Virgin Interactive Entertainment

For the Japanese company, see Virgin Interactive Entertainment (United States).For the identically-named American side of Virgin Interactive, see Virgin Interactive Entertainment (Japan).

Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Division of Virgin Group

Founded: 1983^[1]

Defunct: 2005

T-series code: T-70

Merged into: Titus (2001)

338a Ladbroke Grove, London, W10 5AH England, United Kingdom

Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Ltd. (VIE), formerly known as Virgin Games, Ltd. and later Virgin Mastertronic Ltd. and Avalon Interactive, was the English video game development and publishing arm of the Virgin Group. Founded in London, England in 1983, the company initially focused on releasing titles for home computer systems such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. Following Virgin's acquisition of budget publisher Mastertronic in 1988, the merged company became Virgin Mastertronic Ltd. and secured exclusive rights to distribute Sega Master System and later Mega Drive hardware and software across Europe.

In 1991, Sega acquired Virgin Mastertronic's distribution business to form Sega Europe, while the remaining development and publishing arm reverted to the name Virgin Games, Ltd. Two years later, the company rebranded as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Ltd. to reflect its expanding focus on console and PC publishing. During this period it released and published a range of notable titles, including European versions of Capcom games, and opened up a successful American development division known for hits like Disney's Aladdin.

In 1998, a management buyout led by Tim Chaney separated the UK branch from its American counterpart, which had been acquired by Electronic Arts. Virgin Interactive Entertainment was later acquired by Titus through Interplay in 1999, with the Virgin Interactive brand was phased out in 2003 when the company was rebranded as Avalon Interactive, which was later closed after Titus Interactive filed from bankrupcy.

History

Like many British video game companies of the day, Virgin Games initially developed and published video games for home computer platforms, such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. In 1987, Virgin Games bought a minority stake in budget label cash-strapped Mastertronic, as Virgin Games wanted to be in the budget computer games business^[1]. Mastertronic, set to be the official distributor of the Sega Master System in the UK, suffered a setback after Sega delivered the first order of consoles too late, leading to Virgin Games acquiring the company in full later in the year, creating Virgin Mastertronic, Ltd. in the process^[1].

Virgin Mastertronic, essentially given free reign over Sega's products after they left Japan, was extremely successful at marketing the Master System in the region. It took over distribution in France and Germany in mid-1988, with Spain to follow in 1990^[1]. In mid-1989 they tied up a five-year extension for their European Sega Master System distribution rights, also adding the Sega Mega Drive rights, which they would eventually release in 1990. The deal was said to be worth £100 million^[2]^[3], and included over one million units of hardware and seven million units of software^[4] until 1994, figures that they would sail through by just the end of 1990. In 1990 Sega appointed Virgin as a third-party publisher^[5].

Seeing its success, Sega acquired the publishing arm of Virgin Mastertronic in 1991, turning it into Sega Europe^[6]^[1]. The development arm, which Sega was not interested in, returned to its original name as Virgin Games. Over the next few years, Virgin Games would see a string of successes, the most notable of which being the hand-animated Disney's Aladdin which redefined computer animation in games. Virgin Interactive would transition more towards a publishing and distribution company in the years which followed, acquiring the distribution rights for Capcom titles in Europe in late 1995^[7].

The British studio operations were acquired in a management buyout led by former Managing Director Tim Chaney in 1998, while the U.S. operations were sold to Electronic Arts as part of its acquisition of Westwood Studios that same year. French publisher Titus Software acquired a majority interest in Interplay in 1999^[8], which at this time owned 50% of Virgin Interactive. Titus would acquire most of the remaining shares in October 1999, absorbing the company completely by 2001^[8]. A management buy-out of the Spanish arm of Virgin Interactive in June 2002 led to the short-lived Virgin Play^[8], while the rest of the company would be renamed Avalon Interactive on July 1, 2003.

Virgin Interactive Entertainment

From Sega Retro

Contents

History

Softography

Book

Compact Cassette

Magazine articles

Promotional material

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References