Spectrum HoloByte

Spectrum HoloByte, Inc.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: SYBT[1]
IndustryVideo games
Founded1983; 41 years ago (1983)
FoundersJeff Sauter, Phil Adam and Mike Franklin
Defunct1999; 25 years ago (1999)
FateAbsorbed into Hasbro Interactive
SuccessorHasbro Interactive
Headquarters
Alameda, California
,
US
Key people
Gilman Louie
Phil Adam
Parent

Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher. The company, founded in 1983, was known for its simulation games, notably the Falcon series of combat flight simulators, and for publishing the first version of Tetris outside the Soviet Union (in 1988 for MS-DOS). Spectrum HoloByte published games for various home computers and video game consoles.

History

Spectrum HoloByte was founded in 1983 in Boulder, Colorado by Jeff Sauter, Phil Adam and Mike Franklin.

In 1987 Spectrum HoloByte merged with another game developer, Nexa Corporation, forming a common holding company, Sphere, Inc., and prompting the company's move from Colorado to California. Nexa founder Gilman Louie served as chairman of the combined company.

In 1992, Spectrum HoloByte received an investment from Kleiner Perkins, which let the company repurchase shares formerly owned by Robert Maxwell's companies, ending its ties to their bankruptcies.[2] In December 1993, Sphere, Inc. merged with MicroProse to form MicroProse Inc.[3] For the following years, games from both companies were published under their respective brands, but in 1996 all titles were consolidated under the MicroProse brand.[4]

Hasbro Interactive acquired the merged company in 1998, and what had been Spectrum HoloByte ceased to exist when the development studio in Alameda, California, was closed in 1999.[5]

