Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meier's earlier venture. They were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in August 2005, and subsequently became part of the publisher's 2K label. Firaxis Games is best known for developing the Civilization and XCOM series, as well as many other games bearing Meier's name. Firaxis Software was founded on May 1, 1996, by Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds and Jeff Briggs, three video game designers formerly employed by MicroProse, a video game venture founded by Meier and partner Bill Stealey in 1982. The name "Firaxis", a portmanteau of "fiery" and "axis", was derived from the name of a piece of music created by Briggs. Briggs explained that they decided to stay in the Baltimore area, rather than moving to Silicon Valley, because it was "just a great place to be". Unlike MicroProse, Firaxis Software aimed at being a "design house", leaving manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of their games to outside contractors. As such, the company talked to six potential video game publishers for their games, and finally signed an agreement with Electronic Arts, through which their games would be distributed under Electronic Arts' Origin Systems label. The studio's opening was announced on June 24, 1996. Firaxis Software was originally located in a 2,500-square-foot office on Gilroy Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland, temporarily sharing office space. 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. 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. The company had 13 employees at the time. More information...
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