# Stainless Steel Studios <small style="color: gray">Last updated: January 31, 2026</small> ## Overview Stainless Steel Studios (SSSI) was an American video game developer founded in October 1997 by Rick Goodman and Dara-Lynn Pelechatz in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[^ref-1] The studio specialized in real-time strategy games and is best known for creating Empire Earth, an ambitious RTS spanning 500,000 years of human history that won GameSpy's PC Game of the Year award in 2001 and sold over two million copies worldwide.[^ref-2] Founded by the lead designer of the original Age of Empires, Stainless Steel Studios aimed to "become the industry's premier developer in real-time strategy games."[^ref-3] The company's unusual name originated during a flight back from California when Goodman opened a Sky Mall catalog and randomly pointed to an item—a stainless steel shower head—declaring it would be the company's name.[^ref-1] The studio's logo, designed in collaboration with Jam Design, featured a silver ball with a salamander on top.[^ref-1] Despite critical and commercial success with their debut title, the studio quietly ceased operations in November 2005 after funding cuts from publisher Midway Games, their most important client at the time.[^ref-4] ## History ### Founding and Vision Stainless Steel Studios was established in October 1997 by Rick Goodman and Dara-Lynn Pelechatz, with Pelechatz serving as director of operations.[^ref-1] Goodman had previously co-created Age of Empires alongside his brother Tony Goodman at Ensemble Studios, and sought to build upon and exceed his previous work in the historical RTS genre.[^ref-5] The studio was formally announced via press release on May 28, 1998, revealing plans for a title covering 500,000 years of history with twelve unique epochs (later expanded to fourteen).[^ref-3] In early interviews, Goodman articulated his ambitious vision: "This is a real-time strategy game for the next millennium. It will set new standards in the genre, and offer gamers an experience that goes far beyond anything that strategy games released, thus far, have offered."[^ref-3] The team sought to combine the accessibility of Age of Empires with unprecedented historical scope, building an entirely new game engine called "Titan" to achieve their goals.[^ref-6] ### Empire Earth Development Development of Empire Earth required building the Titan engine from scratch, capable of rendering fully 3D environments and hundreds of units simultaneously using DirectX 7 technology.[^ref-6] Goodman hand-picked talented designers, artists, and programmers for the development team, and also enlisted a "strike team of 20 top Age of Empires players" to participate in development and balancing.[^ref-7] A notable addition to the team was Damon "Stratus" Gauthier, a StarCraft tournament veteran brought in on January 18, 2001, specifically for multiplayer balancing.[^ref-2] The game appeared at E3 2000 and E3 2001, generating significant interest among RTS enthusiasts.[^ref-2] Empire Earth was released on November 13, 2001, in the United States and achieved remarkable commercial success. The game sold over one million copies worldwide by early 2002, surpassing two million units by 2005.[^ref-8] In the United States alone, it generated $16.7 million in revenue by August 2006, ranking as the 41st best-selling computer game from January 2000 to August 2006.[^ref-2] ### Critical Reception and Awards Empire Earth received generally positive reviews, with GameSpy awarding it 94/100 and naming it their 2001 PC Game of the Year.[^ref-9] The publication praised that "each epoch feels fleshed out and playable, and every era has its own nuances, so it's almost like getting 14 games in one."[^ref-10] IGN gave the game 8.5/10 with an Editor's Choice award, calling it "ambitious, addictive and more than just a 3D Age of Empires II clone."[^ref-11] The game maintains a Metacritic score of 81/100 and a user score of 8.3/10.[^ref-12] GameSpot provided a more measured assessment at 7.9/10, with Greg Kasavin noting that "Empire Earth is massive—more than most real-time strategy games would dare to be" while warning that "you can actually have too much of a good thing."[^ref-13] The diverse critical response reflected the game's ambitious scope, which appealed strongly to hardcore strategy fans while potentially overwhelming casual players. ### Later Projects While Mad Doc Software developed the Empire Earth expansion pack The Art of Conquest (2002), Stainless Steel Studios moved on to develop Empires: Dawn of the Modern World, published by Activision in October 2003.[^ref-14] This title focused on warfare from the medieval period through World War II, offering a tighter scope than Empire Earth while introducing new gameplay mechanics. The studio's final project was Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War, an ambitious RTS that allowed players to take direct control of legendary heroes like Alexander the Great and Cleopatra in real-time combat.[^ref-15] The game was in development for Midway Games and was reportedly just weeks from going gold when the studio was suddenly closed.[^ref-4] ### Closure On November 25, 2005, Gamasutra reported that Stainless Steel Studios had quietly ceased operations and laid off its employees.[^ref-4] Former employees Bob Scott and Daniel Higgins confirmed rumors appearing on the HeavenGames Rise & Fall fan site forum.[^ref-16] Higgins wrote poignantly: "This is true, SSSI is no more. I can't give details as to why, but I can tell you the product is in excellent shape, the team was in high morale and plowing ahead at full steam, and we were just weeks from gold disk."[^ref-4] The closure was attributed to cuts in funding from publisher Midway Games.