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{{Short description|Former British video games developer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox company
{{Infobox company
| name = Imagine Software
| name = Imagine Software
| logo = Imagine.jpeg
| logo = Imagine.jpeg
| type =
| type =
| genre =
| genre =
| fate = Bankrupt
| fate = Bankrupt
| predecessor =
| predecessor =
| successor = Beau Jolly, [[Ocean Software]]
| successor = {{Unbulleted list|Beau Jolly|[[Ocean Software]]|[[Psygnosis Limited]]}}
| foundation = September 17 1982
| foundation = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1982|9|17}}
| founder = Mark Butler, David Lawson
| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Mark Butler|David Lawson}}
| defunct = 9 July 1984<ref name=PCW19Jul84>{{cite news| title=Imagine in hands of receiver| date=19 July 1984| url=http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?cat=39| work=[[Popular Computing Weekly]]| accessdate=17 December 2008| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028125837/http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?cat=39| archivedate=28 October 2008| df=dmy-all}}</ref>
| defunct = {{End date and age|df=yes|1984|7|9}}<ref name=PCW19Jul84>{{cite news| title=Imagine in hands of receiver| date=19 July 1984| url=http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?cat=39| work=[[Popular Computing Weekly]]| access-date=17 December 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028125837/http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?cat=39| archive-date=28 October 2008}}</ref>
| location_city = [[Merseyside]]
| location_city = Masons Building, Exchange Street East, Liverpool L2 3PN<ref>http://www.mobygames.com/company/imagine/trivia</ref>
| location_country = [[United Kingdom]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mobygames.com/company/imagine/trivia|title=Trivia for Imagine|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711092732/https://www.mobygames.com/company/imagine/trivia|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| location_country = United Kingdom
| location =
| location =
| locations =
| locations =
| area_served = United Kingdom
| area_served = United Kingdom
| key_people = Ian Hetherington, David Lawson, Mark Butler, Bruce Everiss
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Ian Hetherington|David Lawson|Mark Butler|Bruce Everiss}}
| industry = [[Computer and video game industry|Computer and video games]]
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| products = [[Personal computer game|Computer games]]
| products = [[Personal computer game|Computer games]]
| services =
| services =
| market cap =
| market cap =
| revenue =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| net_income =
| aum =
| aum =
| assets =
| assets =
| equity =
| equity =
| owner =
⚫
| num_employees = 80<ref name=PCW5Jul84>{{cite news| title=Bitter split breaks Imagine| date=5 July 1984| url=http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?p=50| work=[[Popular Computing Weekly]]| access-date=17 December 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717100651/http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?p=50| archive-date=17 July 2011}}</ref>
| owner =
| parent =
⚫
| num_employees = 80<ref name=PCW5Jul84>{{cite news| title=Bitter split breaks Imagine| date=5 July 1984| url=http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?p=50| work=[[Popular Computing Weekly]]| accessdate=17 December 2008| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717100651/http://www.zxsoftware.co.uk/8bitgamer/?p=50| archivedate=17 July 2011| df=dmy-all}}</ref>
| parent =
| divisions =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| subsid =
| homepage =
| homepage =
| footnotes =
| footnotes =
| intl =
| intl =
}}
}}


'''Imagine Software''' was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[video games developer]] based in [[Liverpool]] which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the [[ZX Spectrum]] and [[VIC-20]]. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polished, high-budget approach to packaging and advertising (at a time when this was not commonplace in the British software industry), as well as its self-promotion and ambition.
'''Imagine Software''' was a British [[video games developer]] based in [[Liverpool]] which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the [[ZX Spectrum]] and [[VIC-20]]. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polished, high-budget approach to packaging and advertising (at a time when this was not commonplace in the British software industry), as well as its self-promotion and ambition.


Following Imagine's prominent demise under mounting debts in 1984, the name was bought and used as a label by [[Ocean Software]] until the late 1980s.
Following Imagine's high-profile demise under mounting debts in 1984, the name was bought and used as a label by [[Ocean Software]] until the late 1980s.


