Bill Stealey
Encyclopedia
John Wilbur 'Wild Bill' Stealey Sr. (born 1947) is a retired United States Air Force
Lt. Colonel
and Command Pilot
and is currently CEO of iEntertainment Network
. He is also an Air Force Academy Graduate.
Stealey founded MicroProse
together with Sid Meier
in 1982
, at a time when he was a major
. Stealey was the marketing guy, financier, and one of the most enthusiastic game testers in the game industry. Under the MicroProse brand Stealey and Meier produced a number of popular games, including F-15 Strike Eagle, Pirates!
, Railroad Tycoon
, Civilization
, Silent Service
, Gunship
, X-COM
, and more. Stealey ran the company until it was sold to Spectrum Holobyte
in 1993.
In 1995 he founded Interactive Magic
which later became iEntertainment Network
. He left in 1999 and was subsequently asked to return as CEO in 2002.
Since his return IENT has redone the WarBirds Software, won settlements on their Internet Gaming patent, and developed a Military Consulting Division.
Stealey is mostly a marketing and management guy and not a computer specialist. He is good at taking concepts and turning them, with a good development team, into good saleable products.
Stealey is working on a new first person shooter series of games with a famous author which was expected to be announced in September 2007.
Stealey is an avid pilot
and piloted a North American T-28B for over 15 years including a number of years leading the T-28 formations at the Oshkosh Air Shows every July.
Stealey is a graduate United States Air Force Academy
in Aeronautical Engineering (1970) and of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
with a Masters of Business Administration. He 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.
In 2005, Stealey attended Wake Tech Community College Digital Game Expo as a guest speaker.
Stealey also runs the online game, WarBirds
, of http://www.TotalSims.com which visitors can play a free trial.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Lt. Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
and Command Pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and is currently CEO of iEntertainment Network
IEntertainment Network
iEntertainment Network is an online gaming company which operates IamGame, WarBirds, Helbreath, and the The Legend of Mir 3....
. He is also an Air Force Academy Graduate.
Stealey founded MicroProse
MicroProse
MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...
together with Sid Meier
Sid Meier
Sidney K. "Sid" Meier is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably Civilization. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry...
in 1982
1982 in video gaming
-Events:* December 27 - Starcade, a video game television game show, debuts on TBS in the United States.-Notable releases:*October 13 - Mystique releases the Custer's Revenge adult video game for the Atari 2600 home console....
, at a time when he was a major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
. Stealey was the marketing guy, financier, and one of the most enthusiastic game testers in the game industry. Under the MicroProse brand Stealey and Meier produced a number of popular games, including F-15 Strike Eagle, Pirates!
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a video game created by Sid Meier and published and developed by MicroProse in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's earlier games, most of which were flight simulators...
, Railroad Tycoon
Railroad Tycoon
Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon is a business simulation game. There are five versions; the original Railroad Tycoon , Railroad Tycoon Deluxe , Railroad Tycoon II , Railroad Tycoon 3 , and Sid Meier's Railroads! .Railroad Tycoon was written by game designer Sid Meier and published by MicroProse and...
, Civilization
Civilization (series)
Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy, 4X video games produced by Sid Meier. Basic gameplay functions are similar throughout the series, namely, buiding a civilization on a macro-scale from prehistory up to the near future...
, Silent Service
Silent Service (video game)
Silent Service is a 1985 submarine simulator computer game. It was designed by Sid Meier and published by MicroProse for various 8-bit home computers, and in 1987 for 16-bit systems like the Commodore Amiga...
, Gunship
Gunship (video game)
Gunship is an AH-64 Apache helicopter simulation that was released by Microprose in 1986. Its platforms include DOS, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, MSX and ZX Spectrum. The game was later ported onto the Sega Mega Drive by U.S. Gold in 1993...
, X-COM
X-COM
X-COM is a series of strategy games created by Julian Gollop. In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM. The original game has a cult following.- Original series :...
, and more. Stealey ran the company until it was sold to Spectrum Holobyte
Spectrum HoloByte
Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher originally based in Alameda, California.The company was founded in 1983 and was most famous for its simulation games, notably the Falcon series of flight simulators and Vette!, a driving simulator from 1989...
in 1993.
In 1995 he founded Interactive Magic
Interactive Magic
Interactive Magic was a developer and publisher of simulation computer games during the 1990s which was founded by MicroProse co-founder Bill Stealey in 1995 after the buyout of MicroProse by Spectrum Holobyte...
which later became iEntertainment Network
IEntertainment Network
iEntertainment Network is an online gaming company which operates IamGame, WarBirds, Helbreath, and the The Legend of Mir 3....
. He left in 1999 and was subsequently asked to return as CEO in 2002.
Since his return IENT has redone the WarBirds Software, won settlements on their Internet Gaming patent, and developed a Military Consulting Division.
Stealey is mostly a marketing and management guy and not a computer specialist. He is good at taking concepts and turning them, with a good development team, into good saleable products.
Stealey is working on a new first person shooter series of games with a famous author which was expected to be announced in September 2007.
Stealey is an avid pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and piloted a North American T-28B for over 15 years including a number of years leading the T-28 formations at the Oshkosh Air Shows every July.
Stealey is a graduate United States Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
in Aeronautical Engineering (1970) and of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
with a Masters of Business Administration. He owned the Baltimore Spirit
Baltimore Blast (current)
Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Founded in 1992, the team plays in the Major Indoor Soccer League....
of the National Professional Soccer League from the franchise
Professional sports league organization
Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are a European model, characterised by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation to determine participation in a hierarchy of leagues or divisions and a North American model characterized by its use...
's inception in 1992 until he sold it to Edwin F. Hale, Sr. in 1998.
In 2005, Stealey attended Wake Tech Community College Digital Game Expo as a guest speaker.
Stealey also runs the online game, WarBirds
WarBirds
WarBirds is a Massively Multiplayer Online and offline World War II simulation, published by iEntertainment Network. The game includes an air combat flight simulator as well as a simulator for tanks and other ground vehicles. WarBirds was originally developed in 1995 by Interactive Creations of...
, of http://www.TotalSims.com which visitors can play a free trial.