Evil Genius (video game)

Evil Genius
Developer(s)Elixir Studios
Publisher(s)Sierra Entertainment
(Vivendi Universal Games)
Producer(s)Peter Gilbert
Designer(s)Sandro Sammarco
Programmer(s)Alex Thomson
Artist(s)Brian Gillies
Composer(s)James Hannigan
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: 28 September 2004
  • EU: 1 October 2004
  • AU: 14 October 2005
Genre(s)Real-time strategy, simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Evil Genius is a single-player real-time strategy and simulation video game developed by Elixir Studios and published by Sierra Entertainment, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal Games. It was released on 28 September 2004. The game is inspired by the spy thriller genre (notably the James Bond film series), and is set in an alternative 1960s–70s era. Most closely resembling Dungeon Keeper, the gameplay puts players in charge of a villainous force attempting to achieve global domination whilst fending off the forces of justice; to this end the gameplay is split between management of a base and the completion of "acts of infamy" in the rest of the world. The game has stylish, cartoon-like visuals and contains a great deal of tongue-in-cheek humour, particularly playing to clichés of the spy genre.

Elixir once worked on a sequel, but it was cancelled following the studio's closure. Since 2 March 2006, the intellectual property rights of the game have been owned by Rebellion Developments. Rebellion released a sequel, Evil Genius 2: World Domination, on 30 March 2021.