==History==
==History==


===Founding and early success===
===Founding and early success===
Imagine Software was founded in 1982 by former members of [[Bug-Byte]] including Mark Butler, David Lawson and Eugene Evans. Butler and Evans had previously worked at Microdigital, one of the first computer stores in the UK.<ref name='bbc_crash' /> Imagine Software produced several very successful games, including [[Arcadia (video game)|Arcadia]]<ref name='bbc_crash' /> for the [[Vic 20]] and [[ZX Spectrum]], before running into financial trouble in late 1983.
Imagine Software was founded in 1982 by former members of [[Bug-Byte]] Mark Butler and David Lawson. Butler and programmer Eugene Evans had previously worked at Microdigital, one of the first computer stores in the UK.<ref name='bbc_crash' /> The owner of Microdigital, Bruce Everiss, was invited to join the company to run the company day-to-day and run the PR department.<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!-- Staff writer (s); no by-line --> |title=Bruce Everiss |url=https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/bruce-everiss/ |date=2014-08-22 |access-date=2021-09-02 |website=Retro Gamer |publisher=Future Publishing}}</ref> Imagine Software produced several very successful games, including ''[[Arcadia (video game)|Arcadia]]''<ref name='bbc_crash' /> for the [[Vic 20]] and [[ZX Spectrum]], throughout 1982 and 1983, but some games shipped with serious, game-breaking bugs. The company grew in size through this period, at one point employing upwards of 80 people, a large number for its time, and splashed out large sums of money on company cars and the founding of a racing team to race in the Isle of Man TT race.<ref>{{Cite web|title=» imagine The Digital Antiquarian|url=https://www.filfre.net/tag/imagine/|access-date=2020-10-09|language=en-US}}</ref>


===Financial troubles and demise===
===Financial troubles and demise===
Rumours of Imagine's financial situation began to circulate in December 1983 following the revelations that an estimated £50,000 of its advertising bills had not been paid.<ref name=Crash7.84>{{cite news | first= | last= |authorlink= | title=The Bubble Bursts | date=August 1984 | publisher=[[Newsfield Publications Ltd]] | url =http://www.crashonline.org.uk/07/news.htm | work =[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]] | pages = | accessdate =18 December 2008 | language = }}</ref> The following year the debts mounted, with further advertising and [[magnetic tape|tape]] duplication bills going unpaid, and Imagine was forced to sell the rights to its games to Beau Jolly in order to raise money. The company then achieved nationwide notoriety when it was filmed the following year by a [[BBC]] [[documentary film|documentary]] crew while in the process of going spectacularly [[bankruptcy|bust]].<ref name=bbc_crash>{{cite news | first=Roger | last=Kean |authorlink= | title=The Biggest Commercial Break Of Them All | date=December 1984 | publisher=[[Newsfield Publications Ltd]] | url =http://www.crashonline.org.uk/12/imagine.htm | work =[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]] | pages = | accessdate =17 December 2008 | language = }}</ref> Mark Butler can also be seen on Thames Television's ''Daytime'' programme in 1984, talking about being a millionaire who lost money at such a young age.
Rumours of Imagine's financial situation began to circulate in December 1983 following the revelations that an estimated £50,000 of its advertising bills had not been paid.<ref name=Crash7.84>{{cite news | title=The Bubble Bursts | date=August 1984 | publisher=[[Newsfield Publications Ltd]] | url =http://www.crashonline.org.uk/07/news.htm | work =[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]] | access-date =18 December 2008 }}</ref> The following year the debts mounted, with further advertising and [[magnetic tape|tape]] duplication bills going unpaid, and Imagine was forced to sell the rights to its games to Beau Jolly in order to raise money. The company then achieved nationwide notoriety when it was filmed by a [[BBC]] [[documentary film|documentary]] crew while in the process of going spectacularly [[bankruptcy|bust]].<ref name=bbc_crash>{{cite news | first=Roger | last=Kean | title=The Biggest Commercial Break of Them All | date=December 1984 | publisher=[[Newsfield Publications Ltd]] | url=http://www.crashonline.org.uk/12/imagine.htm | work=[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]] | access-date=17 December 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105132126/http://www.crashonline.org.uk/12/imagine.htm | archive-date=5 January 2019 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Mark Butler also made an appearance on [[Thames Television]]'s ''Daytime'' programme in 1984, talking about his experience of having been a millionaire who lost his money at a young age.


