The Big Red Software Company Limited, doing business as Big Red Software, was a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa, England, that was founded by Paul Ranson in October 1989.
| Big Red Software | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 16 October 1989 |
| Founder | Paul Ranson |
| Defunct | 31 May 1996 |
| Fate | Merged into Eidos Interactive |
| Headquarters | , England |
History
editBig Red Software was incorporated on 16 October 1989[1] by Paul Ranson,[2] and was based in Leamington Spa, England.[3][4] In their early years, they focused on the 8-bit home computer game market, especially for ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. During this time, they formed a close relationship with Codemasters, who published many of their games.[2] This relationship was sufficiently close that Codemasters turned to them to develop the next Dizzy game after the series' creators, the Oliver Twins, moved onto other projects.[5] The resulting game, Magicland Dizzy, was a critical and commercial success. When Retro Gamer released a special retrospective edition of Your Sinclair in 2004, they rated it the 12th best game for ZX Spectrum of all time.[6] Other games released in collaboration with Codemasters include further Dizzy games, the Seymour series, and the PC port of Micro Machines.[2]
In the mid-1990s, as the industry moved away from the older 8-bit computers, Big Red Software started developing games such as Tank Commander and Big Red Racing for MS-DOS, with both these titles being published by Domark. On 25 September 1995, publicly traded Eidos Public Limited Company acquired Domark and Big Red Software, alongside Simis, for a total of £12.9 million.[7] The latter two were merged into Domark to create Eidos Interactive on 31 May 1996.[2][8][9]
Games developed
edit| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Wacky Darts |
| Raster Runner | |
| NY Warriors | |
| Magicland Dizzy | |
| 1991 | Fun School 4 |
| Dizzy Panic | |
| Seymour Goes to Hollywood | |
| Spellbound Dizzy | |
| Super Seymour Saves the Planet | |
| Kamikaze | |
| CJ's Elephant Antics | |
| CJ in the USA | |
| Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk | |
| 1992 | Wild West Seymour |
| Steg the Slug | |
| Grell and Fella | |
| Sergeant Seymour: Robot Cop | |
| 1994 | CJ: Elephant Fugitive |
| Pete Sampras Tennis | |
| Sink or Swim | |
| Dropzone | |
| Micro Machines | |
| 1995 | Tank Commander |
| Big Red Racing |
References
edit- ^ ltd, company check. "THE BIG RED SOFTWARE COMPANY LIMITED. Free business summary taken from official companies house information. Free alerts. Registered as 02432568". Company Check. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d Crookes, David (2007). "Painting the Town Big Red Software". Retro Gamer. No. 42. Imagine Publishing. pp. 76–81.
- ^ "Video games don't love or hate you - they're just built that way". eurogamer.net. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ "Enter the Dragon (32): graph paper, games and growing up". eurogamer.net. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ Peters, Adam (1992). "Dizzy: this is your life". Amstrad Action. No. 87. Future Publishing. pp. 30–33.
- ^ "Top 50 Games of All Time". Your Sinclair. Imagine Publishing. November 2004.
- ^ "EIDOS ACQUIRES THREE COMPANIES, UNVEILS PLACING". Telecompaper. 25 September 1995. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ Sherman, Christopher (April 1996). "Four Way Merger Between Domark, Big Red, Simis, and Eidos". Next Generation. No. 16. Imagine Media. p. 23.
- ^ Mallinson, Paul (March 1998). "Final Fantasy VII". PC Zone. No. 61. Dennis Publishing. p. 49.