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{{Infobox Company | company_name = Micro Forté | company_logo = <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[File:Logo microforte.png|154px]] -->| company_type = [[Private company|Private]] | foundation = [[Canberra, Australia]] (1985) | location = [[Canberra, Australia]] | key_people = [[John De Margheriti]] [[Chief Executive Officer|(CEO)]]| num_employees = ~40 (2008) | industry = [[Computer and video game industry|Interactive entertainment]] | homepage = [http://www.microforte.com/ www.microforte.com] }} '''Micro Forté''' now known as Micro Forté Studios, is an [[Australia]]n electronic entertainment company with development studios in [[Canberra, Australia]] and [[Sydney, Australia]]. Founded in 1985 by [[John De Margheriti]] at a time when there was little game development presence in Australia, Micro Forté has been closely linked to the growth of the Australian game development industry, with CEO John De Margheriti initiating events such as the [[Australian Game Developers Conference]] (AGDC) and founding the [[Academy of Interactive Entertainment]] (AIE) which have helped to lift the profile and create a pool of talent for the industry in Australia. Micro Forté Studios is now primarily a developer of [[Massively multiplayer online game|MMO]] games and [[virtual world]] content. ==History== Micro Forté’s first title developed for [[Electronic Arts]] and released in 1986 was the ''[[Americas Cup]] Sailing Simulation'' for the [[Commodore 64]] platform. Their second title also developed for Electronic Arts, ''[[Demon Stalkers]]'' was well received following its release in 1987. The sequel ''Fire King'' was published by SSG [[Strategic Studies Group]] in 1989.<br> For a number of years the company pursued other activities outside the arena of game development, returning in 1994 to game development creating two children’s titles ''Nordice'' and ''Bombs Away''. Micro Forté then developed titles for other international publishers including ''Enemy Infestation'' (Panasonic/Ripcord), ''HotWheels Bash Arena'' (THQ), and ''Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel'' (Interplay). Their most widely known title, ''[[Fallout Tactics]]: Brotherhood of Steel'' was published by [[Interplay Entertainment|Interplay]] and was a squad based tactical game based on the [[Fallout (video game)]] universe, and achieved scores between 80 and 90 from reviewers and fans alike.<ref name = "metacriticreviews">{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/fallouttacticsbrotherhood?q=fallout%20tactics|title=Fallout Tactics: What the critics said|publisher=Metacritic}}</ref> ==Development of BigWorld Technology== In 1994 when Micro Forté returned to game development, the company began work on Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) technology. The research and development work was supported with a grant from the Australian Government and venture capital received through Allen & Buckeridge. Micro Forté spent a number of years concentrating their efforts on developing a technology capable of supporting multiple platforms with more players able to participate in limitless worlds and in the same space. The culmination of years of research and development resulted in BigWorld Technology, which is now a separate commercial company, and provides game developers a cost effective, stable and complete middleware solution to develop MMOG and virtual worlds. The BigWorld company was formed in 1999 and the BigWorld Technology Suite was commercialised and launched in 2002. BigWorld is now one of the leading middleware solutions available for developers of online games. ==Awards== The company has been awarded with a number of game and business related awards: *Finalist 2007 Australian Technology Showcase Patrons Awards *Finalist 2006 Secrets of Australian IT Innovation competition (Arts and Entertainment category) *Winner 2005 ACT Chief Minister's Export Award (Art and Entertainment) *National Winner 2003 Telstra and Australian Government Small Business Awards (Panasonic Australia Business Award Category) <ref name = "Telstra Business Awards">{{cite web|url=http://www.telstrabusinessawards.telstra.com/OthersStory.aspx?PageID=342|title=2003 National Winners|publisher=Telstra Business Awards website}}</ref> *Territory Winner 2003 Telstra and ACT Government Small Business Awards (Panasonic Australia Business Award Category) <ref name = "Telstra Business Awards ACT">{{cite web|url=http://www.telstrabusinessawards.telstra.com/OthersStory.aspx?PageID=344|title=2003 Australian Capital Territory Winners|publisher=Telstra Business Awards website}}</ref> *National Finalist 2003 Austrade Australian Export Award (Arts and Entertainment) for the outstanding export achievement in the field of fine arts, performing arts, electronic and on-line entertainment *Winner 2003 Secrets of Australian IT Innovation competition (Arts and Entertainment category) *Winner 2003 ACT Chief Minister's Export Award (Arts and Entertainment Category) *Australian Winner of The 2002 Asia Pacific ICT Award (APICTA) (Creative Digital Industries category) for its BigWorld Technology *Winner 2002 ACT Chief Minister's Export Award (Arts and Entertainment Category) *National Finalist 2002 Austrade Australian Export Award (Arts and Entertainment) for the outstanding export achievement in the field of fine arts, performing arts, electronic and on-line entertainment *2002 Australian Game Developers Conference Award for Best Level Design, HotWheels Bash Arena.<ref name = "AGDC 2002 Awards">{{cite web|url=http://www.agdc.com.au/about/archive_2002_awards.php|title=Australian Game Developers Conference 2002 Awards|publisher=AGDC website}}</ref> *2002 Australian Game Developers Conference Award for Outstanding Innovation, Micro Forte BigWorld Technology.<ref name="AGDC 2002 Awards"/> *Territory Winner and National Finalist 2001 Telstra & Australian Capital Territory Government Small Business Awards (Cisco Systems Innovation Category) ==Games and Development Projects== * America's Cup Challenge (C-64, Amstrad, Electronic Arts) * [[Demon Stalkers]] (C-64, PC, Electronic Arts) * [[Fire King (video game)|FireKing]] (C-64, PC, SSG) * Nordice (PC game, Emu Multimedia) * Bombs Away (PC game, Emu Multimedia) * Enemy Infestation (PC game, Panasonic/Ripcord) * [[Fallout Tactics|Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel]] (PC game, Interplay) * Hotwheels: Bash Arena (PC game, THQ) * Citizen Zero (Xbox MMO for Microsoft, Unpublished) * Super Spy Online (PC MMO prototype) ==See also== * [[BigWorld Technology]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== *[http://www.a-b.com.au/ Allen & Buckeridge] *[http://www.microforte.com/ Micro Forté] *[http://www.bigworldtech.com/index/ BigWorld Technology] *[http://www.bigworlddistribution.com/ BigWorld Distribution] *[http://www.corp.bigworldtech.com/ BigWorld] [[Category:Australian video game companies]] [[Category:Companies established in 1985]] [[Category:International Game Developers Association members]] [[Category:Video game developers]] [[ru:Micro Forté Studios]]
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