On the 28 June 1984 a [[writ]] was issued against Imagine by [[VNU Business Press]] for money owed for advertising in [[Personal Computer Games]] magazine, and the company was wound up on 9 July 1984 at the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] in [[London]] after it was unable to raise the £10,000 required to pay this debt (though by this time its total debts ran to hundreds of thousands of pounds).<ref name=PCW19Jul84 /><ref name=PCW5Jul84 />
On 28 June 1984 a [[writ]] was issued against Imagine by [[VNU Business Press]] for money owed for advertising in ''[[Personal Computer Games]]'' magazine, and the company was wound up on 9 July 1984 at the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] in [[London]] after it was unable to raise the £10,000 required to pay this debt (though by this time its total debts ran to hundreds of thousands of pounds).<ref name=PCW19Jul84 /><ref name=PCW5Jul84 />


===Legacy===
===Legacy===
Former programmers went on to establish [[Psygnosis]] and [[Denton Designs]].<ref name='bbc_crash' /> The company's back catalogue was owned by Beau Jolly, while rights to the Imagine label were acquired by [[Ocean Software]], which primarily used it to publish [[home computer]] conversions of popular [[arcade games]]. The final game bearing the Imagine name was released in 1989.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}
Former programmers went on to establish [[Psygnosis]] and [[Denton Designs]].<ref name='bbc_crash' /> The company's back catalogue was owned by Beau Jolly, who in turn later sold those rights to Subvert, while rights to the Imagine label were acquired by [[Ocean Software]], which primarily used it to publish [[home computer]] conversions of popular [[arcade games]].


===In other media===
===In other media===
The ''[[Black Mirror]]'' [[interactive film]] ''[[Black Mirror: Bandersnatch|Bandersnatch]]'', released in 2018, alludes to Imagine Software and the failed work to produce ''Bandersnatch''. The film starts on 9 July 1984, the date of Imagine's closure, and includes a shot of the cover of ''[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]]'' reporting on the closure. Within the film, the fictional software company Tuckersoft, which had developed both Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum games, places its financial future on the attempt to produce ''Bandersnatch'', and in some scenarios falls into bankruptcy after the game fails to appear.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/film/black-mirrors-bandersnatch-game-real-13785695|title=Black Mirror's Bandersnatch game was real - and truth about Jerome F. Davies|work=[[Daily Mirror]]|last=Rowney|first=Jo-Anne|date=28 December 2018|accessdate=28 December 2018}}</ref><ref name="telegraph speculation">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/bandersnatch-solving-riddle-black-mirrors-secret-christmas-episode/ |title=What is Bandersnatch? Solving the riddle of Black Mirror's secret Christmas episode |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |last=Vincent |first=Alice |date=20 December 2018 |accessdate=25 December 2018}}</ref>
The ''[[Black Mirror]]'' [[interactive film]] ''[[Black Mirror: Bandersnatch|Bandersnatch]]'', released in 2018, alludes to Imagine Software and the failed work to produce ''Bandersnatch''. The film starts on 9 July 1984, the date of Imagine's closure, and includes a shot of the cover of ''[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]]'' reporting on the closure. Within the film, the fictional software company Tuckersoft, which had developed both [[Commodore 64]] and ZX Spectrum games, places its financial future on the attempt to produce ''Bandersnatch'', and in some scenarios falls into bankruptcy after the game fails to appear.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/film/black-mirrors-bandersnatch-game-real-13785695|title=Black Mirror's Bandersnatch game was real - and truth about Jerome F. Davies|work=[[Daily Mirror]]|last=Rowney|first=Jo-Anne|date=28 December 2018|access-date=28 December 2018}}</ref><ref name="telegraph speculation">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/bandersnatch-solving-riddle-black-mirrors-secret-christmas-episode/ |title=What is Bandersnatch? Solving the riddle of Black Mirror's secret Christmas episode |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|last=Vincent |first=Alice |date=20 December 2018 |access-date=25 December 2018}}</ref>


==Megagames==
==Megagames==


⚫
Imagine had intended to develop six so-called "Megagames", the most well-known of which were ''Psyclapse'' and ''Bandersnatch''. These games were designed to push the boundaries of the hardware of the time, even to the extent that they were intended to be released with a hardware add-on which would have increased the capabilities of the computer, as well as guarding against [[software piracy|piracy]]. The games were advertised heavily and would have retailed at around £30 – an expensive price tag when the average price of a game at the time was £7.20 – but Imagine's collapse meant that they remained [[vaporware]] and never saw the light of day.<ref name='bbc_crash' /><ref name=YSJun84>{{cite news | first=Paul | last=Walton | title=The Ascent of Everiss | date=5 June 1984 | url =http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr04/yr04_88.htm | work =[[Your Sinclair|Your Spectrum]] | access-date =17 December 2008 }}</ref><ref name=GTW64>{{cite web |url=http://gtw64.retro-net.de/Pages/m/Review_Megagames.php |title=Mega Games |access-date=17 December 2008 |last1=Gasking |first1=Frank |first2=Marc |last2=Dawson |first3=Peter |last3=Weighill |work=GTW64 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207150015/http://gtw64.retro-net.de/Pages/m/Review_Megagames.php |archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref>
{{see also|Brataccas#History}}


