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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1979; 46 years ago (1979) |
| Founder | Joel Billings |
| Defunct | 1994 (1994) |
| Fate | Merged intoMindscape |
| Headquarters | Mountain View,California, US |
| Products | Wargames Role-playing games |
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was avideo game developer andpublisher of over 100 games from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994 (though the brand was in use until around 2002).[1] The company focused oncomputer wargames then later addedrole-playing video games. SSI published thePanzer General series and the official video game adaptations ofDungeons & Dragons.
The company was founded byJoel Billings, awargame enthusiast, who in the summer of 1979 saw the possibility of using the new home computers such as theTRS-80 for wargames.[2] While unsuccessfully approachingAvalon Hill andAutomated Simulations to publish wargames,[3] he hiredprogrammersJohn Lyons, who wroteComputer Bismarck—later claimed to have been the first "serious wargame" published for amicrocomputer[2]—andEd Williger, who wroteComputer Ambush. Both games were written inBASIC as were many of SSI's early games.
Although Billings expected that he and Lyon would write the first version ofComputer Bismarck on aNorth Star computer,Apple Computer executiveTrip Hawkins, who would later foundElectronic Arts, persuaded Billings to switch to theApple II because of its graphics.[3]Computer Bismarck appeared for the Apple in January 1980 and for the TRS-80 later in the year.Chuck Kroegel, who joined the company as an employee in 1983, was the co-author withDavid Landrey of many of the early SSI wargames and led product development for over ten years.
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By late 1980, SSI advertised that its games could "take you fromWaterloo to theSuper Bowl. (By way of theNorth Atlantic.)"[4] In 1982 SSI launched theirRapidFire line. Although the name implies action titles, it was in fact simply a branding of games being written by third party authors. The initial series consisted ofCytron Masters,The Cosmic Balance andGalactic Gladiators. Later titles includedEpidemic!, a real time strategy title dealing with a global plague,Queen of Hearts,Cosmic Balance II,Broadsides and others. The branding effort did not last very long, and appeared to have been ended in either 1983 or 1984. Chris Smith reviewed SSI'sRapidFire Line inThe Space Gamer No. 59.[5] Smith commented that " RapidFire is a game line that deserves any award it can be nominated for. It is the best line of computer games I've ever seen, and the programs rate high on an individual basis also."[5]
By 1985,Antic wrote "serious computer wargamers consider [SSI] a company in a class by itself". It had 60 employees and had published 12 games in the previous year, most written incompiledBASIC. Developers such asGary Grigsby received royalties of up to $20,000 per game.[6] By fiscal 1987 the company had $5 million in sales, and had released 89 games in its first eight years.[2]
SSI had expanded intorole-playing games in 1984 with titles such asWizard's Crown,Questron and thePhantasie series. In 1987, SSI acquired theAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) license fromTSR and subsequently published 30 titles in that series, starting withPool of Radiance in 1988 and includingWar of the Lance in 1989 (Apple II) and 1990 (MS-DOS & Commodore 64). The TSR products formed the core of games released using theGold Box engine.
By 1992,Computer Gaming World stated that SSI "is no longer known as, primarily, a wargame company [but] continues to publish its share of wargames".[7] In 1994, the company releasedPanzer General. Panzer General was a very approachable and easy-to-play game that nevertheless had some gameplay depth and the sense of continuity and goals. It was followed by three other games based on slightly modified versions of the basic engine, includingAllied General andPacific General, the latter arguably being the most balanced. Non-historical games based on the same system were also released,Star General andFantasy General. These were later referred to collectively as the5-Star General Series.
As the newer versions were released over a three-year period they increasingly became outdated in terms of improving computer hardware. In 1997 they released a new version,Panzer General II, with hand-painted maps and icons. It was very popular, selling well over 100,000 copies in its first release, and is still modded and played today.[citation needed]People's General was based on the same engine. In 1999Panzer General 3D Assault introduced a true 3D engine, but gameplay was not particularly notable.[citation needed] A final attempt in 2000 wasPanzer General III: Scorched Earth.
SSI was acquired byMindscape in 1994, spent some time as part ofMattel, and finally became part ofUbisoft in March 2001, which retired the brand a few years later.[1]
In December 2013,Joel Billings donated several SSI video games, such asComputer Bismarck, including thesource code for preservation to theICHEG.[8][9]
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