The companies that brought retro games to players
Founded by Trip Hawkins in 1982 with the radical premise that game developers deserved to be credited like rock musicians, Electronic Arts grew from a boutique publisher of personal computer games into the largest third-party publisher in the world.
Activision was founded in 1979 by a group of disgruntled Atari programmers demanding credit for their work, becoming the first third-party game developer in history and establishing a precedent that transformed the industry's relationship between studios and creators.
Acclaim Entertainment was a leading publisher of the NES and SNES era, best known for its home console ports of arcade hits and licensed properties including Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Turok — and for a business culture that frequently prioritised sales over quality.
The original Atari, founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in 1972, created the commercial video game industry with Pong, defined the home console market with the 2600, and produced the most valuable entertainment company in the world before a catastrophic collapse in 1983.
Psygnosis was the defining British publisher of high-end Amiga games, renowned for Roger Dean's cover artwork and technically demanding releases before Sony acquired the company and transformed it into the studio responsible for WipEout — the game that defined the PlayStation's launch identity.
Broderbund Software was among the most respected publishers of the Apple II and early personal computer era, producing Prince of Persia, Myst, the Carmen Sandiego series, and Print Shop — software with a quality and originality that made it a favourite of both educators and enthusiast gamers.
Infocom produced the finest interactive fiction of the personal computer era — Zork, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Trinity — writing games with literary ambition that no other studio approached, before Activision's acquisition made their survival impossible.
Epyx built a reputation for technically ambitious games on the Atari and Commodore 64 platforms, including the Summer Games series, Impossible Mission, and Chip's Challenge, and co-designed the Atari Lynx hardware before financial difficulties ended the company.
Ocean Software was the dominant British publisher of licensed film and television tie-in games through the late 1980s and early 1990s, producing Robocop, Batman, and Jurassic Park conversions of notable quality alongside original titles including Head Over Heels and Wizball.
Midway was the American arcade publisher responsible for Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Defender — a company that shaped the coin-op golden age through its partnership with Namco and its own design team before a long decline ended in bankruptcy.
Taito launched the global video game industry with Space Invaders in 1978, the single most commercially significant arcade game ever made, and followed it with Bubble Bobble, Arkanoid, Elevator Action, and Qix — a portfolio that shapes arcade design vocabulary to this day.
Hudson Soft created Bomberman and published Adventure Island, and was the first third-party developer to produce software for the Famicom — a technical achievement that opened Nintendo's platform to outside developers and changed the course of console gaming.
Founded by Ken and Roberta Williams, Sierra invented the graphic adventure with Mystery House and dominated the genre for two decades with King's Quest, Space Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry.
Brian Fargo's "By Gamers. For Gamers." publisher created Fallout, published Baldur's Gate and Descent, and housed Black Isle Studios before financial collapse forced it to sell off its crown jewels.
George Lucas's games division became the finest adventure game studio in the world with SCUMM, Monkey Island, and Grim Fandango — and then made the definitive Star Wars games as well.
A jukebox repair business from Osaka that became one of the most consistently excellent publishers of the 8- and 16-bit eras — and whose earnings went from $10 million to $300 million in four years.
Named after "Capsule Computers", built on arcade hardware it designed itself, and responsible for both the fighting game and survival horror as commercial genres.
Founded by two teenage brothers who had already made £200,000 writing budget games — and who went on to build one of Britain's longest-surviving studios, plus the Game Genie.
The company that refused to compromise: SNK sold a home console that was literally arcade hardware, at $649 with $200 cartridges, and never pretended it was for everybody.
Two of Activision's founders walked out to start Accolade — and then won the court case that made reverse-engineering a games console legal in the United States.
Founded after a programmer beat a retired fighter pilot at a flight game by reading its code, then told him he could write a better one in a week.
An electronics maker from Aichi that became one of the most admired NES publishers — Blaster Master, Batman, Journey to Silius, Gimmick! — famed for its punchy, bass-heavy music.
Founded in 1967 to make cleaning equipment, Tehkan became Tecmo in 1986 and created Bomb Jack, Rygar, Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo Bowl and Dead or Alive before merging with Koei.
Japan Leisure Company — shortened to Jaleco in 1983 — made Exerion, City Connection and Rod Land, and gave the NES its Bases Loaded baseball series.
A Sheffield publisher that grew out of a computer shop, made Monty Mole, Thing on a Spring, Lotus Turbo Challenge and Zool, and released Actua Soccer — the first fully 3D football game.
"Toy Headquarters" began as a toy company in 1990, grew into one of the biggest licensed-game publishers of the 1990s and 2000s, and went bankrupt in 2012 with its franchises auctioned off.
A Birmingham company named for its first business — importing American games to Britain at British prices — which became the country's leading publisher of arcade conversions, from Gauntlet to Street Fighter.
The budget publisher that sold games for £1.99 through newsagents, became one of Britain's biggest software houses, and ended up bringing Sega's Master System to the UK.