During the BBC documentary it was revealed that ''Psyclapse'' was little more than a paper sketch,<ref name='bbc_crash' /> though the name was later used for a sub-label of [[Psygnosis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.iprimus.com.au/danmcpharlin/purpleowl/psygnosis-history.html|title=Psygnosis History|quote=Psyclapse was actually the name of a Commodore 64 game that was never released [but] was to live on as a division of Psygnosis.|access-date=2015-01-01|archive-date=10 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310163033/http://home.iprimus.com.au/danmcpharlin/purpleowl/psygnosis-history.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Most of the concepts originally intended for ''Bandersnatch'' eventually appeared in another Psygnosis game, ''[[Brataccas]]'', for the [[16-bit]] [[Atari ST]], [[Amiga]] and [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] computers.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Making Of: Bandersnatch|website=Edge|date=4 September 2009|url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/making-bandersnatch?page=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102002140/http://www.edge-online.com/features/making-bandersnatch/2/|archive-date=2 January 2015}}</ref>
⚫
Imagine had intended to develop six so-called "Megagames", the most well-known of which were ''Psyclapse'' and ''[[Bandersnatch (video game)|Bandersnatch]]''. These games were designed to push the boundaries of the hardware of the time, even to the extent that they were intended to be released with a hardware add-on which would have increased the capabilities of the computer, as well as guarding against [[software piracy|piracy]]. The games were advertised heavily and would have retailed at around £30 - an expensive price tag when the average price of a game at the time was £7.20 - but Imagine's collapse meant that they remained [[vaporware]] and never saw the light of day.<ref name='bbc_crash' /><ref name=YSJun84>{{cite news | first=Paul | last=Walton |authorlink= | title=The Ascent Of Everiss | date=5 June 1984 | publisher= | url =http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr04/yr04_88.htm | work =[[Your Sinclair|Your Spectrum]] | pages = | accessdate =17 December 2008 | language = }}</ref><ref name=GTW64>{{cite web |url=http://gtw64.retro-net.de/Pages/m/Review_Megagames.php |title=Mega Games |accessdate=17 December 2008 |last1=Gasking |first1=Frank |first2=Marc |last2=Dawson |first3=Peter |last3=Weighill |work=GTW64 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207150015/http://gtw64.retro-net.de/Pages/m/Review_Megagames.php |archivedate=7 December 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>


⚫
==Games==
During the BBC documentary it was revealed that the game ''Psyclapse'' was little more than a paper sketch,<ref name='bbc_crash' /> though the name was later used for a sub-label of [[Psygnosis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.iprimus.com.au/danmcpharlin/purpleowl/psygnosis-history.html|title=Psygnosis History|quote=Psyclapse was actually the name of a Commodore 64 game that was never released [but] was to live on as a division of Psygnosis.|accessdate=2015-01-01}}</ref>


''Bandersnatch'' was subsequently acquired and completed by another company, ''Finchspeed''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.retroisle.com/general/publishers/Imagine/fromthentonow.php|title=From Then To Now- Imagine Software|publisher=Retro Isle|accessdate=2015-01-01}}</ref> It was eventually released under a different name, ''[[Brataccas]]'', for the 16-bit [[Atari ST]], [[Amiga]] and [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] formats<ref>http://www.edge-online.com/features/making-bandersnatch?page=2</ref> by Psygnosis.

