid Meier's Antietam! | Sid Meier's Gettysburg andAntietam are part of his Civil War set. | |
| 2001 | Sid Meier's Civilization III | Jeff Briggs designed the third installment of the series, with more complex rules, graphics and gameplay. |
| 2002 | Sid Meier's SimGolf | Agolfing simulation in which the player built their owngolf course and played it against computer players, co-created byMaxis. (Not to be confused with Maxis' 1996 titleSimGolf.) |
| 2004 | Sid Meier's Pirates! | Follow-up to the acclaimedPirates! game from 1987, updating the graphics and featuring some entirely new gameplay elements. |
| 2005 | Sid Meier's Civilization IV | Designed bySoren Johnson. A full 3D engine replaces theisometric maps ofCivilization II andIII. |
| 2006 | Sid Meier's Railroads! | WhenTake-Two shut downPopTop Software and folded it intoFiraxis, Meier once again became responsible for theRailroad Tycoon series, and this is billed as the sequel toRailroad Tycoon 3. |
| 2008 | Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution | Aseventh generation console edition ofCivilization. |
| Sid Meier's Pirates! Mobile | The game was developed and published by Oasys Mobile and was led by one of the original programmers forPirates! Gold. | |
| Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon Mobile | Developed by Blue Heat and published by Oasys Mobile. This mobile version allows players to build their own transportation empire. | |
| Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization | A 2008 remake of the 1994Colonization, and a standalone game based on theCivilization IV engine. | |
| 2010 | Sid Meier's Civilization V | Headed byJon Shafer with new features. |
| 2011 | Sid Meier's CivWorld | Amassively multiplayer online game released onFacebook. Game closed down on May 29, 2013.[55] |
| 2013 | Sid Meier's Ace Patrol | A World War I flight strategy game published by2K Games.[56] |
| Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies | A World War II flight strategy game published by 2K Games. | |
| 2014 | Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution 2 | A mobile sequel toSid Meier's Civilization Revolution. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth | A spiritual successor toSid Meier's Alpha Centauri built atop theCivilization V engine. | |
| 2015 | Sid Meier's Starships | Follows on fromSid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth. |
| 2016 | Sid Meier's Civilization VI | Sixth main title in theCivilization series. |
| 2025 | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | Seventh main title in theCivilization series. |
We pull up a pew with developer Firaxis and talk deep, dark diplomacy.
