Big Red Software

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.

The Big Red Software Company Limited
Big Red Software
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FateMerged into Eidos Interactive
Founded16 October 1989 (1989-10-16)
FounderPaul Ranson
Defunct31 May 1996 (1996-05-31)
Headquarters
Leamington Spa
,
England

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 GB£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. 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.
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