English Software
 | |
| Industry | Computer and video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Defunct | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Manchester, United Kingdom |
| Products | Computer games |
English Software was a software developer and publisher in the 1980s based in Manchester, UK.
History
The company was set up in 1982 by Philip Morris, owner of Gemini Electronics computer store in Manchester, to release video games for the Atari 8-bit home computers. By the end of 1983, English Software was the largest producer of Atari 8-bit software in the UK and Morris closed Gemini Electronics to concentrate on English.[1]
The company continued to concentrate on the Atari 8-bit market[2] but also released games for other home computers including Commodore 64,[3] BBC Micro,[4] Acorn Electron,[5] Amstrad CPC,[6] ZX Spectrum,[7] Atari ST[8] and Amiga.[9]
Notable popular games include platformers Jet-Boot Jack (1983) and Henry's House (1984), racer Elektra Glide (1985), the multi-event Knight Games (1986) and shoot 'em up Leviathan (1987).
English had licensing deals that saw some of their games released internationally e.g. through Dynamics Marketing in Germany and Datamost in the US.[10] A number of English's games were sold at budget price by Mastertronic in the US, which included exclusive ports such as the Atari version of Henry's House and the PC version of Knight Games. Philip Morris said in 2013 he did not license the Atari version to Mastertronic UK, even though English Software had the option to do this. How they managed to publish it is a mystery.
Select titles
- 1982 Airstrike (Atari 8-bit)
- 1982 Time Warp (Atari 8-bit)
- 1982 Xenon Raid (Atari 8-bit)
- 1983 Captain Sticky's Gold (Atari 8-bit)
- 1983 Jet-Boot Jack (Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC)
- 1983 Neptune's Daughters (Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit)
- 1984 Spaceman Sid (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron)
- 1984 Stranded (Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64) - Ports of the BBC/Electron game first published by Superior Software
- 1984 Henry's House (Commodore 64) - Also ported to the Atari 8-bit by Mastertronic
- 1984 Legend of the Knucker-Hole starring Jet-Boot Jack (Commodore 64)
- 1984 Colossus Chess 3.0 (Atari 8-bit)
- 1984 Kissin' Kousins (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Atari 8-bit)
- 1985 Hijack! (Atari 8-bit)
- 1985 Topper the Copper (Commodore 64)
- 1985 Chop Suey (Atari 8-bit)
- 1985 Elektra Glide (Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC)
- 1985 Mediator (Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64)
- 1986 Knight Games (Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC) - Also ported to PC by Mastertronic
- 1986 Q-Ball (Atari ST, Amiga)
- 1987 Leviathan (Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amiga)
- 1987 Octapolis (Commodore 64)
- 1987 Knight Games 2: Space Trilogy (Commodore 64)
References
- ↑ "News and Views", Page 6, Page 6 Publications, Issue 6, Nov/Dec 1983
- ↑ English Software (8-bit) at Atari Mania
- ↑ English Software at Lemon64
- ↑ Games by Publisher: E at Stairway to Hell
- ↑ English Software at Acorn Electron World
- ↑ Amstrad CPC Leviathan at Genesis 8-bit
- ↑ English Software at World of Spectrum
- ↑ English Software (ST) at Atari Mania
- ↑ English Software at Hall of Light
- ↑ The English Software Company at Moby Games