Sirius Software was a California-based publisher of video games for the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and VIC-20. Most games were written for the Apple II, then ported to other systems. The company was founded in 1980 by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley and released over 160 games before folding in 1984. Sirius also developed games for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

which were published in 1982 and 1983 by 20th Century Fox Video Games. Fox's failure to pay Sirius resulted in company's downfall.

Nasir Gebelli Nasir Gebelli (, also Nasser Gebelli, born 1957) is an Iranian-American programmer and video game designer usually credited in his games as simply Nasir. He became known in the early 1980s for programming action games for Apple II, such as '' ...

wrote some of the early hits from Sirius, establishing his reputation as an Apple II game programmer.

History

The company was founded in 1980 by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley. It gained attention for its dramatically quick rise to prominence and its equally quick collapse in 1984 after

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

(Fox Video Games) failed to pay over USD$18 Million in owed royalties.S. Levy, ''Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution'', Doubleday, Garden City, 1984 Sirius Software designed and marketed more than 160 computer

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s, software products and hardware devices worldwide. Jewell was profiled by author

Steven Levy Steven Levy (born 1951) is an American journalist and editor at large for '' Wired'' who has written extensively for publications on computers, technology, cryptography, the internet, cybersecurity, and privacy. He is the author of the 1984 boo ...

in his book ''

Hackers A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bugs or exploits to break ...

''. Sirius' quick rise was due in part to a chain of hits by programmer

. Gebelli's breakthrough game was ''

Gorgon The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to sto ...

'', which brought the gameplay of the arcade's '' Defender'' to the Apple II. His technical ability and Jewell's sales and marketing skills combined to create in a single year a multimillion-dollar enterprise operating out of a rented apartment. By June 1982 the game had sold 23,000 copies, making it one of the best-selling computer games at the time. By early 1984 ''InfoWorld'' estimated that Sirius was the world's 15th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $11 million in 1983 sales. Sirius also published a line of graphical adventure games in an attempt to compete with

Sierra On-Line Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game ge ...

, but without much success. Most of the company's games were launched on the

line of computers, but they also released some for the Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and VIC-20. The Smithsonian Museum produced a "living history" video of Jewell's role in the early personal computer industry.Smithsonian Institution Archives
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Games

References

{{reflist Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies based in California Companies based in Sacramento, California Defunct computer companies based in California Video game companies established in 1980 Video game companies disestablished in 1984 1980 establishments in California 1984 disestablishments in California