Cronosoft is a UK-based non-profit

software publisher A software publisher is a publishing company in the software industry between the developer and the distributor. In some companies, two or all three of these roles may be combined (and indeed, may reside in a single person, especially in the case o ...

established in 2002, by Simon Ullyatt which manufactures and markets

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

and utility software for a range of mainly 8-bit computers that are considered " retro" or commercially

obsolete Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky r ...

. Cronosoft's plan was to produce games on real media (usually

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

) and market them via their website, and through user enthusiasts groups.

History

Cronosoft was formed in late 2002 as a result of little software being released for older 8-bit computers. The last major commercial releases and magazine support for systems such as the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

ceasing around 1993. Its first release, ''Egghead in Space'' (the third Egghead game in the series, the first in the series being published by Crash magazine in the UK), was written and developed by Jonathan Cauldwell, and released on

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

format for the ZX Spectrum in 2003 Since the beginning, Cronosoft has increased its range of software to include titles, not only for the ZX Spectrum, but also for the

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PE ...

, Amstrad CPC,

ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cost ...

ZX80 The Sinclair ZX80 is a home computer launched on 29 January 1980 by Science of Cambridge Ltd. (later to be better known as Sinclair Research). It is notable for being one of the first computers available in the United Kingdom for less than a h ...

Dragon 32 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales before mov ...

, and even the Mattel Aquarius. Popular titles include ''Platform Game Designer'', ''Astro Nell'', ''Quantum Gardening'', ''Glove'', ''LumASCII'' and ''Code Zero''. More recent releases have included ''Quadron'' by Cosmium, and Sokobaarn, popular but very different games for the ZX Spectrum. Cronosoft's plan is to expand its range to cover even more obscure home computers like the TRS-80 Color Computer, Oric,

Sord M5 The Sord M5 is a home computer launched by Sord Computer Corporation in 1982. Primarily the Sord M5 competed in the Japanese home computer market. It was also sold as the CGL M5 in the United Kingdom by Computer Games Limited and was reasonably p ...

, and TI-99/4A. Of the 100+ titles released as of 2020, more than half are for the ZX Spectrum, ZX80, and ZX81. The next most popular format is the VIC-20. Cronosoft has been featured in several mainstream computer magazines, including Retro Gamer,

GamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a United Kingdom, UK-based, multi-format video games magazine, covering video game console, console, handheld game, handheld, PC game, PC and Arcade games. The first issue was released in December 2002 and t ...

and

Micro Mart ''Micro Mart'' was a weekly computer magazine published in the United Kingdom by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of 2015, it had a circulation of 5,422. In a letter to subscribers in December 2016 it was announced that the magazine would cease publica ...

, and regularly exhibits at computer shows across the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and has in the past included CGE UK, ORSAM and RETRO BALL. Cronosoft has been referenced by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

newspaper,

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

Newspaper, and has been featured in the movi
Memoirs of a Spectrum Addict

References

External links

* Video game companies of the United Kingdom Software companies of the United Kingdom Video game companies established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-videogame-company-stub