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The games we love reveal something true about who we are, and about the world that made them. They Create Worlds is a podcast about the people, technology, and forces that built the video game industry.
Through video game history, the show looks at how culture, business, and technology shaped what we play, tracing the choices and circumstances that led to the games so many people around the world enjoy.
Each episode digs into where games came from, who made them, and why they were made the way they were. Business decisions, technological shifts, and creative choices all shaped what ended up on screen, and the show covers all of it together, not just one piece in isolation.
Hosted by Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum, They Create Worlds grew out of long conversations about the strange corners of the industry and the patterns that only show up when you look across companies, platforms, and decades. That conversational feel remains, built on careful research, clear structure and editing that makes even the deepest topics easy to listen to.
History turns out to be less settled than it looks. New documents surface, memories conflict, and the clean stories about why things happened the way they did rarely survive contact with the evidence. The show digs into all of that, following the creative and business forces that pushed and pulled on each other, and uncovering the human stories that lie beneath the games so many people around the world enjoy.
New episodes are released twice a month.
The games we love reveal something true about who we are, and about the world that made them. They Create Worlds is a podcast about the people, technology, and forces that built the video game industry.
Through video game history, the show looks at how culture, business, and technology shaped what we play, tracing the choices and circumstances that led to the games so many people around the world enjoy.
Each episode digs into where games came from, who made them, and why they were made the way they were. Business decisions, technological shifts, and creative choices all shaped what ended up on screen, and the show covers all of it together, not just one piece in isolation.
Hosted by Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum, They Create Worlds grew out of long conversations about the strange corners of the industry and the patterns that only show up when you look across companies, platforms, and decades. That conversational feel remains, built on careful research, clear structure and editing that makes even the deepest topics easy to listen to.
History turns out to be less settled than it looks. New documents surface, memories conflict, and the clean stories about why things happened the way they did rarely survive contact with the evidence. The show digs into all of that, following the creative and business forces that pushed and pulled on each other, and uncovering the human stories that lie beneath the games so many people around the world enjoy.
New episodes are released twice a month.
Episodes

Friday Sep 01, 2023
Microprose Part 2
Friday Sep 01, 2023
Friday Sep 01, 2023
TCW Podcast Episode 193 - Microprose Part 2
In part two of our look at Microprose we focus on the growth of the company with popular games like Gunship, and Sid Meier's Pirates. Wild Bill continued his aggressive push to expand the company moving into the UK market and even the coin-op space. This unfortunately led Sid to step back from the company and become a contractor. Wild Bill took the company public to help cover the costs of missteps but eventually became embroiled in his own troubles with pressure from the board. It was during a time when he was forced to step back from the company, and the release of problematic adventure and role-playing games led the company to be acquired by Spectrum Holobyte.
Silent Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz4shxxdero
Gunship DOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZUc0d8ol8
Gunship C64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8bBV7uzbSs
Airborne Ranger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wEH2c98-Nc
Rules of Wooden Ships and Iron Men: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlT6i1DOeUM
Sid Meier's Pirates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owSCqgpv9AA
How to be a Pirate Captain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YFeE1eDlD0
How to be a Pirate Quartermaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0fAznO1wA8
Captain Blood Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HmoyQcoBd0
Arcade F15 Strike Eagle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7TK56745MM
Command HQ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXFwn29ZEpQ
Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OztH7m4wQzQ
What Magic is This? Alchemy: https://whatmagicisthis.com/2020/01/31/alchemy/
Darklands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aILjTCfnmI8
New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!
TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
Twitter: @tcwpodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1
Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love
Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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