Epyx, Inc. was avideo game developer andvideo game publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded in 1978 asAutomated Simulations by Jim Connelley andJon Freeman, publishing a series of tactical combat games. The Epyx brand was introduced when the company branched out to a series of more action-oriented titles. In 1983, as these types of games now represented the majority of their product line, the company was renamed to match. Epyx published a long series of games through the 1980s. The company's assets are currently owned by Bridgestone Multimedia Group Global.
In 1977, Susan Lee-Merrow invited Jon Freeman to join aDungeons & Dragons game hosted by Jim Connelley and Jeff Johnson. Connelley later purchased aCommodore PET computer to help with the bookkeeping involved in being adungeon master, and he came up with the idea of writing a computer game for the machine before the end of the year so he could write it off on his taxes. Freeman had written on gaming for several publications, and he joined Connelley in the design of a new space-themed wargame. Starting work around August 1978, Freeman wrote the basic rules, mission sets, background stories and the manual, while Connelley coded up the system inPET BASIC.[1]
The two formed Automated Simulations around Thanksgiving 1978 to market the game, and released it in December asStarfleet Orion.[1] Examining contemporary magazines (Byte andCreative Computing) suggests this is the first commercial space-themed wargame for a personal computer.[a] As the game was written in BASIC, it was easy to port to otherhome computers of the era, starting with theTRS-80 and then theApple II, the latter featuring rudimentary graphics. They followed this game with 1979'sInvasion Orion, which included a computer opponent so as not to require two human players.[1]
The company's next release,Temple of Apshai, was very successful, selling over 20,000 copies.[2] As the game was not a "simulation" of anything, the company introduced the Epyxbrand name for these more action-oriented titles. Rated as the best computer game by practically every magazine of the era,Apshai was soon ported from the TRS-80 to additional systems, such as theAtari 8-bit computers andCommodore 64.Apshai spawned a number of similar adventure games based on the samegame engine, including two direct sequels, branded under theDunjonquest label. The games were so successful that they were later re-released in 1985 as theTemple of Apshai Trilogy.
Freeman became increasingly frustrated by Connelley's refusal to update the game engine. He left the company to startFree Fall Associates in 1981, leaving Connelley to lead what was now a large company.
A year later, Epyx was starting to have financial difficulties. Jim Connelley wanted and received money through venture capital, and the venture capitalists installed Michael Katz to manage the company. Connelley clashed with new management, left Epyx, and formed his own development team, The Connelley Group, with all of the programmers going with him, but continued to work under the Epyx umbrella.
With no programmers to develop any games in-house, Michael Katz needed to hire programmers to ensure a steady supply of games. Several venture capital owners involved in Epyx also had ownership of a company calledStarpath. While Starpath had several young programmers and hardware engineers, they were facing financial difficulties as well. Around this time, an independent submission to publish a game calledJumpman came through and was a big hit for Epyx. The success of Jumpman made Epyx a lot of money, so Michael Katz had the capital to create a merger between Epyx and Starpath, bringing Starpath's programmers and hardware engineers under the same company. Michael Katz left Epyx in 1984 after being hired away byAtari Corporation as their President of Entertainment Electronics Division (and later, became the President ofSega of America), and was replaced by Gilbert Freeman (no relation to Jon Freeman).
By 1983 Epyx discontinued its older games because,Jerry Pournelle reported, "its managers tell me that arcade games so outsell strategic games that it just isn't cost-effective to put programmer time on strategy."[3] By early 1984,InfoWorld estimated that Epyx was the world's 16th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $10 million in 1983 sales.[4] Many successful action games followed, including the hitsImpossible Mission and the sports gameSummer Games. The latter created a long run of successful sequels, includingSummer Games II,Winter Games,California Games, andWorld Games. The company produced games based on licenses ofHot Wheels,G.I. Joe, andBarbie. InEurope,U.S. Gold published Epyx games for theCommodore 64, and alsoported many of the games to other major European platforms such as theZX Spectrum andAmstrad CPC.
