Sir-Tech

From Free net encyclopedia

Sir-Tech was a computer game developer and publisher founded by Robert Woodhead and Norman Sirotek.

Sir-Tech is best known for the Wizardry computer role-playing game series. The Jagged Alliance series (started in 1994) was also a popular franchise. The third game in the series, Jagged Alliance 2, is over six years old, and is still available from its current publisher. Many fans claim it is still one of the best squad-based strategy games.

1 Demise
2 Game List
3 External links

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Demise

The management of Sir-Tech blamed their demise on "several shady developers" who had failed to deliver completed games on time, in time for publishing, and retailers who had cut back on initial orders. However, other factors are most certainly part of the equation. Sir-Tech had entered an agreement with Telstar Electronic Studios of the UK to release a series of their products in North America. Unfortunately this resulted in a string of flops (such as Armed and Delirious (1997) where the user plays a grandmother suffering from senility). The meager revenue stream these weak titles provided combined with a low number of SKUs overall contributed to the end decision to close the publishing company.

The final releases in their flagship series were disappointing to some, stellar to others: Wizardry 8 appeared like a nostalgia product when it was finally released after years of costly development, said some. Reviewers however praised the end result. GameSpot noted "It's easily the overall best single-player RPG this year." and voted it BEST SINGLE-PLAYER ROLE-PLAYING GAME in 2001. Computer Gaming World agreed and awarded it 2001 Single-Player Role Playing Game of the Year. While Jagged Alliance:Unfinished Business provided only a fraction of the content of its prequel, Jagged Alliance 2 was given Computer Gaming World's Editor's Choice and received excellent scores in reviews from North America and Germany.

Both titles had a very hard time getting into the mainstream retail channels. Unable to maintain an appetite for the increasing risk and cost associated with the development of these niche titles, Sir-Tech closed its doors.

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