Metagaming Concepts

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Metagaming Concepts was a publisher of board games from 1975 to 1983 owned by Howard Thompson. Metagaming created and popularized the microgame format. It specialized in science fiction wargames; titles included Ogre, G.E.V., Godsfire, Stellar Conquest and WarpWar. The company also published the role-playing system The Fantasy Trip and the The Space Gamer magazine. In its later years, Metagaming introduced more fantasy titles into its lineup, and also began to publish games with historical themes, including Hitler's War.

Game designer Steve Jackson got his start at Metagaming and retained the rights to Ogre, G.E.V., and The Space Gamer when he founded Steve Jackson Games. Among the other Metagaming designers were Lynn Willis and Keith Gross. Ben Ostrander, who was later the publisher of Mojo Press, served as the art director for most of the company's titles.

Metagaming published two magazines: The Space Gamer and Interplay. The former was started in 1975 dedicated to science fiction gaming and later expanded is scope to include fantasy gaming. It was sold to Steve Jackson in 1980. The latter magazine, Interplay, was a house organ, intended to be published six times a year. It ran for eight issues before the end of the company. The first issue of Interplay was dated May/June 1981, and the eighth was dated September/October 1982.

Games Research Group, Inc., which was initially part of Metagaming, was created as a separate entity on 1-Jan-1982 by Howard Thompson.^[1] The Games Research Group, Inc. copyright appears on several Metagaming-released products, such as the counters of Dragons of the Underearth.

After going out of business, Howard Thompson disappeared from the gaming hobby, leaving most of Metagaming's intellectual property in limbo.