Gremlin Interactive
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| Type | Acquired |
|---|---|
| Successor | Infogrames |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder(s) | Ian Stewart |
| Headquarters | Sheffield, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Patrick Phelan (software manager) |
| Industry | Video games |
| Products | Wanted: Monty Mole, Thing on a Spring, Premier Manager, Actua Soccer |
Gremlin Interactive (formerly Gremlin Graphics) was a British software house based in Sheffield and working mostly in the home computer market.
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[edit] History
The company was established in 1984 as Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd by Ian Stewart. In 1994 it was renamed as Gremlin Interactive. 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. Like many software houses established in the eighties their primary market was the 8-bit range of computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX and Commodore 64.
Gremlin scored big with the Premier Manager series in the early 1990s, and then with Actua Soccer, the first football game in full 3D, while having success with other games such as the Lotus series, Zool, Motorhead or 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. In 1995, Gremlin also released a stunt car racing game called Fatal Racing.
In 1996 Gremlin acquired DMA Design (creators of Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings).
In 1999, they themselves were bought by Infogrames and renamed "Infogrames Sheffield House", for a reported fee of around £21m, but the studio closed in 2003. The building they occupied has since been demolished.
[edit] Crew
In the its heyday the core of the Gremlin's crew consisted of:
- Ian Stewart - managing director
- Patrick Phelan - software manager/sound engineer
[edit] See also
- Moonpod — Indie game developer started by ex Gremlin employees.
- Zoo Digital — Digital media company founded by Ian Stewart (founder of Gremlin Interactive).
- Sumo Digital — Game developer founded by former members of Gremlin management.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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