MicroProse was a game developer and publisher behind dozens of classic strategy and simulator titles from the ’80s and ’90s. After being shuttered in the early 2000s, the company (or the brand, anyway) recently made a surprise resurgence. Among four modern games presently in the works is The Mighty Eighth, which the studio describes as a “VR-first” flight combat simulator where multiple players will work together to pilot a WWII bomber.

After being acquired and largely dissolved by the early 2000s, MicroProse announced earlier this month that it’s being rebooted. At the time, the company revealed three (non-VR) titles in the works: Task Force Admiral, Second Front, and Sea Power.

This week the company announced a fourth title, The Mighty Eighth, which promises to have 10-player crews working together to successfully operate the legendary B-17 “Flying Fortress” and B-24 “Liberator” bombers.

Image courtesy MicroProse

The Mighty Eighth is a reboot of MicroProse’s B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th (2000), though the studio is better known for its involvement with titles like Civilization, MechWarrior 3, Rollercoaster TycoonGrand Prix, and plenty more.

MicroProse games | Image courtesy MicroProse

The studio says that the reboot is a “VR-first project,” but that it will also be playable without VR.

Drop those bombs on the right spot, guide your crew through long drawn out day, or the dark, moonless nights, keep your airplane in touch with the rest of the squadron and HQ as you monitor radios and communications. Defend your Flying Fortress by keeping those enemy fighters away from you and your squadron mates. Pilot or co-pilot this beast under a massive amount of stress – and enemy fire, but don’t drop out of formation or you’re a sitting duck.

While up to 10 players can operate the planes, MicroProse says that AI bots can fill in if you don’t have a full crew.

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The company hasn’t shown any gameplay yet—and there’s no word yet on a release date—but it has revealed models of the planes, which it says are being “recreated with meticulous attention to detail.”

While MicroProse has dozens of simulation and strategy games to its name, with this studio reboot it isn’t clear how much of the company really remains beyond the brand. At a minimum it’s clear that the reformed company understands that the name brings with it an expectation of quality in the simulation space. Color us intrigued.


Thanks to @hvent90 for the tip!

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Kenny Thompson

    I hope this isn’t another turret game.

    • david vincent

      Well there are obv. turrets in this game… you mean, not on-rails ?

      • Kenny Thompson

        Yeah… a turret shooter. Shallow rail based gameplay, attack waves… etc. The magic of VR… and so many devs think “I have a great idea… lets make a turret shooter in genera XYZ.”

        Obviously, turrets will be apart of it….

    • StrigoNokto

      I imagine it will be more like their earlier Mighty Eighth, which was nothing like that.

  • Ad

    This sounds absolutely fantastic, if they can pull it off.

  • guest

    Ah, another VR DOA co-op game.

    • Ron

      Ah, another VR buzzkill

    • dogtato

      not exclusively VR and has bots

  • gothicvillas

    Hope we wont need to bomb Dresden where allies slaughtered hundreds of thousand of innocent civilians

    • david vincent

      At least we won’t have to bomb Guernica, Warsaw, Rotterdam, London…

    • Glenn Ennreich

      Yes, it was a tragedy that killed maybe 25,000 people. Refresh my memory, who started that war?

    • brubble

      Youve read some history, good for you.

  • david vincent

    Microprose ! The nostalgy…

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    Oh happy days! Remember good old Gunship, F-15 strike eagle III, Falcon 4? This studio was something special for all flight simmers. I hope it’s resurrection is real. Another big news is that we’re getting HP Reverb G2 today!

  • Gunner A:
    Got ‘im! I got ‘im!

    Gunner B:
    Great, kid. Don’t get cocky.

  • Kataki kun

    I’m too hyped for this!

  • Ragbone

    Please have a watch of this interview with Bill Stealey, the co founder of microprose, if you are a Microprose fan. It’s good fun and has some funny stories.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFDKbseZrlY

  • Konrad

    Sounds like Bomber Crew.
    That really sounds promising. And it totally works well in VR.

  • Tony_Neville

    I haven’t heard the name “Microprose” since the 80s when I owned a Commodore Amiga. Microprose put out a lot of games for the platform, and the company still exists. Nice.

  • brubble

    Id actually finally buy into VR for this providing they pull it off well enough.

    • MowTin

      You realize that there are a ton of great VR combat flight sims that are already far better than this project. IL-2 and DCS are just two.

      • brubble

        Actually I bought both IL2 and dcs last year with the full intention of playing in VR but have been repeatedly disappointed with current HMD tech/progress. Hopefully the reverb g2 addresses my nitpicky gripes.

      • StrigoNokto

        I have all of them and am still looking really forward to this (understatement). No other current sims *accurately*
        recreate B-17 or B-24s with a full multiplayer crew. SUre there are mods which are pretty decent stand-ins. If you ever played the earlier Micropose Mighty Eighth from 2000 you may appreciate why so many, myself included, are really looking forward to this (even without the VR).