Wikipedia

PopTop Software

PopTop Software Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1993; 33 years ago (1993)
FounderPhil Steinmeyer
DefunctMarch 2006 (2006-03)
FateMerged into Firaxis Games
Headquarters
Fenton, Missouri
,
US
Products
Parent

PopTop Software Inc. was an American video game developer based in Fenton, Missouri. Phil Steinmeyer started the company in 1993, creating Iron Cross and co-developing two Heroes of Might and Magic games with New World Computing. In 1998, the studio co-founded the publisher Gathering of Developers, which released its Railroad Tycoon II, Tropico, and Railroad Tycoon 3. PopTop Software and Gathering of Developers were bought by Take-Two Interactive in 2000, and the studio was organized under 2K Games in 2005. In 2006, it was merged into Firaxis Games, another 2K Games studio.

History

[edit]

In 1993, Phil Steinmeyer was a programmer of business software, something he considered boring, when he began working in the video game industry.[1][2] He made Iron Cross mostly by himself and finished it with New World Computing.[1][3] The game was released in 1994 as one of the first real-time strategy games.[4][5] Steinmeyer continued working with New World Computing, co-developing Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest (1995) and Heroes of Might and Magic II (1996).[1][3] In 1996, he adopted the name PopTop Software for his company and began hiring artists and designers for a fully independent project. Wishing to work on a sequel to Railroad Tycoon, he called MicroProse and, to his surprise, quickly came to an agreement.[1] At the same time, The 3DO Company bought New World Computing and ended its third-party publishing business, leaving PopTop Software without a publisher.[3] In January 1998, PopTop Software was one of the founding members of Gathering of Developers, a developer-centric publisher run by six studios.[3][5] Railroad Tycoon II was released in November 1998, followed the expansion pack The Second Century in April 1999.[2]

The video game publisher Take-Two Interactive acquired Gathering of Developers in May 2000.[6] On July 24, it announced the acquisition of PopTop Software.[6][7] The deal saw a transaction of 559,100 shares in Take-Two Interactive, valued at an estimated US$5.8 million.[8] Steinmayer remained as the studio president.[9] The studio continued working with Gathering of Developers on Tropico and Railroad Tycoon 3.[2][10] Steinmeyer left the studio in late 2004, founded New Crayon Games in May 2005, and developed Bonnie's Bookstore.[11] On January 25, 2005, Take-Two Interactive announced the opening of the publishing label 2K Games, which would henceforth manage most of its studios, including PopTop Software.[12] It released PopTop Software's Shattered Union in 2005.[13] On March 8, 2006, Take-Two Interactive announced that PopTop Software had been merged into Firaxis Games, another 2K Games studio.[14]

Games developed

[edit]
Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes Ref.
1994 Iron Cross MS-DOS New World Computing Co-developed with New World Computing [1][3]
1995 Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest MS-DOS, Windows
1996 Heroes of Might and Magic II
1998 Railroad Tycoon II Windows Gathering of Developers [1]
1999 Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century Expansion pack [15]
2001 Tropico
2002 Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne Consultancy for Triumph Studios [16][17]
2003 Railroad Tycoon 3 [18]
2005 Shattered Union Windows, Xbox 2K Games [13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f "He's Been Workin' On the Railroad". IGN. September 10, 1999. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c "PopTop Software Announces Tropico" (Press release). PopTop Software. March 6, 2000. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2018 – via GameZone.
  3. ^ a b c d e Jebens, Harley (January 15, 1998). "PopTop Goes With g.o.d." GameSpot. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  4. ^ Stone, Tim (October 7, 2011). "The Flare Path: Iron Cross Edition". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Nash Johnson, Jean (November 1, 1998). "Creator control". The Macon Telegraph. p. 6C. Retrieved March 1, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Take 2 Acquires PopTop". IGN. July 24, 2000. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  7. ^ Parker, Sam (July 24, 2000). "Take Two Acquires Pop Top". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Rogers, Dan Lee (March 3, 2004). "The End Game: How Top Developers Sold Their Studios – Part One". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  9. ^ "Take-Two buys PopTop Software". The Star-Ledger. July 25, 2000. p. 51. Retrieved March 1, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Calvert, Justin (April 4, 2003). "Railroad Tycoon 3 update". GameSpot. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  11. ^ Steinmeyer, Phil. "About". New Crayon Games. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  12. ^ Jenkins, David (January 25, 2005). "Take-Two Acquires Visual Concepts, Announces 2K Games Brand". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on August 16, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Adams, Dan (November 1, 2005). "Shattered Union". IGN. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  14. ^ Thorsen, Tor (March 7, 2006). "PopTop folded into Firaxis?". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  15. ^ Smith, Brent (October 10, 2001). "Postmortem: Poptop Software's Tropico". Game Developer. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  16. ^ Walker, Trey (January 26, 2001). "Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne announced". GameSpot. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  17. ^ "GOD Games Newest Wonder". IGN. January 27, 2001. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  18. ^ "Railroad Tycoon 3 Q&A". GameSpot. October 13, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
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