Amsoft
Amsoft was a wholly owned subsidiary of Amstrad, PLC, founded in 1984 and re-integrated with its parent company in 1989. Its purpose was to provide an initial infrastructure of software and services for users of Amstrad's range of home computers, the Amstrad CPC and, from 1986, the ZX Spectrum. Many people's first contact with software on an Amstrad home computer would have been an Amsoft title, as several titles were included in the sales bundles.
Amsoft
- Name
- Amsoft
- Founded
- 1984.
- Headquarters
- Brentwood.
- Activity
- video game industry and software industry.
- Dissolved
- 1989.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q4748798 · wikipedia · Amsoft
In this article
Overview
Overview
It is associated with United Kingdom. The record gives 1984 as its date of establishment or first appearance. Activity is recorded as ending in 1989. Its recorded seat is Brentwood. The recorded field of activity is video game industry and software industry.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Amsoft • Type — Subsidiary • Industry — software and services for users of Amstrad's range of home computers • Hq Location — Brentwood House • Hq Location City — Brentwood, Essex • Hq Location Country — United Kingdom • Key People — Roland Perry, William Poel
History
History
While developing its first home computer, the Amstrad CPC 464, Amstrad assessed that part of the success of its competitors' machines was the backing of a grown infrastructure of software and services. Being a newcomer to the computer market, Amstrad decided to artificially create this infrastructure for the launch of their own computers. In February 1984, Amstrad founded its Amsoft division headed by Roland Perry and William Poel who at the time were also overseeing the development of the Amstrad CPC 464 itself. Most prominently, Amsoft acted as the first-party game and business software publisher for Amstrad computers. Most of its software products were licensed from various third-party developers and published under the Amsoft label. This also provided a risk-free means for established software studios to try out their products in the emerging Amstrad CPC market. In addition to publishing software, Amsoft was tasked with press relations and consumer promotion, most notably creating and maintaining the Amstrad User Club and publishing its periodical, the CPC 464 User (later Amstrad Computer User). When a reliable third-party support had been established, Amsoft gradually faded out the publishing of software and sold the Amstrad User Club as well as the user magazine. By 1989, Amsoft was fully integrated with the main Amstrad corporation and ceased to exist as a separate entity.
Games
Games
Amsoft published many software titles for Amstrad's range of home computers, the Amstrad CPC and the ZX Spectrum.
1986
1986
• Qabbalah • Happy Writing • Nuclear Defence • Golden Path • 6128 Games Collection
1987–1989
1987–1989
• Scalextric (1987) • Tank Command (1988) • Fantastic Voyage (1989)
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1984
Amsoft established.
1989
Amsoft ceased.
Primary material
Digitised editions and texts
AmSoft The World of Ham Radio 1994-01 (1994) — Internet Archive
World of Ham Radio 1997 AmSoft (1997 02 01) (1997) — Internet Archive
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Amsoft, revision 1335433179 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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