Gremlin Graphics / Gremlin Interactive

United Kingdom · Founded 1984 · Closed 2003 · 1984 – 2003

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.

Gremlin Graphics was established in Sheffield in 1984 by Ian Stewart and Kevin Norburn, growing out of a computer shop called Just Micro. Its early 8-bit games made its name: Wanted: Monty Mole on the ZX Spectrum, starring a mole raiding coal during the miners' strike, and Thing on a Spring on the Commodore 64. On the 16-bit computers Gremlin found two major series. Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (1990) began a run of fast, split-screen racing games, and Zool (1992) — a speedy ninja platformer pitched as the Amiga's answer to Sonic — was one of the era's most heavily promoted British games. In 1994 the company renamed itself Gremlin Interactive and turned towards PC and console development. Its Actua Sports series followed; Actua Soccer (1995) was promoted as the first football game in full 3D and was a major commercial success. Infogrames bought Gremlin in 1999 for about £24 million and renamed it Infogrames Sheffield House in 2000. The studio closed in 2003. Former Gremlin managers went on to found Sumo Digital, and the Gremlin trademarks are now owned by Warner Bros.