Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British

software house A software company is a company whose primary products are various forms of software, software technology, distribution, and software product development. They make up the software industry. Types There are a number of different types of softw ...

based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in the 1980s, their primary market was the

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data buses ...

range of computers such as the

ZX 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 Colou ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

, MSX, Commodore 16 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 W ...

. The company was acquired by French

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. ...

in 1999, and was renamed Infogrames Studios in 2000. Infogrames Studios closed down in 2003.

History

The company, originally a computer store called Just Micro, was established as a software house in 1984 with the name Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd by Ian Stewart and Kevin Norburn with US Gold's Geoff Brown owning 75% of the company until mid-1989. Gremlin's early success was based on games such as '' Wanted: Monty Mole'' for the

and '' Thing on a Spring'' for the

. In 1994, it was renamed as Gremlin Interactive, now concentrating on the 16-bit, PC and console market. Gremlin enjoyed major success with the ''

Zool ''Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension'' is a platform game written for the Amiga by Gremlin Graphics and published in 1992. It was marketed as a rival to Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. ''Zool'' was ported to other platforms and followed by '' Zo ...

'' and ''

Premier Manager ''Premier Manager'' is a series of a football management video games started in 1992. Published by Gremlin Interactive, it was first developed by Realms of Fantasy, later passed to Spanish company Dinamic Multimedia. The later games were later pu ...

'' series in the early 1990s, and then with '' Actua Soccer'', the first

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

game in full 3D; other successful games included the '' Lotus'' racing series; a futuristic racing game, '' Motorhead''; a stunt car racing game, ''

Fatal Racing ''Fatal Racing'', known as ''Whiplash'' in North America, is a 3D stunt car racing video game developed and published by Gremlin Interactive in Europe in 1995 for MS-DOS, and published in 1996 by Interplay Productions in North America. In ''Fata ...

'' (1995); and the 1998 flight simulator '' Hardwar''. Following EA's success with the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

brand, Gremlin also released their own sports videogame series, adding

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

and

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

to their '' Actua Sports'' series. During this time, they used a '' motif'' from the Siegfried Funeral March from ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as ...

'' as introductory music. The company was floated on the stock market to raise funds. In 1997, Gremlin acquired

Imagitec Design Imagitec Design was a video games development company founded in 1989, based in the UK. The main person involved was Barry Leitch, who worked as a composer for many of the company's soundtracks. Imagitec Design interacted with other companies suc ...

and

DMA Design Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones, soon hiring former cla ...

(creators of ''

Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily d ...

'' and '' Lemmings''). In 1999, they themselves were bought by

for around £24 million and renamed "Infogrames Sheffield House". Infogrames closed the studio in 2003. The building they latterly occupied near Devonshire Green has since been demolished when Infogrames Sheffield House was supposed to be renamed "Atari Sheffield House". In October 2003, Zoo Digital, the successor company to Gremlin, purchased the company's assets from the now-named

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, Ca ...

. Following the administration of Zoo Digital (later renamed Zushi Games), Gremlin Interactive's catalogue and name were bought up by Ian Stewart's new company Urbanscan.

Key staff

Gremlin staff had included: * Kevin Bulmer - Designer/graphics artist * Jon Harrison - Designer/graphics artist * Gary Priest - Programmer * Bill Allen - Programmer * Richard Stevenson - Programmer * David Martin - Marketing Director * Ben Daglish - Outsourced Musician * Ade Carless - Designer/graphics artist * Shaun McClure - Graphics artist / Art Resource Manager *

Antony Crowther Antony Crowther is a former designer, programmer, and musician of Commodore 64 games. During the 1980s he worked for Alligata, Gremlin Graphics and later his own company, Wizard Development. Career The first computer game he created was a vers ...