Starting in 1986, Epyx realized that the Commodore 64 was starting to show its age, and they needed to think about the future of the company. They hiredDave Morse to explore the next generation of consoles and computers and to learn about their strengths. David's son wanted his father to come up with a portable game system, so he had a meeting with former colleagues atAmiga Corporation,RJ Mical andDave Needle, to see if there was a way to design a portable gaming system. Internally, the handheld gaming system they were working on was called the Handy. Unable to continue due to high costs, it was sold toAtari Corporation which brought it to market in 1989 as theAtari Lynx.[5][6]
In 1987, Epyx faced an importantcopyright infringement lawsuit fromData East USA regarding Epyx's Commodore 64 video gameWorld Karate Championship. Data East thought the whole game, and particularly the depiction of the referee, looked too much like its 1984arcade gameKarate Champ. Data East won at theUS District Court level andJudge William Ingram ordered Epyx to recall all copies ofWorld Karate Championship. Epyx appealed the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who reversed the judgment and ruled in favor of Epyx, stating that copyright protection did not extend to the idea of a tournament karate game, but specific artistic choices not dictated by that idea. The Court noted that a "17.5 year-old boy" could see clear differences between the elements of each game actually subject to copyright.[7]
Epyx had become heavily dependent on the Commodore 64 market, which accounted for the bulk of its revenues most years, but by 1988 the C64 was an aging machine now in its sixth year and the focus of computer gaming was shifting to PC compatibles and 16-bit machines. Although the console market, dominated by theNintendo Entertainment System, was highly lucrative, Epyx objected toNintendo's strict rules and licensing policies and instead initiated a failed attempt to develop their own game console.
Epyx was unable to fulfill its contract with Atari to finish developing Lynx hardware and software, and the latter withheld payments that the former needed.[6] By the end of 1989, Epyx discontinued developing computer games, began making onlyconsole games,[8] and filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[9] According toStephen Landrum, a long-timegame programmer at Epyx, the company went bankrupt "because it never really understood why it had been successful in the past, and then decided to branch out in a lot of directions, all of which turned out to be failures."[10]
Epyx had shrunk from 145 employees in 1988 to fewer than 20 by the end of 1989. After emerging from bankruptcy the company resumed game development but only for the Lynx, with Atari acting as publisher.[6] In 1993, with eight employees left, they decided just to sell off the rest of the company.Bridgestone Media Group eventually acquired the rights the rest of Epyx's assets. Job offers were extended to the eight remaining employees, but onlyPeter Engelbrite accepted.
Also known asDeath Sword, afighting game, players fight gory combat against one another or for the sake of a bikini-clad princess. Controversy over the game's packaging in the UK stoked this game's success.
Also known as Fighter Pilot. Developed by Digital Integration Ltd. Game Program Designed by David K. Marshall; Adapted for the Commodore 64 by Darrel Dennies.
Published asThe Sacred Armour of Antiriad outside of North America and set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, a combinationactionpuzzle andplatform game; came with a 16-pagecomic book
An early spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft. Although the Multiplan article states it was distributed by Human Engineered Software for the Commodore 64, it was later distributed by Epyx.
Floppy disk utilities, including 1541 Head Alignment, File Recovery, Super-Fast Disk Format, Super-Fast File Backup, Super-Fast Disk Backups, Disk Drive Speed Check, and Vorpal* Save/Load.
An extension to the Commodore BASIC V2.0 programming language. It adds over 100 new commands to theBASIC language, providing an easy-to-useAPI to the relatively advanced (at the time) graphics and sound hardware capabilities of the Commodore 64.
A powerful disk drive loading accelerator, one of the most widely used peripherals for theCommodore 64, it also contained a number of other useful software tools
AnAtari compatiblejoystick that was innovative in that its base was molded to more naturally fit a player's hand, so it was easier to use than traditional rectangular-based joysticks. Variations were released that were compatible with the NES and Master System.
Ahandheld game console that was innovative in many ways. Short on capital at the time, however, Epyx licensed it to Atari, who christened it theAtari Lynx
