| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1983; 42 years ago (1983) |
| Founder | Jim Mackonochie |
| Defunct | 1992 (1992) |
| Fate | Administration |
| Parent | Mirror Group Newspapers |
Mirrorsoft was a Britishvideo game publisher founded byJim Mackonochie as a division ofMirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992.
In the early 1980s,Jim Mackonochie worked as development manager for British communications companyMirror Group Newspapers.[1] On a trip to the U.S., Mackonochie got a hold of aCommodore PET personal computer, alongside a copy ofVisiCalc, aspreadsheet application for the system.[1] This combination led him to believe that Mirror, as a communications company, should be working more closely with computer software, wherefore he approached Mirror'sboard of directors in 1983, suggesting that they launch a software label under Mirror Group's name, and thereby diversifying the group's non-newspaper operations, which already included Mirror Boats and Mirror Books.[1] The division, named Mirrorsoft, was officially launched in late 1983, and Mackonochie was allowed to task several of his staff from his department at Mirror Group to aid him with establishing the division.[1]
In July 1984, Mirror Group was acquired byRobert Maxwell-ownedMaxwell Communications.[1] Initially, Mirrorsoft was unaffected by the ownership change, until Mackonochie received a call from Maxwell's son,Kevin, onBoxing Day 1984, in which he was told that he would be permanently moved from development manager of Mirror Group to full-timemanaging director of Mirrorsoft.[1]
In 1986, Mirrorsoft released adesktop publishing program,Fleet Street Publisher, forAtari ST.
On 5 November 1991, Robert Maxwell died after having previously disappeared from his yacht.[1] Unaware of his fate, Mirrorsoft continued operations as usual, including the publishing ofFirst Samurai,Mega-Lo-Mania andTeenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Coin-Op through Image Works and good projections for Christmas sales,[1] but subsequent to Maxwell's death, Maxwell Communications declared bankruptcy in 1992.Arthur Andersen was appointedadministrator for Maxwell's companies, including Mirrorsoft, near the end of November.[1] With the arrival of the administrators, they took over all day-to-day operations at the company, and shut down all Mirrorsoft sales, the division's only source of revenue.[1] Several visits from potential buyers, includingInfogrames andMicroProse, were arranged hastily, and amanagement buyout was considered, but the easiest option was found to be closing the company down and selling off its assets.[1] The majority of Mirrorsoft's staff was laid off onNew Year's Eve 1991, with a remaining few being kept for further 1–2 months to help with winding down the company.[1] Several business assets were subsequently sold toAcclaim Entertainment.[1][2]
After the decline of Acclaim in 2004,Throwback Entertainment purchased some of Acclaim's catalogue,[3] and in 2020, Throwback Entertainment relaunched Mirrorsoft as MIRROR Soft, releasing back catalogue titles.
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