London - Apr. 1. 2021 - Introversion Software, developers of Darwinia, DEFCON, Uplink, Prison Architect, and numerous failed prototypes, also known as the “Last of the Bedroom Programmers”, today announced the purchase of all rights and assets for the Academia : School Simulator (henceforth known as A:SS) IP, a GDAP Gameon award winning management simulation game developed by Squeaky Wheel.
Introversion Software will take ownership of A:SS on all current and any future platforms, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux PCs, Amiga, Atari, Commodore, Colecovision, and Switch, Xbox and PlayStation and Dreamcast and 3DO and Jaguar and NEO GEO consoles, as well as mobile on iOS and Android tablets, and Gameboy, Game Gear and Wonderswan and Lynx and Gizmondo and Ngage handhelds. This acquisition also allows Introversion Software to continue development of A:SS going forward, which is fine since A:SS basically copied Prison Architect anyway.
In A:SS, you, the player, are challenged to build a high school with fantastic facilities like science labs, basketball courts, and art rooms, or do the bare minimum and live off government subsidies! Will you offer your delinquent students counseling, or simply send them to detention to let them waste their lives away? Will you hire the best teachers or cheap out and build giant classrooms with a 1:100 teacher to student ratio? Will you build enough toilets, or snicker as your students are forced to relieve themselves in the bushes? The choice is yours! Inspired by management simulators like Prison Architect, the game does an admirable job of making it obvious how schools feel like prisons to their students.
“Ever since we sold Prison Architect to Paradox, we’ve not really done much have we? I mean having gobs of money is fun, but at the end of the day we need to live up to being the “last of the bedroom programmers” for chrissakes! And since we can’t seem to come up with new game ideas, we figured we’d just buy one we already know how to make,” said Introversion cofounder Mark Morris.
“Given we basically stole the Prison Architect engine and art style from Prison Architect, it’s actually rather generous of them to buy the IP rather than sue us for it,” said Ryan Sumo, cofounder of Squeaky Wheel and original artist of Prison Architect.
“A:SS has been an intensely rewarding project for us,” continued Ryan Sumo. “Every developer loves seeing their creations come to life, but through Early Access, we’ve been building and managing this building-and-management game for more than 4 years. I think we’ve taken A:SS just about as far as we can, and we’re all eager to see where a team like Introversion can take it next!”
For more information about A:SS, visit : https://store.steampowered.com/app/672630/Academia__School_Simulator/