Sir-Tech Software, Inc. was a

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 ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

History

In fall 1979, Sirotech Software was founded by Norman Sirotek, Robert Sirotek and

Robert Woodhead Robert J. Woodhead is an entrepreneur, software engineer and former game programmer. He claims that a common thread in his career is "doing weird things with computers". Career In 1979 he co-founded Sirotech (later known as Sir-Tech) with N ...

. Sirotech Software published ''Info Tree'', a database management program, '' Galactic Attack'' and a beta version of ''Wizardry: Dungeons of Despair'' which was later renamed '' Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord'' and formally released in fall 1981. It was the first game in the ''

Wizardry ''Wizardry'' is a series of role-playing video games, developed by Sir-Tech, that were highly influential in the evolution of modern role-playing video games. The original ''Wizardry'' was a significant influence on early console role-playing ...

'' series. In spring 1981, Sir-Tech Software, Inc was incorporated as a video game developer and publisher in the United States. In 1998, Sir-Tech USA closed. The

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

counterpart, Sirtech Canada Limited, continued to operate until late 2003. Sir-Tech is best known for ''Wizardry'', the role-playing video game series. The ''

Jagged Alliance ''Jagged Alliance'' is a tactical role-playing game released in 1995 for MS-DOS. It was developed by Madlab Software and published by Sir-Tech. It is the first game in the Jagged Alliance (series), ''Jagged Alliance'' series. It was re-released i ...

'' series, first published by Sir-Tech in 1994, became a popular franchise. The third game in the series, ''

Jagged Alliance 2 ''Jagged Alliance 2'' is a tactical role-playing game for PC, released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and later ported to Linux by Tribsoft. It is the third entry in the ''Jagged Alliance'' series. The game was followed by the expansion '' Unfinis ...

'', was still available from its current publisher 15 years after its initial release.

Games

Developed and published

* ''Info Tree'' (1979) (as Sirotech) * '' Galactic Attack'' (1980) (as Sirotech) * '' Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord'' (1981) * '' Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds'' (1982) * '' Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn'' (1983) * '' Crypt of Medea'' (1984) * ''

Rescue Raiders ''Rescue Raiders'' is an Apple II scrolling shooter published by Sir-Tech in 1984. It was designed by Arthur Britto and Greg Hale. Gameplay The game is played on a two-dimensional side-scrolling playfield, where two players start at main bases ...

'' (1984) * '' Deep Space: Operation Copernicus'' (1986) * '' Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna'' (1987) * '' Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom'' (1988) * '' The Usurper: The Mines of Qyntarr'' (1989) * '' Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' (1990) * '' Freakin' Funky Fuzzballs'' (1990) * '' Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant'' (1992) * '' Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games'' (1996) * '' Nemesis: The Wizardry Adventure'' (1996) * '' Wizardry Gold'' (1996) * ''

Wizardry 8 ''Wizardry 8'' is the eighth and final title in the '' Wizardry'' series of role-playing video games by Sir-Tech Canada. It is the third in the ''Dark Savant'' trilogy, which includes '' Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' and '' Wizardry V ...

'' (2001)

Developed only

* ''

'' (1999) * '' Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business'' (2000)

Published only

* '' Star Maze'' (1982) * '' The Seven Spirits of Ra'' (1987) * '' Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny'' (1993) * '' Realms of Arkania: Star Trail'' (1994) * '' Druid: Daemons of the Mind'' (1995) * ''

'' (1995) * ''

Fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mor ...

'' (1996) * '' Armed & Delirious'' (1997) * ''

Excalibur 2555 AD ''Excalibur 2555 AD'' is an action-adventure game developed by Fish (UK) and Tempest and published by Sir-Tech for the PlayStation and Windows in 1997. Gameplay ''Excalibur 2555 AD'' plays similarly to '' Tomb Raider'', in that players roam th ...

'' (1997) * '' Virus: The Game'' (1997) * '' Realms of Arkania: Shadows over Riva'' (1997)

Canceled

* '' Wizardry: Stones of Arnhem'' (1994)

References

External links

Sir-Tech
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

A history of Sir-Tech role-playing games
at Bitmob via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

{{Authority control Defunct video game companies of Canada Video game companies established in 1979 Video game companies disestablished in 2003 Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Video game publishers