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Big Red Software

The Big Red Software Company Limited
Big Red Software
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded16 October 1989; 35 years ago (1989-10-16)
FounderPaul Ranson
Defunct31 May 1996 (1996-05-31)
FateMerged into Eidos Interactive
Headquarters,
England

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.

History

Big 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

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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c d Crookes, David (2007). "Painting the Town Big Red Software". Retro Gamer. No. 42. Imagine Publishing. pp. 76–81.
  3. ^ "Video games don't love or hate you - they're just built that way". eurogamer.net. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Enter the Dragon (32): graph paper, games and growing up". eurogamer.net. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  5. ^ Peters, Adam (1992). "Dizzy: this is your life". Amstrad Action. No. 87. Future Publishing. pp. 30–33.
  6. ^ "Top 50 Games of All Time". Your Sinclair. Imagine Publishing. November 2004.
  7. ^ "EIDOS ACQUIRES THREE COMPANIES, UNVEILS PLACING". Telecompaper. 25 September 1995. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  8. ^ Sherman, Christopher (April 1996). "Four Way Merger Between Domark, Big Red, Simis, and Eidos". Next Generation. No. 16. Imagine Media. p. 23.
  9. ^ Mallinson, Paul (March 1998). "Final Fantasy VII". PC Zone. No. 61. Dennis Publishing. p. 49.