Bill Stealey
 |
Bill Stealey | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Wilbur Stealey Sr. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | Pennsylvania Air National Guard USAF Reserve |
| Years of service | 1970–1993 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Alma mater | Wharton School |
John Wilbur Stealey Sr., better known as Bill Stealey, is an American game developer and publisher, and a former military pilot. Stealey founded MicroProse with Sid Meier in 1982 and released many flight simulators with the company. After a brief retirement in the early 1990s, he founded iEntertainment Network in 1995 and is the current CEO.[1]
Career
[edit]Stealey graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1970 and was, at the time he co-founded Microprose, a Major in the USAF Reserve and instructor for the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, flying A-37 attack aircraft.[2]
Stealey took a job with General Instrument as their Director of Strategic Planning for their Systems and Service Division in Hunt Valley, Maryland.[citation needed] There he met Sid Meier and co-founded his first game company, MicroProse Software. As CEO he grew the company to over $43 million in annual sales, taking MicroProse Software public in 1991.
In 1993 he sold MicroProse to a Kleiner Perkins company, Spectrum HoloByte. He resigned from the company following the merger, and announced his retirement, with the intention to "play golf for a living".[3][4] He retired from the military with the rank of lieutenant colonel.[5]
Stealey started the game software company Interactive Magic in 1995. Next Generation listed him in their "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995" for his roles as former head of MicroProse and then-current head of Interactive Magic.[6] Stealey left the company in 1999, but later returned as CEO in 2002.
Personal life
[edit]In the 1980s and 1990s Bill Stealey flew planes recreationally on a regular basis. In 1987, an engine failure occurred aboard his plane which forced an emergency landing in poor visibility conditions, but he survived the encounter.[7][8]
Stealey owned the Baltimore Spirit of the National Professional Soccer League from the franchise's inception in 1992 until he sold it to Edwin F. Hale, Sr. in 1998.[9][10]
References
[edit]- ^ About iEntertainment Network
- ^ Gamers At Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play, by Morgan Ramsay, ISBN 1430233516
- ^ "Interactive Magic". Next Generation. No. 21. Imagine Media. September 1996. pp. 109–110.
- ^ Batchelor, James (6 May 2020). "The resurrection of MicroProse and return of "Wild Bill" Stealey". GamesIndustry.biz.
- ^ MicroProse and iEntertainment Network Inc. Announce Co-Publishing of WarBirds 2020, Online Combat Flight Simulation: Bloomberg.com
- ^ "75 Power Players". Next Generation (11). Imagine Media: 53. November 1995.
- ^ Furchgott, Roy. "Profile/J. W. Stealey; For a Computer Game Ace, a Very Real Dogfight".
- ^ "An Interview with "Wild Bill" Stealey". Next Generation. No. 21. Imagine Media. September 1996. p. 112.
- ^ Ey, Craig S. "Can soccer succeed in Baltimore?" Baltimore Business Journal, Friday, August 8, 1997.
- ^ Sidekicks Opponents: Baltimore Blast (new-MISL) – kicksfans.com.