FASA Studio (formerly FASA Interactive Technologies Inc.) was an American

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

that was founded in 1994 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

by the

tabletop game Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, or tile-based games. Classification according to equipment used Tabletop game ...

company

FASA Corporation Fasa ( fa, فسا, Fasā, also Romanized as Fassa) is a city and capital of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 110,825, in 33,379 families. Fasa is the fourth most populous city of the province. The city date ...

. In 1996, FASA Interactive and Virtual World Entertainment, another company created by FASA Corp. founders

Jordan Weisman Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded five game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry. Biography Weisman graduated from Francis W. Parker High School, ...

and L. Ross Babcock, became wholly owned subsidiaries of Virtual World Entertainment Group (VWEG). In 1999, Microsoft Corporation purchased VWEG to acquire the talent at FIT and the intellectual properties of FASA Corp. The VWE component of VWEG was sold to a group headed by VWEG's former CFO, James Garbarini. FASA Interactive then became a FASA Studio, a component of

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

. As such, the company developed games exclusive to the

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

platforms Its headquarters were located in

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an a ...

, only a few miles from Microsoft Corporation's main campus. FASA was officially shut down on September 12, 2007, with only the Community Manager and Technical Support Manager positions remaining active to support their games. Microsoft subsequently licensed the rights to produce electronic adaptations of FASA games back to Weisman, who directed a venture called

Smith & Tinker Smith & Tinker was an American electronic entertainment company founded in February 2007 by Jordan Weisman, Jeremy Bornstein, Lenny Raymond, and Kev Ray. Weisman later brought in Tim Lebel and Joe Lawandus. On October 15, 2007, they announc ...

.Weisman licenses MechWarrior, Shadowrun, Crimson Skies rights back from MS (internet finally notices) - Joystiq
/ref> Smith & Tinker closed down November 8, 2012.

Games developed

*'' MechCommander'' – PC (1998) *'' MechWarrior 4: Vengeance'' – PC (2000) *''MechWarrior 4: Black Knight'' – PC (2001) - with Cyberlore Studios *'' MechCommander 2'' – PC (2001) *'' MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries'' – PC (2002) - with Cyberlore Studios *'' MechAssault'' –

(2002) *'' Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge'' –

(2003) *'' MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf'' –

(2004) *''

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspi ...

'' – PC,

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

(2007)

References

External links

FASA Studios
Former Microsoft subsidiaries Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Defunct companies based in Redmond, Washington Defunct companies based in Washington (state) Video game companies established in 1994 Video game companies disestablished in 2007 1994 establishments in Washington (state) 2007 disestablishments in Washington (state) {{US-videogame-company-stub