Denton Designs was a British video game developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the ZX Spectrum home computer. Amongst the founders were developers who had worked on the unfinished "Mega game" Bandersnatch for Imagine Software.
History Denton Designs was founded in September 1984 by six former Imagine staff: Steve Cain, Ian Weatherburn, Ally Noble, John Gibson, Karen Davies and Graham "Kenny" Everett.
The company was initially funded by Ocean Software who published their first games, Gift from the Gods for the ZX Spectrum, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
While developing Shadowfire, which was published by Beyond Software to critical acclaim, Ian Weatherburn became disillusioned with the fact that the company was no longer operating as it had when they had been part of Imagine and was sacked by the rest of the directors. He subsequently joined Ocean.
In March 1986, the company split, with founders Cain, Davies, Everett and Gibson leaving. Of the original founders, only Ally Noble remained. Of other members, Steve Cain and Ian Weatherburn formed Canvas Software, Everett worked for Firebird, and John Gibson worked as a freelancer, and some employees later formed the developer Frames.
In December 1995, Denton Designs was acquired by Rage Software.
Games developed
Year Title Platform(s) Publisher 1984 Gift from the Gods ZX Spectrum Ocean 1985 Frankie Goes to Hollywood Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Ocean Roland's Rat Race Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Ocean Shadowfire Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Beyond Software Enigma Force Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Beyond Software The Transformers Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Ocean 1986 Cosmic Wartoad ZX Spectrum Ocean Dante's Inferno Commodore 64 Beyond Software Bounces Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Beyond Software The Great Escape Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum Ocean Infodroid Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 Beyond Software 1987 Double Take Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Ocean Eco Amiga, Atari ST Ocean Flashpoint Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Ocean Madballs Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Ocean Mutants Ocean 1988 Where Time Stood Still Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum Ocean Foxx Fights Back Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Image Works 1989 Eye of Horus Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS Logotron 1990 Troll Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Kixx 1991 World Class Rugby Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum Audiogenic Wreckers Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS Audiogenic 1992 World Class Rugby: Five Nations Edition Audiogenic 1993 Batman Returns Amiga Konami Krusty's Fun House Game Boy, MS-DOS Virgin Interactive 1994 Soccer Game Boy Rage Software Wembley Rugby League Amiga, MS-DOS Audiogenic
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