Strategy First Inc. is a Canadian

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...

based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. Founded in 1988 by Don McFatridge, Steve Wall and Dave Hill, the company filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

in 2004 and was subsequently acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2005. Initially specializing in developing

strategy video games Strategy is a major video game genre that emphasizes thinking and planning over direct instant action in order to achieve victory. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, as a genre, strategy games are most commonly defi ...

, it since switched to primarily publishing, releasing games like the ''Disciples'' series, the ''Jagged Alliance'' series, '' O.R.B: Off-World Resource Base'', and the ''Space Empires'' series.

History

Strategy First was founded by Don McFatridge, Steve Wall and Dave Hill, three board game designers. During one lunch break in 1988, they decided that they would begin their careers anew, establishing Strategy First as a video game development company. Richard Therrien joined as a partner shortly thereafter. The four wished to focus on

and named the company accordingly. By May 2004, Strategy First had amassed over in debt and had shrunk from more than 100 employees in three offices to sixteen staff in its primary office in Montreal. The debts included almost owed to investors, as well as owed to developers. As a result, Strategy First filed for

on 4 August 2004. Due to this insolvency, multiple developers, including

Stardock Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Microsoft Windows due to the collapse of the OS ...

and Paradox Interactive, did not receive royalties for their respective games published by Strategy First. Subsequently, Polish developer

Techland Techland S.A. is a Polish video game developer and publisher founded in 1991 by Paweł Marchewka. It developed ''Call of Juarez'' (2006) and its prequel '' Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood'' (2009), as well as ''Dead Island'' (2011) and '' Dying ...

cut all ties with Strategy First, disallowing Strategy First from distributing any Techland product, effective on 18 September. Silverstar Holdings, a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

based in

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

, that specialized in the acquisition of pay-to-play businesses, announced on 22 April 2005 that it had acquired Strategy First from the bankruptcy proceedings. The company contributed in cash and 400,000 shares of

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Comm ...

to Strategy First's creditors, while also assuming of Strategy First's existing debt. Clive Kabatznik, the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

(CEO) of Silverstar Holdings, stated that the company intended to use Strategy First as a niche publisher, in parallel to its other recent acquisition, Empire Interactive, which Kabatznik described as a "more fully fledged publisher". In April 2005, Strategy First acquired and absorbed all assets of

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

-based developer Malfador Machinations. That company's

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and CEO, Aaron Hall, joined Strategy First's management team as a result. In March 2009, Silverstar Holdings was delisted from the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

stock exchange. Subsequently, Empire Interactive was put into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

in May, with 49 out of 55 positions terminated.

Games

References

{{Authority control

External links

Official website
1988 establishments in Quebec Canadian companies established in 1988 Companies based in Montreal Video game companies established in 1988 Video game companies of Canada Video game publishers Video game publishing brands Video game development companies