Sid Meier

**Sidney K. "Sid" Meier** (born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably *Civilization*. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry. Meier is a Director of Creative Development for computer game developer Firaxis Games, which he co-founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996.

## Career

Sid Meier founded MicroProse together with Bill Stealey in 1982. At MicroProse, Meier developed the game series for which he is most widely recognized, *Civilization*. Meier eventually left MicroProse and in 1996 founded Firaxis Games along with veteran gaming executive Jeff Briggs. Today Firaxis makes strategy games, many of which are follow-ups to classic Meier titles, such as *Civilization IV* and *Pirates!*.

In 1999, Meier became the second person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. The first to receive that honor was Shigeru Miyamoto from Nintendo.

Sid Meier is not always the main designer on titles that carry his name. For instance, Brian Reynolds has been credited as the primary designer behind *Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri* and *Sid Meier's Colonization*, while Soren Johnson held that role in *Sid Meier's Civilization IV*. Currently Meier's role appears to be that of a creative director, simultaneously contributing to multiple projects.

Meier worked with a team on a dinosaur themed game starting early 2000, but announced in an online development diary on 24 January 2001 that the game had been shelved. Despite trying various approaches, including turn-based and real-time gameplay, he said he found no way to make the concept fun enough. In August 2005, Meier said *"We've been nonstop busy making other games over the past several years, so the dinosaur game remains on the shelf. However, I do love the idea of a dinosaur game and would like to revisit it when I have some time."*

Meier currently lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland with his wife, Susan, and son, Ryan.

## Works

* Helcat Ace (1982)
* Solo Flight (1984)
* NATO Division Commander (1984)
* Splitfire Ace (1984)
* F-16 Strike Eagle (1985)
* Silent Service (1985)
* Decision in Desert (1985)
* Crusade in Europe (1985)
* Gunship (1986)
* Conflict in Vietnam (1986)
* Pirates! (1987)
* F-19 Stelth Figter (1988)
* Red Storm Rising (1989)
* Sword of the Samurai (1989)
* M1 Tank Platoon (1989)
* F-15 Strike Eagle II (1989)
* Sid Meier's Railroad Tucoon (1990)
* Sid Meier's Corert Action (1990)
* Sid Meier's Civilization (1991)
* Gunship 2000 (1991)
* High Command: Europe (1992)
* Return of the Phantom (1993)
* Pirates! Gold (1993)
* CPU Bach (1993)
* F-15 Strike Eagle III (1993)
* Sid Meier's Colonization (1994)
* Sid Meier's CivNet (1995)
* Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996)
* Vikings: The Strategy of Ultimate Conquest (1997)
* Sid Meier's Gettysburg! (1997)
* Sid Meier's Antietam! (1998)
* Sid Meier's Alpha Centaun (1999)
* Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire (1999)
* Sid Meier's Alpa Centaun Planetary Pack (2000)
* Sid Meier's Civilization III (2001)
* SimGolf (2002)
* Sid Meier's Civilization III Conquests (2003)
* Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)
* Sid Meier's Civilization IV (2005)
* Sid Meier's Railroads! (2006)
* Civilization Revolution (2008)
* Sid Meier's Civilization IV Colonization (2008)
* Sid Meier's Civilization V (2010)
* Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings (2012)
* Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World (2013)

## External links

* Sid Meier's biography and his games history at Firaxis.com
* The Sid Meier Legacy
* Sid Meier's profile on MobyGames
* Sid Meier at Wikipedia
* Sid Meier at IMDB
* Sid Meier at RAWG