Games

Title Year and platform Developer Publisher
GATO 1984 (MS-DOS, Mac)
1985 (Apple II, C64)
1986 (Atari ST)
1987 (Atari 8-bit) 		Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Atari Corporation (Atari 8-bit)
Orbiter 1986 (MS-DOS, MacOS)
1988 (Atari ST) 		Spectrum HoloByte
Sphere, Inc. (Atari ST) 		Spectrum HoloByte
Intrigue! 1986 (Apple II, C64) Kinemation Spectrum HoloByte
Lunar Explorer: A Space Flight Simulator 1986 (Apple II, DOS) Spectrum HoloByte Electric Transit
Solitaire Royale 1987 (MS-DOS, Mac)
1988 (Amiga)
1989 (Apple IIGS), MS-DOS, Mac, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1 		Software Resources International Spectrum HoloByte
Falcon 1987 (MS-DOS, Mac)
1988 (Atari ST)
1989 (Amiga)
1991 (CDTV) 		Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Dondra: A New Beginning 1987 (Apple II)
1988 (Apple IIGS)
1989 (MS-DOS) 		Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Electronic Arts (MS-DOS)
PT-109 1987 (MS-DOS, Mac) Digital Illusions Spectrum HoloByte
Zig Zag 1987 (C64) Zig Zag Software Spectrum HoloByte
Tetris 1988 (Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, Mac)
1989 (Atari ST) 		Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Soko-Ban 1988 (MS-DOS)
1988 (Apple II, C64) 		ASCII, Thinking Rabbit Spectrum HoloByte
Falcon A.T. 1988 (MS-DOS) Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Vette! 1989 (MS-DOS)
1991 (MacOS) 		Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Falcon Operation: Counterstrike 1989 (Amiga, Atari ST) Rowan Software Spectrum HoloByte
Tank: The M1A1 Abrams Battle Tank Simulation 1989 (MS-DOS) Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Welltris 1989 (MS-DOS)
1990 (MaS) 		Doka, Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Faces...tris III 1990 (MS-DOS, Mac)
1991 (Amiga) 		Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Stunt Driver 1990 (MS-DOS) Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Flight of the Intruder 1990 (MS-DOS)
1991 (Atari ST) 		Rowan Software
Spectrum Holobyte (Atari ST) 		Spectrum Holobyte
Mirrorsoft (Atari ST)
Falcon Operation: Firefight 1990 (Amiga, Atari ST) Rowan Software
Sphere, Inc. 		Spectrum HoloByte
Super Tetris 1991 (MS-DOS, Windows 3.x)
1992 (Amiga, Mac) 		Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Falcon 3.0 1991 (MS-DOS)
1992 (TG-16) 		Sphere, Inc.
Spectrum HoloByte (TG-16) 		Spectrum HoloByte
Turbo Technologies (TG-16)
Falcon MC (Macintosh Color) 1992 (Mac) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Crisis in the Kremlin 1992 (MS-DOS) Barbu Corporation, Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Wordtris 1991 (MS-DOS)
1992 (Game Boy, SNES)
1993 (Mac) 		Spectrum HoloByte
Armenica (MS-DOS) 		Spectrum HoloByte
Sphere, Inc. (Game Boy)
Nintendo (SNES)
Falcon 3.0: Operation: Fighting Tiger 1992 (MS-DOS) Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Tetris Classic 1992 (MS-DOS, Windows 3.x) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Iron Helix 1993 (Mac, Windows 3.x)
1994 (Sega CD) 		Drew Pictures Spectrum HoloByte
Tetris Gold 1993 (MS-DOS, Mac, Windows 3.x) Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte
Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter 1993 (MS-DOS) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
National Lampoon's Chess Maniac 5 Billion and 1 1993 (MS-DOS) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
TinHead 1993 (Genesis) MicroProse Ballistic
Soldiers of Fortune 1993 (Genesis, SNES) The Bitmap Brothers Spectrum HoloByte
MiG-29: Deadly Adversary of Falcon 3.0 1993 (MS-DOS) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Tornado 1993 (MS-DOS) Digital Integration Spectrum HoloByte
Gazillionaire 1994 (Windows 3.x) LavaMind Spectrum HoloByte
Out of the Sun 1994 (MaS) Domark Eidos Interactive
Formula One 1994 (MS-DOS) Lankhor Domark
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Futures Past 1994 (Genesis, SNES) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Sega (Genesis)
BreakThru! 1994 (SNES, Windows 3.x)
1995 (GB) 		Zoo Corporation Spectrum HoloByte
Falcon Gold 1994 (MS-DOS) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Fields of Glory 1994 (MS-DOS) MicroProse Spectrum HoloByte
WildSnake 1994 (Game Boy, SNES) Bullet-Proof Software (GB)
J.S.C. Gamos (SNES) 		Spectrum HoloByte
Lords of Midnight 1995 (MS-DOS) Maelstrom Games Domark
ClockWerx 1995 (Mac, Windows) Callisto Corporation Spectrum HoloByte
Reflux: Issue.01 - "The Becoming" 1995 (Mac, Windows 3.x) Inverse Ink Inverse Ink
Reflux: Issue.02 - "The Threshold" 1995 (Windows 3.x) Inverse Ink Inverse Ink
Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity 1995 (MS-DOS, MaS) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
Qwirks 1995 (Mac, Windows, Windows 3.x) Big Bang Software Spectrum HoloByte
Perfect Partner Bridge 1995 (Mac, Windows 3.x) Positronic Software Spectrum HoloByte
Absolute Zero 1995 (MS-DOS, Mac) Domark Domark
Knight Moves 1995 (Windows) Kinesoft Spectrum HoloByte
Curse of Dragor 1995 (Mac) Banshee Software Domark
Top Gun: Fire at Will! 1996 (MS-DOS, Mac, PlayStation, Windows) Spectrum HoloByte Spectrum HoloByte
MacSoft (Mac)

References

  1. ^ "SEC".
  2. ^ "Spectrum HoloByte Buy-Back Launches Next Generation". Computer Gaming World. December 1992. p. 116. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Spectrum + MicroProse = MicroProse Inc". GamePro. No. 56. IDG. March 1994. p. 186.
  4. ^ "Stop Press: The Name Game". Next Generation. No. 19. Imagine Media. July 1996. p. 17.
  5. ^ Freudenheim, Milt (8 December 1999). "Hasbro to Cut 20% of Its Jobs and Take $97 Million Charge". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2014.


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