David Darling (born 17 June 1966 in London) is a British video game developer and entrepreneur, known for co-founding

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Oct ...

, with his brother Richard Darling, and for being involved in a long succession of top ten games over more than 30 years. He is now founder and CEO of smartphone app developer and publisher Kwalee.

Early life

Darling's father was a contact lens pioneer married to an Australian; they had 7 children. In his early life Darling lived on three continents—in the UK, in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in Australia, in France and in Canada—before finally settling in

Crewkerne Crewkerne ( ) is a town and electoral ward in Somerset, England, southwest of Yeovil and east of Chard all in the South Somerset district. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley – and b ...

, Somerset. While in France, the family lived on a boat and travelled through the country, settling for a time in

Cap d'Agde Cap d'Agde () is a seaside resort on France's Mediterranean coast. It is located in the commune of Agde, in the Hérault department within the region of Occitanie. Cap d'Agde was planned by architect Jean Le Couteur as part of one of the l ...

. Darling attended 14 different schools in this time including Wadham School where he took classes in Computer Studies. His teacher, Mr. Evans, once told him to, "Stop programming games – it's a waste of time!" Darling would often stay behind after school to program, as there was only one keyboard available in the classroom. During the day he would have to use punch cards while other children had access to the sole keyboard.

Codemasters

Darling starting writing video games on a

Commodore PET The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, ...

with his brother, Richard, in the bedroom of their home in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Canada when Darling was 11 years old. This continued when the brothers moved to Crewkerne, Somerset to live with their grandparents. They then duplicated these games themselves and sold them via small advertisements in magazines such as

Popular Computing Weekly ''Popular Computing Weekly'' was a computer magazine in the UK published from 1982 to 1990. It was sometimes referred to as ''PCW'' (although that abbreviation is more commonly associated with '' Personal Computer World'' magazine). Overview ...

. Soon they were earning more money than their father, who returned to England to manage the burgeoning business. In 1982, when Darling was 16, they formed the company Galactic Software and supplied a succession of games to be published by

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved by ...

, including The Last V8 (published under their MAD brand), one of several titles written by Darling.

was formed in 1986 by Darling with his brother Richard and his father Jim to publish their games themselves. Initially it was housed in an industrial unit in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

, Oxfordshire, then moved to offices converted from the stables, barns and other outbuildings at Lower Farm House, outside

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...

, Warwickshire. Initially Codemasters concentrated on what were known as "budget" games at the £1.99 then £2.99 pricepoint for 8 bit home computers such as the

Sinclair Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 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 the ''ZX81 Colour ...

and Commodore 64. With titles such as

BMX Simulator ''BMX Simulator'' is a racing video game designed by Richard Darling and released by Codemasters in 1986 for the Commodore 64. It is part of a series of games that includes ''ATV Simulator'', '' Grand Prix Simulator'', ''Professional Ski Simulat ...

Rock Star Ate My Hamster ''Rock Star Ate My Hamster'' is a management strategy computer game developed by Codemasters in 1988 and originally released on their full-price Gold label for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga and Atari ST. The game was written ...

and Pro Skateboard Simulator.

developed a reputation for innovation with features such as simultaneous four player gaming. They also had major success with the Dizzy series of games developed by the

Oliver Twins Andrew Nicholas Oliver and Philip Edward Oliver, together known as the Oliver Twins, are British twin brothers and video game designers. They began to professionally develop computer games while they were still at school, contributing their fir ...

, who later went on to found Blitz Games Studios. Within the first year of trading

was the best selling game publisher in Britain with in excess of 27% of the total market according to the Gallup charts. In 1990 Darling co-developed the

Game Genie Game Genie is a line of video game cheat cartridges originally designed by Codemasters, sold by Camerica and Galoob. The first device in the series was released in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, with subsequent devices released for t ...

, a game modification device for the Nintendo Entertainment System and other game consoles; this went on to become the 5th best selling toy in the United States of America in Christmas 1991. Codemasters evolved as a game developer to produce full price games across all current platforms, sold globally. Notable successes included the

Colin McRae Rally ''Dirt'' and ''Dirt Rally'' (stylized as ''DiRT'' and ''DiRT Rally'', formerly known as ''Colin McRae Rally''), also known as ''EA Sports Rally'', is a rally racing video game series developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts und ...

series and

Operation Flashpoint ''Operation Flashpoint'' (also ''Arma: Cold War Assault'') is a series of military simulation games. The first game, '' Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis'' and its expansion '' Operation Flashpoint: Resistance'', was developed by Bohemia In ...

. The Darling brothers sold their interests in

in 2007. In the Queen's birthday honours in 2008, Darling was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) for "services to the computer games industry".

Kwalee

In 2011, Darling founded Kwalee in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire to develop and publish smartphone applications. In July 2012, Darling used his personal blog on the Kwalee website to say that video game consoles have become "like dinosaurs heading for extinction." He elaborates by saying he believes that

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

and

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

will take over the market which was once established by the likes of Nintendo,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

. In the same month, Darling also met with

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as ...

MP to discuss the British Government's plans for business growth in Leamington Spa.

Personal life

He lives in Ashorne House, Ashorne, Warwickshire, England.

References

External links