Apogee Software
More info
- Creator
- Scott Miller
- Released
- 1987
- Type
- Game publisher
The Texas publisher that worked out you could give away the first third of a game and sell the rest by mail order.
Scott Miller launched Apogee in 1987 with Kingdom of Kroz and a simple idea later known as the Apogee model: the first episode circulates freely as shareware on BBSes and floppies, and the rest is ordered for a fee. Unlike classic shareware, which asked you to pay for the program you already had, buyers actually got something new.
The model carried Commander Keen (1990) and Wolfenstein 3D (1992), both developed by id Software, and let small MS-DOS studios survive without retail shelf space. When games went 3D in 1994 the effort was rebranded 3D Realms, and the Apogee name gradually became a label for older titles.