Vortex Software was a

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game ''Cosmos'' which Panayi had developed for the

Sinclair 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- ...

. They converted the game to the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

, but due to the low sales of the ZX81 version they licensed the game to Abbex. Luke Andrews, Costa's brother-in-law, and Crete Panayi, Costa's brother, became involved to handle the business affairs and advertising respectively. The company was based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. In the summer of 1984, Mark Haigh-Hutchinson was offered a position and ported several of the games to the

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 ZX Spec ...

in addition to writing '' Alien Highway'' for the ZX Spectrum. Chris Wood and David Aubrey-Jones were also associated with Vortex as outside contractors. The company produced several notable games for 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 bu ...

home computers Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

of the period. '' Deflektor'' was also ported to the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

and

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

. After the production of '' Hostile All Terrain Encounter'' in 1988, Costa spent the next two years deciding where he wanted to go. In 1990 Vortex was reborn with Costa, Mark and Luke and the intention to develop a game for the Amiga and Atari ST. They developed a much enhanced version of ''Highway Encounter'' in just three months, but failed to find a

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 ...

for the game, so it remained unpublished. Several games achieved critical success, '' Tornado Low Level'' and '' Highway Encounter'' appearing in the "

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', originally ''Your Spectrum'' or ''YS'', is a discontinued British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was commercially published between 1984 and 1993. History The magazine was la ...

official top 100", for example.

List of games

ZX81

* ''ZX81 Othello'' (

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

) * ''Word Mastermind'' (

) * ''Pontoon'' (

) * ''Crash'' (

) * ''Astral Convoy'' (1983) * ''Serpent's Tomb'' (1983)

ZX Spectrum

* ''Cosmos'' (

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

), Abbex Electronics * ''Gun Law'' (1983) * '' Android One: The Reactor Run'' (

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

), Vortex Software * '' Android Two'' (

), Vortex Software * '' Tornado Low Level'' (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

), Vortex Software * ''

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

'' (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

), Vortex Software * '' Highway Encounter'' (

), Vortex Software * '' Alien Highway'' (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

), Vortex Software * ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

'' (

), U.S. Gold * '' Deflektor'' (

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

), Gremlin Graphics * '' Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)'' (

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

), Gremlin Graphics

Amstrad CPC

* '' Android One: The Reactor Run'' (1985) * '' Android Two'' (1985) * '' Highway Encounter'' (1985) * '' Tornado Low Level (T.L.L.)'' (1986) * '' Alien Highway'' (1986) * ''

'' (1986, published by U.S. Gold) * '' Deflektor'' (1987, published by Gremlin Graphics) * '' Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)'' (1988, published by Gremlin 1990, unfinished)

MSX

* '' Highway Encounter'' (1986)

Commodore C64

* '' Highway Encounter'' (Pedigree Software, 1986, published by Gremlin Graphics) * '' Deflektor'' (Gremlin Graphics, 1987, published by Gremlin Graphics) * '' Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)'' (Gremlin Graphics, 1987, published by Gremlin Graphics)

References

{{reflist

External links

History of Vortex Software
by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson
Costa Panayi
at

World of Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Software companies of the United Kingdom