('Ratt') - Designer, programmer * Asad Habib - Lead Tester * Paul Whitehead - Tester / Designer * Ian Stewart - Managing director * Kevin Norburn - Operations director * Patrick Phelan - Software manager/sound engineer * Chris Harvey - Lead console programmer * Wayne Laybourn - Artist * Chris Shrigley - Designer / Programmer * Peter Harrap - Programmer * Chris Kerry - Programmer * Shaun Hollingworth - Programmer * MicroProjects Ltd (Jason Perkins, Mark Rogers, Anthony Clarke) * Richard Hall - Production Manager

Video games

As Gremlin Interactive

*''Monty Mole'' series (1984-1990) **'' Wanted: Monty Mole'' (1984) **'' Monty Is Innocent'' (1985) **'' Monty on the Run'' (1985) **'' Auf Wiedersehen Monty'' (1987) **'' Moley Christmas'' (1987) **'' Impossamole'' (1990) *'' Potty Pigeon'' (1984) *'' Bounder'' (1985) **''Re-Bounder'' (1987) *'' Grumpy Gumphrey Supersleuth'' (1985) *'' Gauntlet'' (1985) **'' Gauntlet: The Deeper Dungeons'' (1987) *'' Thing on a Spring'' (1985) *'' Zone X'' (1985) *'' Jack the Nipper'' (1986) **'' Jack the Nipper II: In Coconut Capers'' (1987) *''

Trailblazer A trailblazer is a person who is paving the way in their particular field for future generations. Trailblazer may refer to: Sports * Derby Trailblazers, a British semi-professional basketball team * North Carolina Trailblazers, a US women's rec ...

'' (1986) **'' Cosmic Causeway: Trailblazer II'' (1987) *'' Alternative World Games'' (1987) *'' Basil the Great Mouse Detective'' (1987) *'' Deflektor'' (1987) *'' Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer'' (1987) *'' Technocop'' (1988) *''Motor Massacre'' (1988) *''

Dark Fusion ''Dark Fusion'' is a horizontally-scrolling platform shooter published by Gremlin Graphics Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sh ...

'' (1988) *'' Mickey Mouse: The Computer Game'' (1988) *'' The Muncher'' (1988) *'' Axel's Magic Hammer'' (1989) *'' Federation of Free Traders'' (1989) *'' H.A.T.E.: Hostile All-Terrain Encounter'' (1989) *''

Switchblade A switchblade (aka switch knife, automatic knife, pushbutton knife, ejector knife, flick knife, Stiletto, flick blade, or spring knife (Sprenger,Benson, Ragnar (1989). ''Switchblade: The Ace of Blades''. Paladin Press. pp. 1–14. . The sw ...

'' (1989) **''

Switchblade II ''Switchblade II'' is a 1991 side-scrolling action-platform run and gun video game originally developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in Europe for the Amiga home computers. It is the sequel to the original ''Switchblade'', which was solel ...

'' (1991) *'' Lotus'' series (1990-1992) **''Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge'' (1990) **''Lotus Turbo Challenge 2'' (1991) **''Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge'' (1992) *''

Skidz ''Skidz'' is a skateboarding and BMX themed sports video game developed by Core Design for the Amiga and Atari ST. It was released in 1990 and published by Gremlin Graphics Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limite ...

(1990) *''

Super Cars ''Super Cars'' is a top-view racing game from Gremlin Interactive, who later produced the Lotus series of games. Stylistically, the game is influenced by ''Super Sprint''. There are endless tracks at each of the 4 difficulty levels, which can b ...

'' (1990) **'' Super Cars II'' (1991) *'' Toyota Celica GT Rally'' (1990) *'' Venus The Flytrap'' (1990) *''

HeroQuest ''HeroQuest'', sometimes written as ''Hero Quest'', is an adventure board game created by Milton Bradley in conjunction with the British company Games Workshop. The game was loosely based around archetypes of fantasy role-playing games: the ga ...

'' (1991) **'' HeroQuest II: Legacy of Sorasil'' (1994) *''Spacewrecked: 14 Billion Light Years from Earth'' (1990) *'' Utopia: The Creation of a Nation'' (1991) *''

Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian '' commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditional ...

'' (1992) *'' Jeep Jamboree: Off Road Adventure'' (1992) *''

Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing ''Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing'' is an arcade-style Formula One racing video game developed by Gremlin Graphics and released for various systems. The game was largely successful on Amiga and DOS platforms, and was consequently ported ...

'' (1992) *''

Plan 9 from Outer Space ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and had a theatrical preview screening on March 15 ...

