Crimson Skies is a media franchise

Media franchise

A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...

 and fictional universe

Fictional universe

A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....

 created by Jordan Weisman

Jordan Weisman

Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded four major game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry.-Biography:...

 and Dave McCoy. The series' intellectual property

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

 is currently owned by Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...

 (MGS), although Weisman's new company, Smith & Tinker Inc.

Smith & Tinker

Smith & Tinker is an American electronic entertainment company founded in February 2007 by Jordan Weisman, Jeremy Bornstein, Lenny Raymond, and Kev Ray. Weisman later brought in Tim Lebel and Joe Lawandus...

, has announced that it has licensed the electronic entertainment rights to the franchise.

The series is set within an alternate history of the 1930s invented by Weisman and McCoy. Within this divergent timeline, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 has collapsed, and air travel has become the most popular mode of transportation in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

; as a result, air pirates thrive in the world of Crimson Skies.