Sirius Software

Sirius Software was a video game publisher of Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and VIC-20 games in the early 1980s. Sirius also developed games for the Atari 2600 which were published by 20th Century Fox Video Games.

For other companies and software called Sirius, see Sirius (disambiguation).

History

The company was founded in the early 1980s by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley. It gained attention for its dramatically quick rise to prominence and its equally quick collapse in 1984 after 20th Century Fox (Fox Video Games) failed to pay over USD$18 Million in owed royalties.[1] Sirius Software designed and marketed more than 160 computer video games, software products and hardware devices worldwide. Jewell was profiled by author Steven Levy in his book Hackers.

Sirius' quick rise was due in part to a chain of hits by programmer Nasir Gebelli.[1] Gebelli's breakthrough game was Gorgon, which brought the gameplay of the arcade's Defender to the Apple II. His technical ability and Jewell's sales and marketing skills combined to create in a single year a multimillion-dollar enterprise operating out of a rented apartment. By June 1982 the game had sold 23,000 copies, making it one of the best-selling computer games at the time.[2] By early 1984 InfoWorld estimated that Sirius was the world's 15th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $11 million in 1983 sales.[3]

Sirius also published a line of graphical adventure games in an attempt to compete with Sierra On-Line, but without much success. Most of the company's games were launched on the Apple II line of computers, but they also released some titles for other platforms, notably the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64.[1]

The Smithsonian Museum produced a "living history" video of Jewell's role in the early personal computer industry.[4]

Games
Action
  • Bandits (1982)
  • Both Barrels (1980)
  • Capture the Flag (1983)
  • Cyber Strike (1980)
  • Star Cruiser (1980)
  • Phantoms Five (1980)
  • Autobahn (1981)
  • Beer Run (1981)
  • Gamma Goblins (1981)
  • Gorgon (1981)
  • Epoch (1981)
  • Lemmings (1982)
  • Outpost (1981)
  • Pulsar II (1981)
  • Sneakers (1981)
  • Space Eggs (1981)
  • Free Fall (1982)
  • Type Attack (1982)
  • Snake Byte (1982)
  • Copts and Robbers (1983)
  • Final Orbit (1983)
  • Moogles (1983)
  • Plasmania (1983)
  • Repton (1983)
  • Squish 'em (1983)
  • Wavy Navy (1983)
  • Wayout (1982)

Adventure

Strategy

Atari 2600

  • Beany Bopper (1982)
  • Deadly Duck (1982)
  • Fantastic Voyage (1982)
  • Fast Eddie (1982)
  • Turmoil (1982)
  • Worm War I (1982)
  • Flash Gordon (1983)
  • SpaceMaster X-7 (1983)
  • The Earth Dies Screaming (1983)

References
  1. S. Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Doubleday, Garden City, 1984
  2. "List of Top Sellers". Computer Gaming World. 2 (5): 2. September–October 1982.
  3. Caruso, Denise (1984-04-02). "Company Strategies Boomerang". InfoWorld. pp. 80–83. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  4. Smithsonian Institution Archives
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