[^ref-17] Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War was later completed by Midway and released on June 12, 2006, receiving mixed reviews.[^ref-15] The studio's sudden demise, when victory was seemingly within reach, became a cautionary tale about publisher-developer relationships in the gaming industry. ## Key People Rick Goodman served as president and lead designer, bringing his experience from co-creating Age of Empires to shape Stainless Steel's design philosophy.[^ref-18] Dara-Lynn Pelechatz, co-founder and director of operations, handled the business side of the studio.[^ref-1] The development team included designers Jon Alenson, Christopher Theriault, Jason Dillman, Gordon Farrell, and GJ Snyder III.[^ref-18] Composers Ed Lima and Steve Maitland created the musical scores, while Blur Studios handled video production.[^ref-18] ## Legacy Stainless Steel Studios demonstrated that historical RTS games could successfully encompass the full sweep of human civilization, influencing subsequent titles in the genre.[^ref-6] Empire Earth proved there was an audience for ambitious scope in strategy gaming, even if the game's massive scale sometimes worked against the experience.[^ref-13] The Titan engine represented significant technical achievement for its era, rendering hundreds of 3D units simultaneously on relatively modest hardware.[^ref-6] Following the studio's closure, the Empire Earth intellectual property changed hands through Sierra's dissolution and the Activision-Vivendi merger, ultimately being acquired by Rebellion Developments in July 2009.[^ref-19] The series continued with Empire Earth II (2005) and Empire Earth III (2007), developed by Mad Doc Software, though the third installment was critically panned with a Metacritic score of just 50%.[^ref-20] The fan community has kept Empire Earth alive through projects like NeoEE (neoee.net), which provides replacement multiplayer servers after the shutdown of official servers on November 3, 2008.[^ref-21] The Empire Earth Community (empireearth.eu) maintains modified game versions with compatibility fixes and unofficial patches addressing various technical issues.[^ref-7] These preservation efforts demonstrate the enduring appeal of Stainless Steel's vision, even two decades after the original release. ## Games | Year | Game | Publisher | Genre | |------|------|-----------|-------| | 2001 | [[2001 - Empire Earth\|Empire Earth]] | Sierra Entertainment | Real-Time Strategy | | 2003 | Empires: Dawn of the Modern World | Activision | Real-Time Strategy | | 2006 | Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War | Midway Games | Real-Time Strategy | ## References [^ref-1]: [GameSpy Retro - Developer Origins Page 8](https://web.archive.org/web/20070609133153/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p8.html) — Founding story and company name origin [^ref-2]: [Wikipedia - Empire Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Earth_(video_game)) — Sales figures, release dates, and development history [^ref-3]: [Artho.com - Rick Goodman Press Release](http://artho.com/age/rick2.html) — May 1998 announcement and developer vision [^ref-4]: [Gamasutra - Stainless Steel Studios Closes](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-stainless-steel-studios-closes-doors) — Studio closure announcement [^ref-5]: [Hardcore Gaming 101 - Empire Earth](http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/empire-earth/) — Rick Goodman's background and studio goals [^ref-6]: [GameDev.net Forum Discussion](https://www.gamedev.net/forums/topic/712329-how-was-empire-earth-able-to-render-hundreds-of-3d-models-on-the-screen-when-it-had-no-access-to-shaders/) — Titan engine technical details [^ref-7]: [Empire Earth Community - Overview](https://empireearth.eu/overview/) — Development history and fan community [^ref-8]: [Grokipedia - Empire Earth](https://grokipedia.com/page/Empire_Earth) — Sales milestones and version history [^ref-9]: [Metacritic - Empire Earth](https://www.metacritic.com/game/empire-earth/) — Aggregate scores and GameSpy award [^ref-10]: [Amazon UK - Empire Earth](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sierra-Best-Sellers-Empire-Earth/dp/B0000DG3RC) — GameSpy review quote [^ref-11]: [IGN - Empire Earth Review](https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/11/30/empire-earth) — Steve Butts review and Editor's Choice [^ref-12]: [Metacritic - Empire Earth User Reviews](https://www.metacritic.com/game/empire-earth/) — User score and critic aggregation [^ref-13]: [GameSpot - Empire Earth Review](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/empire-earth-review/1900-2824314/) — Greg Kasavin's critique [^ref-14]: [MobyGames - Empires: Dawn of the Modern World](https://www.mobygames.com/game/empires-dawn-of-the-modern-world/) — Release information [^ref-15]: [Wikipedia - Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_and_Fall:_Civilizations_at_War) — Game development and release [^ref-16]: [HeavenGames Rise & Fall Archives](https://web.archive.org/web/20080517123134/http://raf.heavengames.com/archives/arc10-2005.shtml) — Employee confirmation of closure [^ref-17]: [GameSpot - Rise and Fall Developer Closes](http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/risefallcivilizationsatwar/news.html?sid=6140487) — Funding cuts from Midway [^ref-18]: [MobyGames - Empire Earth Credits](https://www.mobygames.com/game/5374/empire-earth/credits/windows/) — Full development credits [^ref-19]: [MobyGames - Empire Earth Search](https://www.mobygames.com/search/?q=Empire+Earth) — IP acquisition by Rebellion [^ref-20]: [Metacritic - Empire Earth III Reviews](https://www.metacritic.com/game/empire-earth-iii/critic-reviews/?platform=pc) — Critical reception of sequel [^ref-21]: [NeoEE.net](https://neoee.net/) — Multiplayer revival project