Electric Dreams Software was a UK-based

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...

established in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

and run by Rod Cousens and Paul Cooper formerly of

Quicksilva Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s. Quicksilva was founded by Nick Lambert in 1979. The name Quicksilva was inspired by a particular guitar solo in a track on the album Happy Trails by Quicksilver Mess ...

. The company published video games for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

, Commodore 64,

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...

and the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE ...

of computers between 1985 and 1989, becoming one of the top eight UK software houses of that decade.

Software Studios

The publisher's in-house

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

was Software Studios, set up in April 1986 and run by John Dean and Dave Cummings. Software Studios also handled

's products marketed in countries outside the United States. The concept behind this team was to pool resources and ideas between all Electric Dreams projects, but they were also directly responsible for two film tie-in licenses, '' Aliens: The Computer Game'' (1986) and ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong. ...

''. The company's initial releases were ''

Riddler's Den ''Riddler's Den'' is a 1985 action video game, made for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was authored by David W. Harper as the debut title from Electric Dreams Software. Plot The game's protagonist is Trunky the Manelephant, who has embarke ...

'' and ''I, Of the Mask''.

List of releases

*''

'' (1985), David Harper *''I, of the Mask'' (1985), Spaceman Ltd *''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 19 ...

'' (1985), Software Images *''Winter Sports (video game)'' (1985), Software Images *''

Zaxxon is an isometric shooter arcade game, developed and released by Sega in 1982, in which the player pilots a ship through heavily defended space fortresses. Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki is also credited for having worked on the d ...

'' (1985); under license from Sega *'' Aliens: The Computer Game'' (1986), Software Studios *''

'' (1986), Software Studios *''

Dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...

'' (1986), The RamJam Corporation *''Explorer'' (1986), The RamJam Corporation *''Hijack'' (1986), Paradise Software *''

Mermaid Madness ''Mermaid Madness'' is an action-adventure game developed by Soft Design and published by Electric Dreams Software for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum in 1986. Gameplay The player takes on the role of a 112 year old mermaid called ...

'' (1986), Soft Design *''Prodigy'' (1986), MD Software *''

Spindizzy ''Cities in Flight'' is a four-volume series of science fiction novels and short stories by American writer James Blish, originally published between 1950 and 1962, which were first known collectively as the "Okie" novels. The series features ent ...

'' (1986), Paul Shirley and Phil Churchyard *''Xarq'' (1986), The RamJam Corporation *'' Aliens: US Version'' (1987), Mr. Micro *'' Firetrack'' (1987), Aardvark Software *''FireTrap'' (1987), Source Software; under license from Data East USA *''Nihilist'' (1987), Shahid Ahmad *''RMS Titanic'' *''Starblade'' (1986), Bob Duncan and Gary Stark *'' Star Raiders II'' (1987), Simon Freeman, Gary Stark and Bruce Poelman; under license from Atari *''

Super Sprint Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...

'' (1987), Software Studios; under license from Atari *''

Tempest Tempest is a synonym for a storm. '' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare. Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film * ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...

'' (1987), David Pridmore; under license from Atari *''

Super Hang-On is a motorcycle racing arcade video game released by Sega as the sequel to '' Hang-On''. It uses a simulated motorcycle arcade cabinet, like the original game. An updated version was released in arcades 1991 as ''Limited Edition Hang-On''. Ga ...

'' (1986), Software Studios; under license from Sega *''

Championship Sprint In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

'' (1988), Catalyst Coders; under license from Atari *'' Karnov'' (1988), Mr. Micro; under license from Data East USA *''

R-Type is a scrolling shooter, horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the List of R-Type video games, ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in ...

'' (1988), Manfred Trenz and Andreas Escher; under license from

Irem is a Japanese video game console developer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manufacturer of arcade games as well. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The full name of the company that uses the brand is Irem Softw ...

*'' Incredible Shrinking Sphere'' (1989), Foursfield *''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

'' (1989) *''

Millennium 2.2 ''Millennium 2.2'' is a resource management computer game by Ian Bird, released in 1989 for Atari ST, Amiga and MS-DOS. The MS-DOS version of the game was released as ''Millennium: Return to Earth''. It is the forerunner to Bird's ''Deuteros'', w ...

'' (1989), Ian Bird

References

{{reflist Video game publishers British companies established in 1985 Video game companies established in 1985 Video game companies disestablished in 1989 Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom