U.S. Gold
Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Holdings (later renamed CentreGold). Gold started life as a UK distributor and manufacturer for existing games licensed from the US market, but soon moved towards publishing original titles.
Also recorded as U.S. Gold Ltd.
U.S. Gold
- Name
- U.S.
- Founded
- 1984
- Headquarters
- Birmingham
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Documentary summary
Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Holdings (later renamed CentreGold). Gold started life as a UK distributor and manufacturer for existing games licensed from the US market, but soon moved towards publishing original titles.
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wikidata · Q1930918 · wikipedia · U.S. Gold
In this article
Overview
Overview
Following the 1996 takeover of CentreGold by Eidos Interactive, the U.S. Gold name disappeared.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — U.S. Gold Limited • Type — Subsidiary • Industry — Video games • Fate — Acquired by and folded into Eidos Interactive • Founder — Anne and Geoff Brown • Hq Location City — Witton, Birmingham • Hq Location Country — England • Parent — * CentreGold (1984–1996) • Eidos Interactive (1996)
Early history
Early history
U.S. Gold was founded in 1984. It initially functioned as a UK manufacturer and distributor for existing games licensed from US publishers (such as Cosmi, Microprose and Synsoft/Synapse) that had, until then, only been available on import. Following negotiations, U.S. Gold were able to sell these games for £10 on the British market, rather than the £30 or so they initially sold for in the United States. Some titles were also converted to run on formats more popular in the UK (e.g. Tapper, which was converted for- amongst others- the ZX Spectrum via Ocean/Platinum Productions and the BBC Micro by Micro Power).
Increasing success
Increasing success
By 1985, U.S. Gold projected a turnover of 6 million for their first fiscal year, and expected to release further 150 games in the year to come. The company increasingly moved towards being a publisher of original titles in their own right. In 1987, they launched GO! label with Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper being the first game released under the label. In 1988, U.S. Gold received the Golden Joystick Award for "Software House of the Year". The company also operated the budget range label Kixx. In 1988, the company struck a deal with Japanese company Capcom to port their arcade video games for home computers in Europe. They paid 2 million or for a ten-game deal with Capcom. The first four games they announced as part of the deal were ports of the 1987 arcade games Street Fighter, Tiger Road, 1943: The Battle of Midway and Black Tiger for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and Amiga platforms. Their first five Capcom releases sold over 250,000 copies in the UK by 1989, with their best-selling Capcom release up until then being Bionic Commando with over 70,000 UK sales. Their next Capcom release was Forgotten Worlds in 1989. In October 1994, CentreGold acquired the developer Core Design.
Sale and closure
Sale and closure
In April 1996, Eidos Interactive acquired the entire CentreGold umbrella (including U.S. Gold) for 17.6 million; as a result of this, U.S. Gold and CentreSoft ceased all operations.
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
Explore 1984–1996
The full dated record · 5 entries
1984
U.S. Gold established.
1984
U.S. Gold is recorded from 1984.
1984
U.S. Gold was established or created on 1 January 1984.
1996
U.S. Gold ceased.
1996
U.S. Gold was dissolved or ceased on 1 June 1996.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United Kingdom
Games published
• Year — Title — Platform(s) • 1984 — Beach Head — Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro • 1984 — The Dam Busters — Amstrad CPC, Apple II, C64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum • 1984 — Dropzone — Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Gear, NES • 1984 — Raid over Moscow — Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC • 1984 — Impossible Mission — Commodore 64, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 7800, BBC Micro, Master System, ZX Spectrum • 1985 — Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back — Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum • 1985 — Bruce Lee — ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC • 1985 — Road Runner — Atari ST • 1986 — Summer Games — Commodore 64, Amiga, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Master System, ZX Spectrum • 1986 — Summer Games II — Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga • 1985 — The Goonies — Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum • 1985 — Whirlinurd — Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 • 1985 — Winter Games — Commodore 64, Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Macintosh • 1985 — Spy Hunter — Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, C64, Apple II, ColecoVision, IBM PC • 1986 — Gauntlet — Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, Commodore 64, MSX, Master System, NES, Genesis, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS, PlayStation • 1986 — Revolution — ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC • 1986 — Zorro — ZX Spectrum • 1986 — World Games — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, Master System, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum • 1986 — Ace of Aces — Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, MSX, MS-DOS, Master System, ZX Spectrum • 1986 — Kung-Fu Master — Commodore 64 • 1986 — Infiltrator — Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum • 1986 — Leader Board — Commodore 64/128, Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple II, MS-DOS, Mac, Master System, Game Gear, Genesis/Mega Drive, Acorn Archimedes • 1987 — California Games — Apple II, Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II GS, Atari 2600, Lynx, Atari ST, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, Sega Genesis, Master System, ZX Spectrum • 1987 — Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum • 1987 — Tower Toppler — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS • 1987 — Out Run — PC-88, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, PC Engine, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum • 1987 — RoadBlasters — Genesis, Lynx, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, NES • 1987 — Solomon's Key — Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, IBM PC, PC Engine • 1987 — Street Sports Basketball — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum • 1987 — Tag Team Wrestling — Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC • 1987 — Gauntlet II — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, NES, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — 1943: The Battle of Midway — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, FM Towns, MS-DOS, MSX2, PC-88, PC-98, Master System, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — Bionic Commando — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — Dive Bomber — Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — Last Duel — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — Vigilante — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — Thunder Blade — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, IBM PC, X68000, ZX Spectrum • 1988 — Techno Cop — Apple II, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Amiga • 1988 — Street Fighter — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum • 1989 — Strider — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC, X68000, ZX Spectrum • 1989 — U.N. Squadron — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum • 1989 — Tiger Road — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS • 1989 — Turbo Outrun — Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC • 1989 — Dragons of Flame — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, Famicom, MS-DOS, PC-9801, ZX Spectrum • 1989 — Beast Busters — Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST • 1989 — Crack Down — Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum • 1989 — Cyber Police ESWAT — Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 • 1989 — Forgotten Worlds — Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC • 1989 — Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, MS-DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, MSX, Genesis, Master System, NES, ZX Spectrum • 1990 — Line of Fire — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum • 1990 — Black Tiger — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum • 1990 — Bonanza Bros — Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC • 1990 — California Games II — Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Master System, SNES • 1990 — E-Motion — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum • 1990 — Mega Twins — Amiga, Atari ST • 1990 — Michael Jackson's Moonwalker — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum • 1990 — Murder! — Amiga, Amiga, Atari ST, DOS • 1990 — Strider II — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Gear, Master System, Genesis, ZX Spectrum • 1991 — Gauntlet III: The Final Quest — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum • 1991 — Alien Storm — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC • 1991 — Another World — Amiga, Atari ST • 1991 — Cruise for a Corpse — Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS • 1991 — James Pond 2 — Game Gear, Master System • 1991 — Mercs — Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 • 1991 — Out Run Europa — Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Gear, iOS, Master System, ZX Spectrum • 1991 — Final Fight — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC • 1991 — Shadow Dancer — Commodore 64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST • 1991 — Shadow Sorcerer — Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS • 1992 — Olympic Gold — Game Gear, Genesis, Master System • 1992 — Flashback — Amiga, Acorn Archimedes, Mega Drive/Genesis, MS-DOS, PC-98, SNES, Sega CD, FM Towns, 3DO, CD-i, Jaguar • 1992 — Championship Hockey — Master System, Game Gear • 1992 — Super Kick Off — Master System, Game Boy, Genesis, SNES • 1992 — Putty — Amiga, SNES, CD32 • 1993 — James Pond 3 — Game Gear, Super Nintendo Entertainment System • 1993 — Winter Olympics — Amiga, Genesis, Game Boy, SNES, Game Gear, MS-DOS, Master System • 1993 — Star Wars — Master System, Game Gear • 1994 — Road Rash — Master System, Game Gear • 1994 — The Incredible Hulk — SNES, Genesis, Master System, Game Gear • 1994 — Power Drive — Amiga, CD32, Game Gear, MS-DOS, Genesis, SNES • 1994 — World Cup Golf: Professional Edition — PlayStation, Sega Saturn, 3DO, CD-i, MS-DOS • 1994 — World Cup Golf: Hyatt Dorado Beach — 32X • 1994 — World Cup USA '94 — Genesis, Sega CD, SNES, Master System, MS-DOS, Amiga, Game Gear, Game Boy • 1994 — Dominus — MS-DOS • 1994 — Hurricanes — SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Gear • 1995 — Fever Pitch Soccer — SNES, Genesis, Jaguar • 1995 — Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings — Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System • 1995 — Mega Man — Game Gear • 1996 — Izzy's Adventure — Windows 95, Windows 3.1 • 1996 — Johnny Bazookatone — 3DO, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Saturn • 1996 — Olympic Soccer — PlayStation, Sega Saturn, DOS, 3DO • 1996 — Olympic Summer Games — PlayStation, 3DO • 1996 — Shellshock — PlayStation, Sega Saturn • 1996 — Duke Nukem 3D — MS-DOS
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which U.S. Gold was established or created on 1 January 1984. Gold was dissolved or ceased on 1 June 1996. Gold is recorded as video game publisher. Gold operates in video game industry. Gold is situated in United Kingdom. The identifiers under which U.S. Gold may be traced in institutional catalogues.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Wilkins, Chris. The Story Of U.S. Gold. Fusion Retro Books. 27. 2015. 9780993131530.
- 2.Newsfield Publications. US Gold's New Label is GO! (Literally). The Games Machine. 1. 14. October 1987.
- 3.Lacey, Eugene. Golden Joystick Awards 1988. Computer and Video Games. Future Publishing. 79. 39. May 1988.
- 4.Anthony Guter. Mastertronic Style. www.guter.org.
- 5.Ready Steady Go!. Computer & Video Games. 80 (June 1988). 84–5. 15 May 1988.
- 6.Newsfield. Capcom: A Captive Audience. The Games Machine. 19 (June 1989). 24–5. 18 May 1989.
- 7.Eidos proposes to take over Centregold. www.telecompaper.com. 29 March 1996.
- 8.Moss, Richard. "It felt like robbery": Tomb Raider and the fall of Core Design. arstechnica.com. 31 March 2015.
- 9.Anderson, Chris. On top of the US Goldmine. Zzap!64. Newsfield. 2. 46–48. June 1985.
- 10.Going Platinum. Crash. October 1985.
- 11.Tapper, BBC Micro.
- 12.U.S. Gold. [Advertisement] Introducing U.S. Gold. Your Computer (UK). May 1984.
- 13.Core Goes Central. CU Amiga. 21. December 1994.
- 14.CORE DESIGN VERKAUFT. Amiga Joker. December 1994.
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 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Publishers and printers
5,459 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- TwoMorrows PublishingOrganisation
- Tygodnik AngoraOrganisation
- Tyndale HouseOrganisation
- U. Ray and SonsOrganisation
- Ubiquity PressOrganisation
- UCLouvainOrganisation
- Udayana UniversityOrganisation
- UeberreuterOrganisation
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