Beyond Software

This article is about the 1980s UK video game publisher. For the 1990s U.S. video game developer, see Beyond Games. For the 1988-1993 U.S. video game developer, see Stormfront Studios.

Beyond Software
IndustryVideo games
Founded1983; 42 years ago (1983)
FounderEmap International Limited
Headquarters
UK
Area served
UK
ProductsVideo games

Beyond Software was a video game publisher in the UK in the 1980s. It was set up by the EMAP publishing group in 1983 and published numerous games on the Commodore 64, Dragon 32, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, but met with very little success until the release of Mike Singleton's The Lords of Midnight in 1984. The Tolkien-esque strategy game became an instant success and allowed Beyond to establish a distribution deal with American developers First Star, as well as a publishing deal with developer Denton Designs.[1]

After being acquired by Telecomsoft in late 1985[2] for a six-figure sum, Beyond continued to operate as a unique label, mostly releasing games that had already been in development for some time, as well as a number of conversions of existing titles. Telecomsoft did very little with the Beyond label beyond these releases. A number of high-profile titles, such as Star Trek: The Rebel Universe ended up on the Firebird label, while a highly anticipated Mike Singleton project, Eye of the Moon, failed to materialise.

Games

Titles by Beyond Software
Title Developer Genre C64 ZX Spectrum Others Year Format
Goodness Gracious Paul Jay Action C64 — — 1983 Tape
Kriegspiel Ron Potkin Strategy — — Dragon 32 1983 Tape
SS Achilles David Muncer, Simon Goodwin Action — — Atari 8-bit 1983 Disk
Space Station Zebra Pat W. Norris Arcade — ZX Spectrum — 1983 Tape
Up Periscope Ron Potkin Strategy — — Dragon 32 1983 Tape
Ankh Datamost Puzzle C64 — — 1984 Tape
Aztec Datamost Actiom C64 — — 1984 Tape
The Lords of Midnight Mike Singleton Graphic Adventure C64 ZX Spectrum Amstrad CPC 1984 Tape, Disk
Mr. Robot Datamost Arcade C64 — — 1984 Tape
My Chess II Datamost Board C64 — — 1984 Tape, Disk
Psytron Psy-Sci Tactical combat C64 ZX Spectrum — 1984 Tape
Spellbound Pat W. Norris Action — ZX Spectrum — 1984 Tape
Spy vs. Spy First Star Software Action C64 ZX Spectrum Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit 1984 Tape
Doomdark's Revenge Mike Singleton Graphic Adventure C64 ZX Spectrum Amstrad CPC 1985 Tape
Psi Warrior Psy-Sci Action C64 — — 1985 Tape
Shadowfire Denton Designs Tactical Combat C64 ZX Spectrum Amstrad CPC 1985 Tape
Shadowfire Tuner Denton Designs Game Editor C64 ZX Spectrum — 1985 Tape
Sorderon's Shadow Nick Eatock, Simon Welland Graphic Adventure — ZX Spectrum — 1985 Tape
Enigma Force Denton Designs Tactical Combat C64 ZX Spectrum — 1985 Tape
Quake Minus One Mike Singleton, Warren Foulkes RTS C64 — — 1985 Tape
Superman: The Game First Star Software Action/strategy C64 — — 1985 Tape
Dante's Inferno Denton Designs Action-adventure C64 — — 1986 Tape
Bounces Denton Designs Action C64 ZX Spectrum — 1986 Tape
Infodroid Denton Designs Action C64 — Amstrad CPC 1986 Tape, Disk
Romper Room Educational C64 ZX Spectrum — 1986 Tape

References

  1. ^ Villordsutch (13 August 2016). "The Top 100 Your Sinclair ZX Spectrum Games: #15 – The Lords of Midnight". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  2. ^ Richard Hewison: Beyond. Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine from: The Bird Sanctuary. Accessed on 2009-12-10