Sir-Tech is one of the most important studios most players have never heard of. Back in 1981 it released Wizardry, a first-person dungeon crawler so influential that it helped define the computer role-playing game and directly inspired the Japanese RPG: the makers of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy grew up on it. Sir-Tech spent two decades refining Wizardry into a deep, demanding series, and then reinvented itself entirely with Jagged Alliance, a turn-based tactical game about hiring mercenaries to liberate an island, full of character and dark humour.
This is the studio's run: the dungeon-crawling roots of the RPG, and one of the great turn-based tactics series. Here is the map.
The essential Sir-Tech
Start here
The Wizardry saga
Deep, demanding dungeon crawling
The Jagged Alliance games
Mercenaries, tactics and dark humour
A short history of Sir-Tech
- 1981Wizardry helps define the computer role-playing game and inspires the JRPG.
- 1990Wizardry: Bane of the Cosmic Forge begins the acclaimed Dark Savant era.
- 1995Jagged Alliance launches a beloved turn-based tactics series.
- 1999Jagged Alliance 2 becomes a landmark of the tactics genre.
- 2001Wizardry 8 closes the series as a rich, modern RPG.
The people who built Sir-Tech
The creators of Wizardry and Jagged Alliance. Follow any of them to their full catalogue.
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Its dungeon crawler helped invent the role-playing game and its mercenaries defined turn-based tactics. That was Sir-Tech.
Frequently asked
What is Sir-Tech best known for?
The Wizardry series of dungeon-crawling role-playing games and the Jagged Alliance turn-based tactics series. Sir-Tech was one of the pioneering studios of the computer RPG.
Did Wizardry influence Japanese RPGs?
Yes. Wizardry (1981) was hugely influential in Japan, cited as an inspiration by the creators of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, and helped shape the entire Japanese role-playing game tradition.
What is Jagged Alliance?
Jagged Alliance is Sir-Tech's turn-based tactics series in which you hire a squad of characterful mercenaries to liberate an island. Jagged Alliance 2 (1999) is regarded as a classic of the genre.