Atomic's legacy began in 1992, when it scored a Game of the Year award for its very first title, V for Victory. In 1996, Atomic changed military games forever with the ground-breaking Close Combat series that went on to sell more than 1.2 million units and win dozens of accolades, including being named one of the "50 Best Games Ever" by PC Gamer magazine in October, 1998. Proving true innovation never gets old, Close Combat is still garnering awards years after its initial release with Gamespy naming the game one of the "Top 10 Strategy Games of All Time" in February, 2004.
Peter Tamte, president of Destineer, explains its acquisition of Atomic by saying, "Lots of military games test how fast you can click a mouse. The real genius of Close Combat lies in its psychology model that tests your leadership skills. Close Combat guarantees players a level of authenticity no other action-oriented military game has offered."
Adds Keith Zabalaoui, Atomic's founder, "From the start, Close Combat was never about resource management and technology trees. It's about leading men who depend on you for their survival, just as you depend on them for yours. Destineer's acquisition of Atomic injects new energy into the Close Combat series, while building on the authenticity that defines it."
The next game in the highly successful series will be Close Combat: Red Phoenix, a realistic real-time strategy game set on the challenging terrain of today's Korean peninsula. Loosely based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Larry Bond, Close Combat: Red Phoenix puts players in command of a reinforced rifle platoon of U.S. Marines or South Korean soldiers fighting against an invasion by North Korea in 2007. The game is scheduled for worldwide release in 2006.
Close Combat: Red Phoenix follows Close Combat: First to Fight, a tactical first-person shooter by Destineer, published by 2K Games, that was released in April for the Microsoft Xbox,, Windows and Macintosh. Created with help from more than 40 active-duty US Marines returning from combat in Iraq, Close Combat: First to Fight puts players in control of a four-man Marine fire team in the thick of urban combat in Beirut.