⚫
==Games==
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
'''As Imagine Software'''
*''[[Arcadia (video game)|Arcadia]]'', 1982
*''[[Arcadia (video game)|Arcadia]]'', 1982
*''[[Wacky Waiters]]'', 1982
*''[[Wacky Waiters]]'', 1982
*''[[Frantic (video game)|Frantic]]'', 1982
*''[[Frantic (video game)|Frantic]]'', 1982
*''[[Catcha Snatcha]]'', 1983
*''Catcha Snatcha'', 1983
*''[[Schizoids]]'', 1983
*''Schizoids'', 1983
*''[[Ah Diddums]]'', 1983
*''[[Ah Diddums]]'', 1983
*''[[Molar Maul]]'', 1983
*''[[Molar Maul]]'', 1983
Line 81: Line 76:
*''[[Zip Zap]]'', 1983
*''[[Zip Zap]]'', 1983
*''[[Zzoom]]'', 1983
*''[[Zzoom]]'', 1983
*''[[Bewitched (video game)|Bewitched]]'', 1983
*''Bewitched'', 1983
*''[[Stonkers]]'', 1983
*''[[Stonkers]]'', 1983
*''[[Alchemist (video game)|Alchemist]]'', 1983
*''[[Alchemist (video game)|Alchemist]]'', 1983
*''[[Pedro (video game)|Pedro]]'', 1984
*''[[Pedro (video game)|Pedro]]'', 1984
*''[[Cosmic Cruiser]]'', 1984
*''[[Cosmic Cruiser]]'', 1984
*''[[BC Bill]]'', 1984<ref>http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr09/yr09_59.htm</ref>
*''[[BC Bill]]'', 1984<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr09/yr09_59.htm|title = Your Spectrum 09 - Joystick Jury}}</ref>
{{Col-break}}
'''As a label of Ocean Software'''
*''[[Wizadore]]'', 1985<ref>http://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/tag/wizadore/</ref>
*''[[Hyper Sports]]'', 1985
*''[[Mikie]]'', 1985
*''[[World Series Baseball (1985 video game)|World Series Baseball]]'', 1985<ref>http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0005746</ref>
*''[[Yie Ar Kung-Fu]]'', 1985
*''[[Army Moves]]'', 1986
*''[[Rush'n Attack|Green Beret]]'', 1986
*''[[Movie (video game)|Movie]]'', 1986
*''[[Psycho Soldier]]'', 1987
*''[[Athena (video game)|Athena]]'', 1987,<ref>http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=167</ref>
*''[[Renegade (video game)|Renegade]]'', 1987
*''[[Rastan (video game)|Rastan]]'', 1987
*''[[Freddy Hardest]]'', 1987<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D975 |title=Lemon - Commodore 64, C64 Games, Reviews & Music! |publisher=Lemon64.com |accessdate=2012-09-17}}</ref>
*''[[Arkanoid]]'', 1987
*''[[Arkanoid II]]'', 1988
*''[[Target: Renegade]]'', 1988
*''[[Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja]]'', 1988
*''[[WEC Le Mans]]'', 1988
*''[[Salamander (video game)|Salamander]]'', 1988
*''[[Victory Road (video game)|Victory Road]]'', 1989
*''[[Renegade III: The Final Chapter]]'', 1989 <ref>http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=2120</ref>
{{col-end}}


==References==
==References==
Line 119: Line 90:
* [http://www.mobygames.com/company/imagine Imagine Software] profile on [[MobyGames]]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/company/imagine Imagine Software] profile on [[MobyGames]]


⚫
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:Entertainment companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:Video game companies disestablished in 1984]]
[[Category:Video game companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Video game companies disestablished in 1984]]
[[Category:1984 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:British companies disestablished in 1984]]
⚫
[[Category:British companies established in 1982]]

Latest revision as of 11:24, 30 August 2024

Imagine Software
IndustryVideo games
Founded17 September 1982; 42 years ago (1982-09-17)
Founders
  • Mark Butler
  • David Lawson
Defunct9 July 1984; 40 years ago (1984-07-09)[1]
FateBankrupt
Successor
Headquarters
Merseyside
,
United Kingdom[2]
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
  • Ian Hetherington
  • David Lawson
  • Mark Butler
  • Bruce Everiss
ProductsComputer games
Number of employees
80[3]

Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polished, high-budget approach to packaging and advertising (at a time when this was not commonplace in the British software industry), as well as its self-promotion and ambition.

Following Imagine's high-profile demise under mounting debts in 1984, the name was bought and used as a label by Ocean Software until the late 1980s.

