Kingsoft GmbH

The Kingsoft GmbH was founded in 1983 by Fritz Schaefer and was in the 1980s one of the most famous German gaming software companies. In addition to many game titles for VC -20, C -64 and Amiga Kingsoft was one of the few manufacturers of many programs for the Commodore 264 series ( C16, C116, Plus / 4 ) brought out.

Company History

The company's headquarters was located in Aachen. Kingsoft was both producer and distributor. Several games were on behalf of Kingsoft ported by freelance programmer from one system to another (for example from the Amiga to the C -64). A well-known application program that drove Kingsoft was, Turbo Tape for C16, C116, Plus / 4, C64. In addition to computer games Kingsoft also sold their own books such as The big plus / 4 Book ( 1986).

Kingsoft was purchased in February 1995 by Electronic Arts - at that time the company had 19 employees - and the beginning of 2000 fully integrated into the company.

Released Games

Kingsoft has published several hundred game titles. The most famous include:

• Grand Master Chess (1982 )
• Galaxy (1983 )
• Tom (1985 )
• Space Pilot 1 & 2 ( 1985)
• Bongo (1986 )
• Winter Olympics (1986 )
• Quiwi (1986 )
• Fortress Underground ( 1987)
• Summer Olympics (1986 )
• Pinball Wizard (1987 )
• Emerald Mine 1, 2 & 3 (1987 and 1988 respectively, a Boulder Dash clone for C -64 and Amiga)
• Gravity Force (1989 )
• Pot Panic ( 1991)
• Hagar the Horrible (1991/1992, a licensed product for the comic book series Hagar the Horrible )
• Locomotion (1992 )