Formerly |
|
---|---|
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 1984 |
Founder |
|
Defunct | 2003 |
Fate | Dissolved by parent, former employees formed Sumo Digital. Assets acquired by Zoo Digital, later reacquired by Urbanscan. |
Successor | Sumo Digital |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Paul Porter (studio manager) |
Parent | Infogrames (1999-2003) |
Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited, [1] was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in the 1980s, their primary market was the 8-bit range of computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64. The company was acquired by French video game publisher Infogrames in 1999 and was renamed Infogrames Studios in 2000. Infogrames Studios closed down in 2003.
The company, originally a computer store called Just Micro, was established as a software house in 1984 with the name Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd by Ian Stewart and Kevin Norburn [2] with US Gold's Geoff Brown owning 75% of the company [3] : 65 until mid-1989. [4] Gremlin's early success was based on games such as Wanted: Monty Mole for the ZX Spectrum and Thing on a Spring for the Commodore 64. [ citation needed ]
In 1994, it was renamed as Gremlin Interactive, now concentrating on the 16-bit, PC and console market. [5] Gremlin enjoyed major success with the Zool and Premier Manager series in the early 1990s, and then with Actua Soccer , the first football game in full 3D; other successful games included the Lotus racing series; a futuristic racing game, Motorhead ; a stunt car racing game, Fatal Racing (1995); and the 1998 flight simulator Hardwar . Following EA's success with the EA Sports brand, Gremlin also released their own sports videogame series, adding Golf, Tennis and Ice Hockey to their Actua Sports series. During this time, they used a motif from the Siegfried Funeral March from Götterdämmerung as introductory music.
The company was floated on the stock market to raise funds. [6]
In 1997, Gremlin acquired Imagitec Design [7] and DMA Design (creators of Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings ). In 1999, they themselves were bought by Infogrames for around £24 million [8] [9] and renamed "Infogrames Sheffield House". Infogrames closed the studio in 2003. The building they latterly occupied near Devonshire Green has since been demolished when Infogrames Sheffield House was supposed to be renamed "Atari Sheffield House". In October 2003, Zoo Digital, the successor company to Gremlin, purchased the company's assets from the now-named Atari. [10]
Following the administration of Zoo Digital (later renamed Zushi Games), Gremlin Interactive's catalogue and name were bought up by Ian Stewart's new company Urbanscan. [11]
The Gremlin trademarks (including the g Gremlin logo) are now owned by Warner Bros Entertainment. [12] [13] [14]
Gremlin staff had included:
Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | PGA European Tour Golf | PlayStation | Infogrames |
2000 | Premier Manager 2000 | ||
Hogs of War | PlayStation, Windows | ||
PGA European Tour Golf | Nintendo 64 | ||
Wacky Races | Dreamcast | ||
2001 | UEFA Challenge | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Windows | |
Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley | PlayStation 2 | ||
2002 | Slam Tennis | PlayStation 2, Xbox | |
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips | PlayStation 2 | ||
Micro Machines | PlayStation 2, Xbox | ||
2003 | Superman: Shadow of Apokolips | GameCube | |
Micro Machines (2002) |
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the Civilization and X-COM series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games.
Jaleco Ltd. was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being renamed to simply Jaleco in the early 1980s. This company was later acquired in 2000 by PCCW, who rebranded it as their Japanese game division, PCCW Japan, before reverting it to Jaleco in 2002. In 2006, Jaleco became independent from PCCW and renamed to Jaleco Holding, having their video game operations spun off into a new company, also called Jaleco. This new spin-off company was sold to mobile developer Game Yarou in 2009, with Jaleco Holding renaming itself to Encom Holdings shortly after.
Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres of video games, such as the Ultima and Wing Commander series. The company was purchased by Electronic Arts in 1992.
Premier Manager is a series of a football management simulation video games started in 1992. Published by Gremlin Interactive, it was first developed by Realms of Fantasy, later passed to Spanish company Dinamic Multimedia. The later games were later published and developed by Zoo Digital Publishing, who bought the rights from Infogrames and hired some members of the original Gremlin staff. The latest releases in the series were developed by Urbanscan Limited, a company established by Gremlin founder Ian Stewart.
Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was an Australian video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Australia. Initially formed to produce books and software to be published by Melbourne House, a company they had established in London in 1977, the studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.. In 2006 the studio was sold to Krome Studios.
Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s.
Actua Sports is a sports video game series published by Gremlin Interactive which competed with Electronic Arts EA Sports label during the second half of the 1990s, until Gremlin was acquired by Infogrames. The term "Actua" is a play on Sega's line of "Virtua" titled games, which included Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racing and Virtua Striker.
Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road is an arcade video game released in 1989 by Leland Corporation. The game was designed and managed by John Morgan who was also lead programmer, and endorsed by professional off-road racer Ivan Stewart. Virgin Games produced several home versions in 1990. In 1991, a home console version for the Nintendo Entertainment System was later released by Leland's Tradewest subsidiary, followed by versions for most major home formats including the Master System, Genesis, Super NES, Amiga, and MS-DOS. A port for the Atari Jaguar was announced but never released. Some of the ports removed Ivan Stewart's name from the title due to licensing issues and are known simply as Super Off Road.
Zushi Games was a British video game publisher. Based in Sheffield, Zushi is the owner of the multi-million-selling Premier Manager series and best known for Alien Hominid. Zushi published titles for the Nintendo DS, Wii, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, PC and Xbox.
Hogs of War is a 2000 turn-based tactics video game developed by Infogrames Sheffield House and published by Infogrames for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. The game is set in the First World War-era where anthropomorphic pigs engage in combat. Hogs of War features 3D graphics and both a single-player career mode and offline multiplayer, with voice artistry by British comedic actors Rik Mayall and Marc Silk.
Ben Daglish was an English composer and musician. Born in London, his parents moved to Sheffield when he was one year old. He was known for creating many soundtracks for home computer games during the 1980s, including such as The Last Ninja, Trap, Krakout, and Deflektor. Daglish teamed up with fellow C64 musician and prolific programmer Tony Crowther, forming W.E.M.U.S.I.C., which stood for "We Make Use of Sound in Computers". Daglish had attended the same school as Crowther. Daglish mostly worked freelance but was employed by Gremlin Graphics for a couple of years.
Wanted: Monty Mole is a platform video game published in July 1984 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers. It is the first game released by Gremlin Graphics and the first game in the Monty Mole series. Monty Mole is a fictional mole created by Ian Stewart, the director of the company.
Patrick "Pat" Phelan is a video game audio composer, manager, and producer.
Test Drive is a series of racing video games that were originally published by Accolade until they were bought by Infogrames, which later turned into Atari. The first game was released in 1987 and has since been followed by several sequels and spin-offs, the latest of which was released in 2024 and is the first by Nacon after purchasing the franchise from Atari.
Barry Leitch is a Scottish video game music composer. His work includes the Lotus Turbo Challenge, TFX, Gauntlet Legends, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, Top Gear, and Rush video game series.
Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge is the third and final game in the Lotus racing series.
Magnetic Fields was a British game development company founded in February 1982 and best known for developers Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris. The company was originally named "Mr Chip Software" but renamed "Magnetic Fields Ltd." usually simply referred to as "Magnetic Fields", in 1988.
Alberto José González Pedraza is a Spanish video game graphic artist, music composer, designer, producer, and co-founder of Bit Managers and Abylight, who has worked on a variety of titles, most notably games released by French video game publisher Infogrames. He has composed music for or worked on over 60 games, ranging from music composition to graphic programming, and eventually became one of the lead designers at the Spanish developer Abylight. Despite having composed dozens of full soundtracks for video games, González has never had any formal music training.
Premier Manager 2000 is a football management simulation video game for PlayStation. It was released only in Europe in 2000 and was developed by Infogrames Sheffield House and published by Infogrames. It is part of the Premier Manager series.