As we get the next hotfix patch ready and continue to work on upcoming release V1032, we make a little pause in development for a major announcement: BlackFoot Studios has officially partnered with MicroProse, now the actual publisher for GROUND BRANCH!
➥ If this logo doesn’t give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, we salute your enviable youth
Having left a very big mark in the industry, the MicroProse name is no stranger to fans of strategy and simulation—or, in fact, just about any player old enough to remember many of the titles published and developed by the company throughout most of the ’80s and ’90s: from Civilization, Pirates! and X-COM all the way to its myriad combat flight sims like Falcon 4.0.
Founded by retired USAF pilot Bill Stealey and programmer (and now legendary developer) Sid Meier, the company has gone through several acquisitions and changes before being purchased and revived in 2019—almost 20 years after it was last associated with a game—by David Lagettie, owner of TitanIM. You can learn more about MicroProse’s history and revival in this article.
Here is the announcement trailer their team put together with some footage and assistance from our community manager Prowlaz and his UN1T team, as well as creators Karmakut, Controlled Pairs and Ceb Cin. The soundtrack is by community member mrbombastic:
➥ Thank you very much to all involved!
What does this mean for GROUND BRANCH?
Only good things. We’ve had plenty of rough patches over the years, and MicroProse brings us some much-needed stability as development continues in earnest towards v1.0. The MicroProse crew will also be handling a good chunk of the marketing and helping us extend our reach not only to their established community, but also to new audiences out there. That means expanding the player base, generating more funding for development, and getting to where we want to be a little faster.
Is BlackFoot Studios selling out?
Not at all. Even if we had not retained complete creative freedom and full rights to the GROUND BRANCH franchise—which we have!—MicroProse has been taking a pretty hands-off approach to all titles under its brand, ensuring not only the integrity of the developers’ core vision, but also of the company’s legacy:
"Sid [Meier] always said you need to make games with limited information, that are time critical with significant outcomes, and reward players that made the right decisions. […] It’s real enough that you feel you actually accomplish something, and not because you got a power-up."
—Bill Stealey (co-founder, former CEO, and currently a consultant for MicroProse) for GamesIndustry.biz
As you can tell from the quote above, GROUND BRANCH fits right into MicroProse’s ecosystem.
Sneak peek: upcoming maps
As part of the partnership announcement, MicroProse has uploaded a whole bunch of brand-new screenshots to their website, including many from a still unannounced map. Below is just a little tease—you can check out the full gallery here.
➥ YES… HA HA HA… YES! (Full gallery here)
🔥 SALE: Get -15% on GROUND BRANCH!
Ends in 48 hours!
To celebrate our partnership with MicroProse, we’re doing a small sale: buy GROUND BRANCH on Steam within the next 48 hours and get a 15% discount off your regional price!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/16900/GROUND_BRANCH/
If you prefer buying it from our own official GB store (via PayPal, fixed USD price) so that we get the full cut from your purchase, use discount code MICROPROSE15 during checkout: https://www.groundbranch.com/index.php/store/
Spread the word, grab an extra copy, seize the opportunity.
MicroProse Community
If you’re an old fan of MicroProse or just a big strategy or simulation buff, be sure to join their growing Discord community right here!
To learn more about all of the games currently under the MicroProse brand, follow this link.
Stay connected
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