CyberStrike

It was also released on America Online and then via an official website. Simutronics released a sequel, CyberStrike 2, in 1998 and a spiritual successor, Galahad 3093, in 2021.

• Title — CyberStrike • Developer — Simutronics • Publisher — MicroProse • Designer — David Whatley • Series — CyberStrike • Platforms — MS-DOS • Released — February 1993 (GEnie) November 1994 (retail) • Genre — Mech simulation • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer

CyberStrike was chiefly designed by David Whatley, co-founder of the online multiplayer game pioneer Simutronics. Product manager Elonka Dunin stated that she adopted much of the company's administrative roles when she joined in 1990, allowing Whatley to focus on CyberStrike and even develop his own 3D game engine for it. Whatley said that the team's goal was to ease the entry of new players into the emerging online multiplayer format. "We wanted to create a game that anyone can get into and have fun," he stated. "Learning to play shouldn't even require a manual, and once you get started, there's lots of action to hold your interest." This led to a design philosophy of "easy to learn but difficult to master" for first-time players. Simutronics claimed that the project's budget was only $7,000 USD, a small fraction of the industry standard at the time. Production time was also truncated with Whatley describing the game as “a fast-paced, graphical experience utilizing modern programming techniques that shortened its development cycle dramatically." CyberStrike demoed on the online service GEnie in August 1992 before launching for an hourly play cost in February 1993. A prototype build that utilized virtual reality headset was demonstrated at the annual Gen Con gaming convention later that year. The game received an update in late 1994 that improved start-up times and added strategy variations and realism. Most notably, equipping more modules to a CyberPod would add weight and cause it to move more sluggishly. A stand-alone, boxed version for MS-DOS was released by MicroProse in November 1994. CyberStrike shifted its pay-by-the-hour model to America Online, having reached its final stage of testing by January 1997. The price was cut for this iteration due to an increasing prevalence of online games and competition among GEnie, AOL, and Prodigy. Finally, the game was offered via an official website that launched on August 4, 1997.