History

[edit]

Founding and early success

[edit]

Imagine Software was founded in 1982 by former members of Bug-Byte Mark Butler and David Lawson. Butler and programmer Eugene Evans had previously worked at Microdigital, one of the first computer stores in the UK.[4] The owner of Microdigital, Bruce Everiss, was invited to join the company to run the company day-to-day and run the PR department.[5] Imagine Software produced several very successful games, including Arcadia[4] for the Vic 20 and ZX Spectrum, throughout 1982 and 1983, but some games shipped with serious, game-breaking bugs. The company grew in size through this period, at one point employing upwards of 80 people, a large number for its time, and splashed out large sums of money on company cars and the founding of a racing team to race in the Isle of Man TT race.[6]

Financial troubles and demise

[edit]

Rumours of Imagine's financial situation began to circulate in December 1983 following the revelations that an estimated £50,000 of its advertising bills had not been paid.[7] The following year the debts mounted, with further advertising and tape duplication bills going unpaid, and Imagine was forced to sell the rights to its games to Beau Jolly in order to raise money. The company then achieved nationwide notoriety when it was filmed by a BBC documentary crew while in the process of going spectacularly bust.[4] Mark Butler also made an appearance on Thames Television's Daytime programme in 1984, talking about his experience of having been a millionaire who lost his money at a young age.

On 28 June 1984 a writ was issued against Imagine by VNU Business Press for money owed for advertising in Personal Computer Games magazine, and the company was wound up on 9 July 1984 at the High Court in London after it was unable to raise the £10,000 required to pay this debt (though by this time its total debts ran to hundreds of thousands of pounds).[1][3]

Legacy

[edit]

Former programmers went on to establish Psygnosis and Denton Designs.[4] The company's back catalogue was owned by Beau Jolly, who in turn later sold those rights to Subvert, while rights to the Imagine label were acquired by Ocean Software, which primarily used it to publish home computer conversions of popular arcade games.

In other media

[edit]

The Black Mirror interactive film Bandersnatch, released in 2018, alludes to Imagine Software and the failed work to produce Bandersnatch. The film starts on 9 July 1984, the date of Imagine's closure, and includes a shot of the cover of Crash reporting on the closure. Within the film, the fictional software company Tuckersoft, which had developed both Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum games, places its financial future on the attempt to produce Bandersnatch, and in some scenarios falls into bankruptcy after the game fails to appear.[8][9]

Megagames

[edit]

Imagine had intended to develop six so-called "Megagames", the most well-known of which were Psyclapse and Bandersnatch. These games were designed to push the boundaries of the hardware of the time, even to the extent that they were intended to be released with a hardware add-on which would have increased the capabilities of the computer, as well as guarding against piracy. The games were advertised heavily and would have retailed at around £30 – an expensive price tag when the average price of a game at the time was £7.20 – but Imagine's collapse meant that they remained vaporware and never saw the light of day.[4][10][11]

During the BBC documentary it was revealed that Psyclapse was little more than a paper sketch,[4] though the name was later used for a sub-label of Psygnosis.[12] Most of the concepts originally intended for Bandersnatch eventually appeared in another Psygnosis game, Brataccas, for the 16-bit Atari ST, Amiga and Macintosh computers.[13]

Games

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Imagine in hands of receiver". Popular Computing Weekly. 19 July 1984. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  2. ^ "Trivia for Imagine". Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Bitter split breaks Imagine". Popular Computing Weekly. 5 July 1984. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Kean, Roger (December 1984). "The Biggest Commercial Break of Them All". Crash. Newsfield Publications Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  5. ^ "Bruce Everiss". Retro Gamer. Future Publishing. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. ^ "» imagine The Digital Antiquarian". Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  7. ^ "The Bubble Bursts". Crash. Newsfield Publications Ltd. August 1984. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  8. ^ Rowney, Jo-Anne (28 December 2018). "Black Mirror's Bandersnatch game was real - and truth about Jerome F. Davies". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  9. ^ Vincent, Alice (20 December 2018). "What is Bandersnatch? Solving the riddle of Black Mirror's secret Christmas episode". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  10. ^ Walton, Paul (5 June 1984). "The Ascent of Everiss". Your Spectrum. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  11. ^ Gasking, Frank; Dawson, Marc; Weighill, Peter. "Mega Games". GTW64. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  12. ^ "Psygnosis History". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2015. Psyclapse was actually the name of a Commodore 64 game that was never released [but] was to live on as a division of Psygnosis.
  13. ^ "The Making Of: Bandersnatch". Edge. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Your Spectrum 09 - Joystick Jury".
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