Rowan Software was a British
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
company focused on the development of
computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
s. The company was founded by Rod Hyde in 1987 and based in
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...
. Rowan was best known as a publisher of
flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...
s for the
PC.
The company was involved with a number of publishers including
Mirrorsoft
Mirrorsoft was a British video game publisher founded by Jim Mackonochie as a division of Mirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992.
History
In the early 1980s, Jim Mack ...
,
Mindscape,
Spectrum Holobyte,
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
, and
Empire Interactive
Empire Interactive was a British video game developer and publisher based in London. Founded in 1987 by Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey, it was acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2006 and went out of business in 2009.
History
Empire Interacti ...
. Rowan's involvement with Mirrorsoft included development of the strategy/role-playing title Duster which collapsed when Mirrorsoft was declared bankrupt.
In 1989,
Martin Kenwright left with several members of Rowan's staff to form
Digital Image Design. Rowan itself was acquired by
Empire Interactive
Empire Interactive was a British video game developer and publisher based in London. Founded in 1987 by Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey, it was acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2006 and went out of business in 2009.
History
Empire Interacti ...
in December 2000.
Empire Interactive Acquires Rowan
IGN.
Games
* '' Air Power: Battle in the Skies''
* '' Dawn Patrol''
* '' Falcon Operation: Firefight''
* '' Falcon Operation: Counterstrike''
* '' Flight of the Intruder''
* '' Flying Corps''
* ''Harrier Combat Simulator
''Harrier Combat Simulator'' is a combat flight simulation game developed in 1986 by Mindscape for the Commodore 64. Ports for Amiga, Atari ST and IBM PC (as a self-booting disk) followed in 1988.
Plot
The player assumes the role of a pilot i ...
''
* '' MiG Alley''
* '' Navy Strike''
* ''Overlord
An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or s ...
''
* '' Reach for the Skies''
* '' Rowan's Battle of Britain''
* '' Strike Force Harrier''
See also
* Fleet Street Publisher
References
External links
Official website
(archived 2000)
Rowan Software
at MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...
Video game companies established in 2002
Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
2002 establishments in the United Kingdom
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