Shrapnel Games Launches

After developing 101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy for Empire Interactive, the folks at Interactive Simulations Inc. wanted to do an expansion but could never get the proper publishing support to do it. So, after nearly a year, ISI decided to form a new company and publish it themselves.

Called Shrapnel Games, the company will not just serve as an avenue to publish its own wargames (as in the philosophy behind the recently announced Battlefront.com, geared to do wargames the way the company wants do them, not the way big publishers want them done) but titles from other developers as well. The company's online store is scheduled to debut on September 1.

Meanwhile, the company continues to develop All American, The 82nd Airborne at Normandy, a sequel of sorts to 101, which includes many new features and suggestions from enthusiastic gamers. The company estimates that the game will ship sometime in June 2000.

"We are really excited about the opportunities we have found in the wargaming industry," said Tim Brooks, president of Shrapnel Games. "There are so many small developers out there, with large products, that are having trouble finding publishers in the traditional sense. We feel that we can hit a very profitable niche market."