foreground city-building and complex daisy-chain economic processes whereas others focus on real-time strategy and building a diverse military force. Common game mechanics include resource acquisition, economic micromanagement, managing taxation, maintaining a high standard of living, trade, and technology trees. Critically, reactions to the games have been mixed, ranging from universal praise for The Settlers II to universal condemnation for The Settlers DS. The series has sold very well, with global sales in excess of 10 million units as of September 2014. It has sold especially well in Europe. The games have also done well at various game award shows, and the series features two recipients of the "Best Game" award at the annual German Developer Innovation Prize. Games Main series The Settlers () was developed and published by Blue Byte, and released for the Amiga in 1993. A port for MS-DOS was developed by Blue Byte and Massive Development and released in 1994. Blue Byte published the port in Europe, whilst Strategic Simulations handled North American publication, where the game was released as Serf City: Life is Feudal. In 2018, Ubisoft re-released the game for Microsoft Windows as The Settlers: History Edition. The Settlers II (), originally named The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici, was released for MS-DOS in 1996. Later that year, Blue Byte released an expansion, The Settlers II Mission CD. In 1997, they released The Settlers II: Gold Edition, containing the original game and the Mission CD expansion. A Mac OS port of the Gold Edition was also released in North America in 1997. In 2009, the Gold Edition was released on GOG.com. In 2018, Ubisoft re-released the Gold Edition for Microsoft Windows as The Settlers II: History Edition. The Settlers III () was released for Microsoft Windows in 1998. In 1999, Blue Byte released two expansions - The Settlers III Mission CD and The Settlers III: Quest of the Amazons (). In 2000, they released The Settlers III: Gold Edition, containing the original game and both expansions. In 2013, the Gold Edition was released on GOG.com under its North American title, The Settlers III: Ultimate Collection. In 2018, Ubisoft re-released the Gold Edition as The Settlers III: History Edition. The Settlers IV (), named The Settlers: Fourth Edition in North America, was released for Microsoft Windows in 2001 and was the first game in the series published by Ubisoft. Later that year, Blue Byte released two