Joel Billings
Joel Billings | |
---|---|
Occupation(s) | Video game designer, producer |
Organization | Strategic Simulations |
Known for | Computer Bismarck |
Joel Billings is an American video game designer and producer. He is the founder of the computer game company Strategic Simulations (SSI).[1] He was also the company's president.[2]
Career
Joel Billings wanted to work with Avalon Hill to publish his computer game Computer Bismarck but they turned him down, so instead he decided to found a new company and publish the game himself.[3] Billings started SSI in 1979 just after finishing college, with a $1000 initial investment. The first product was Computer Bismarck, which he co-wrote. Designed for the TRS-80 and Apple II home computers, it is viewed as the first computer war game ever published. It sold 7000 copies, considered reasonably successful for its time.[2][4] The company was an industry leader for years in war games and role-playing video games.
In 1987 Billings acquired the rights to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games from TSR,[citation needed] which led to the creation of the Gold Box D&D game series, one of the best selling video game franchises of the 1980s and 1990s.
After a year of losses tied to delays in the new Dark Sun game engine, Billings sold the company to Mindscape in 1994.[citation needed]
In 2001 Billings started a game development company called 2 By 3 Games with former SSI game programmers Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors.[citation needed]
In December 2013, Billings donated several SSI video games, such as Computer Bismarck, including the source code, for preservation to the ICHEG.[5][6]
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