'' (1992) *''

'' series (1992-2000) **''

'' (1992) **''

Premier Manager 2 ''Premier Manager 2'' (also known as ''PM2'') is a football management simulator video game for the Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS platforms. It was released in 1993 by Gremlin Interactive. The objective of the game is to manage a football club succ ...

'' (1993) **''

Premier Manager 3 Premier Manager 3 (also known as PM3) is a football management simulator video game for the Amiga and MS-DOS platforms. It was released in 1994 by Gremlin Interactive. The objective of the game is to manage a football club successfully within t ...

'' (1994) **''Premier Manager 97'' (1996) **''Premier Manager 98'' (1997) **'' Premier Manager: Ninety Nine'' (1999) *''

Space Crusade ''Space Crusade'' is an adventure board game produced by Milton Bradley together with Games Workshop and was first made in 1990. It was produced in the UK and available in some other countries including Finland, Ireland, France, Spain, Denmark ...

'' (1992) *''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' (1992) **'' Top Gear 2'' (1993) **'' Top Gear 3000'' (1995) *''

'' (1992) **''

Zool 2 ''Zool 2'' is a Side-scrolling video game, side-scrolling Platform game, platform video game originally developed by The Warp Factory and published by Gremlin Interactive, Gremlin Graphics for the Amiga in November 1993. It is the sequel to the or ...

'' (1993) *'' Jungle Strike'' (1993) *'' Litil Divil'' (1993) *'' Full Throttle: All-American Racing'' (1994) *''

K240 ''K240'' is a real-time strategy video game published by Gremlin Graphics and released for the Amiga home computer in 1994. It is a sequel to the 1991 game '' Utopia: The Creation of a Nation''. Plot Based in a sector of deep space called K24 ...

'' (1994) *'' Newman/Haas IndyCar featuring Nigel Mansell'' (1994) *'' Race Days'' (1994) *'' Shadow Fighter'' (1994) *'' Actua Sports'' series (1995-1999) **'' Actua Soccer'' (1995) **''

Actua Golf ''Actua Golf'' (''VR Golf '97'' in North America) is a sports video game developed and published by Gremlin Interactive for PlayStation (console), PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Gameplay ''Actua Golf'' features two fictional golf courses. The game ...

'' (1996) **'' Actua Soccer 2'' (1997) **'' Actua Golf 2'' (1998) **''Actua Ice Hockey'' (1998) **''Actua Tennis'' (1998) **''Actua Soccer 3'' (1998) **'' Actua Pool'' (1999) **''Actua Ice Hockey 2'' (1999) **''Actua Golf 3'' (1999) **'' UEFA Euro 96 England'' (1996) *''

'' (1995) *'' Loaded'' (1995) **'' Re-Loaded'' (1996) *'' Slipstream 5000'' (1995) *'' Normality'' (1996) *'' Hardcore 4X4'' (1996) *''

Fragile Allegiance ''Fragile Allegiance'' is an open-ended 4X real-time strategy (RTS) game from Gremlin Interactive, released in 1996 for MS-DOS and Windows 95. The game begins on May 25, 2496, as the player begins their employment with TetraCorp (a large int ...

'' (1996) *''

Realms of the Haunting ''Realms of the Haunting'' is a first-person adventure shooter game developed by Gremlin Interactive and published by Interplay Productions. It was released in 1997 for MS-DOS compatible operating systems. The 3D engine used in this game was bo ...

'' (1997) *''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

'' (1997) *'' Buggy'' (1998) *'' Motorhead'' (1998) *'' N2O'' (1998) *'' Body Harvest'' (1998) *'' Hardwar'' (1998) *'' Wild Metal Country'' (1999) *'' Soulbringer'' (2000)

As Infogrames Sheffield House

References

External links

Wayback Archive

Gremlin Interactive profile
from

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

{{Authority control 1984 establishments in England 2003 disestablishments in England Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game companies established in 1984 Video game companies disestablished in 2003 Defunct companies based in Sheffield Video game development companies

History

Key staff

Video games

As Gremlin Interactive

As Infogrames Sheffield House

See also

References

External links