Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a video game company founded in 1980 by Tony Baden and Tony Milner, two

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

chemistry graduates. It was one of the first to develop a range of

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 buses of ...

computer games during the early 1980s, for

Sinclair Sinclair may refer to: Places * Lake Sinclair, near Milledgeville, Georgia * Sinclair, Iowa * Sinclair, West Virginia * Sinclair, Wyoming * Sinclair Mills, British Columbia * Sinclair Township, Minnesota * Sinclair, Manitoba People * Si ...

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

and other home computer brands, particularly for the

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of color ...

. Among the better known titles are ''

Manic Miner ''Manic Miner'' is a platform video game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 (later re-released by Software Projects). It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the early ti ...

'' and '' Twin Kingdom Valley''. The company was based in Mulberry House, Canning Place,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and helped found a number of software houses in that region. In 1983, programmer Eugene Evans and two of the senior staff left to form

Imagine Software 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 ...

. Later in the year Matthew Smith, a freelance developer who wrote ''

'', left to join

Software Projects Software Projects was a computer game development company which was started by ''Manic Miner'' developer Matthew Smith, Alan Maton and Colin Roach. After leaving Bug-Byte as a freelance developer, Smith was able to take the rights to his recent ...

. In June 1985, after a difficult trading season and a shake-out in the industry, the company went into voluntary liquidation, and the rights to their name and logo were purchased by

Argus Press PLC Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when a ...

. Argus continued to release both new games and budget versions of their own software under the Bug-Byte name via subsidiary Argus Press Software Ltd. Argus Press Software Ltd became

Grandslam Entertainment Grandslam Interactive Ltd. (formerly Grandslam Entertainments Ltd. and later Grandslam Video Ltd.) was a video games software house based in Britain. It was formed in late 1987 from a management buy-out of Argus Press Software by former Argus ...

in 1987 after a management buy-out.

Software products

*''

Aardvark The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike ...

'' (1986) *''Another Vic in the Wall'' *''Aquarius'' *''Asteroids'' *''Automan'' (1985) *''

Backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia an ...

'' *''Birds and the Bees'' *'' The Birds and the Bees II: Antics'' (1985) *''Bomber Bob'' *''BOP!'' (1986) *''Break Out'' *''Cavern Fighter'' (1983) *''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

'' *''City Defence'' (1983) *''Codename Mat 2'' *''Cosmiads'' *''

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

'' (1985) *''Diagon'' (1985) *''Dictator'' (1982) *''Dragon Quest'' (1982) *''Droid Dreams'' (1988) *'' Dunjunz'' (1987) *''

Elevator Action is a platform shooter game released in arcades by Taito in 1983. The player assumes the role of Agent 17, a spy infiltrating a 30-story building filled with elevators and enemy agents who emerge from closed doors. The goal is to collect secret ...

'' *''Flyer Fox'' (1986) *''Fridge Frenzy'' (1985) *''

Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to ''Galaxian'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starshi ...

'' (1988) *''Galaxy Wars'' (1983) *''Gladiator'' *''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical comprehensive school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running program ...

'' *''Head Start'' *''Hoodoo Voodoo'' (1986) *''Hunkidory'' (1986) *''I-Wizard'' (1988) *''Ice Hockey'' (1985) *''International Cricket'' *''Invaders'' *''Jack Attack'' (1985) *''Jeep Command'' (1986) *''Kat Trap'' (1987) *''Kung-Fu'' (1984) *''Leaper'' *''Little Green Man'' (1988) *''Ludoids'' *''

'' (1983) *''

Mazogs ''Mazogs'' is a maze video game and developed by Softsync and published in 1982 for the Timex Sinclair 1000. Another version was programmed by Don Priestley and published for the ZX81 by Bug-Byte. Don Priestly followed up the game with '' Mazia ...

'' *''Megarok'' (1987) *''Miami Dice'' (1986) *''Monkey Nuts'' (1988) *''Nick Faldo Plays The Open'' (1987) *''Old Father Time'' *''Orbix The Terrorball'' *''Panic'' *''Piggy'' (1988) *''Pi-R Squared'' *''Plan B'' (1986) *''Plan B2'' (1987) *''Pool'' (1983) *''Rapscallion'' (1984) *''Roboto'' (1986) *''Rubicon'' (1987) *'' Savage Pond'' (1985) *''Sea Lord'' *''Scramble'' *''Sky Hawk'' (1986) *''Space Pirates'' *''Spacewarp'' *''Spectral Invaders'' *''Spectres'' *''Spellseeker'' (1987) *''Split Personalities'' *''Squeakaliser'' *''Star Force Seven'' (1985) *''Star Soldier'' (1987) *''Star Trader'' (1984) *''Stay Kool'' *''Strangeloop'' *''STI'' (Search for Terrestrial Intelligence) (1988) *''

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...

'' *''Templeton'' (1987) *''Tennis'' (1985) *''Terramex'' *''The Castle'' (1983) *''Time Trax'' (1986) *''The Damsel and the Beast'' *''The Dogboy'' (1985) *''The Pay-Off'' (1984) * ''Turmoil'' (1984) *'' Twin Kingdom Valley'' (1983) *''Uranians'' (1986) *''Up up and away'' (1983) *''Vic Men'' (1983) *''Vic Panic'' (1983) *''Zoot'' (1985) {{Div col end

Weblinks

Game Cover Gallery Bug-Byte

Game Softology Bug-Byte

References

Video game development companies Video game publishers Video game companies established in 1980 Video game companies disestablished in 1986 Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in Liverpool