Microids (formerly Microïds) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris.

Founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano, it attained early success with games published through Loriciel in France and other partners (including Activision and Broderbund) in international markets.

He was educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand school from 1972 to 1974 and later studied engineering, electronics, and computers at the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers.

He was aided in these efforts by Loriciel's founders, Laurent Weill and Marc Bayle, as well as Patrick Le Nestour, another engineer.

[1] Initially, Microïds set out to create consumer robotics projects before shifting its focus solely to video games.

The first Microïds-developed game was Air Attack, released by Loriciel for the Thomson MO5 to moderate commercial success.

Air Attack provided the groundwork for subsequent Microïds games, such as 500 cc Grand Prix for the Amstrad CPC, which debuted in 1986.

The American market appeared especially viable for Microïds, who believed that game sales would vastly outnumber the domestic ones.

For this reason, it partnered with the American publisher Broderbund in 1987, which released several Microïds games in the country, partially under altered names.

In return, Microïds managed sales of Broderbund's games, notably Prince of Persia and Karateka in France.

[1] Throughout the 1990s, Microïds underwent expansion, increasing both staff count and development team sizes.