Firaxis' Briggs named as CEO of the Year

US business publication Smart CEO Magazine has named Firaxis Games' founder, president and CEO Jeffery Briggs as its "CEO of the Year", recognising his achievements at the helm of the company - which has produced nine games in the past eight years.

Among the titles produced by the successful developer in that time are Civilisation III and Alpha Centauri, and the firm is currently hard at work on Sid Meier's Pirates!, which is set to be released later this year.

This isn't the first time that Briggs' contribution to the company - and to the industry - has been recognised; last year he was named as Software Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young.

"Firaxis is a company that sits squarely within the center of influence in the fastest growing sector of the US entertainment industry," according to Smart CEO editor David Callahan. "Much of the credit goes to Jeff Briggs, who has built the company around a way of life, instead of simply building their lives around the company."