Beyond Software was a video game publisher

Video game publisher

A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....

 in the UK in the 1980s. It was set up by the EMAP

EMAP

Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...

 publishing group in 1983 and published numerous titles on the Commodore 64

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

, Dragon 32, ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...

 and Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...

, but met with very little success until the release of Mike Singleton's

Mike Singleton

Mike Singleton is a British author and video game developer who wrote various well-regarded titles for the ZX Spectrum during the 1980s. His titles include The Lords of Midnight, Doomdark's Revenge, Throne of Fire, Dark Sceptre and War In Middle Earth. He also wrote a novel, The Eternal Empire,...

 Lords of Midnight in 1984. The Tolkien-esque strategy game became an instant success and allowed Beyond to establish a distribution deal with American developers First Star, as well as a publishing deal with C64 developer Denton Designs

Denton Designs

Denton Designs was a British video games developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer...

.

After being acquired by Telecomsoft

Telecomsoft

Telecomsoft was the computer software division of British telecommunications company British Telecom . It was the owner of the well-known Firebird and Rainbird labels, under which it sold video games at a variety of price-points....

 in late 1985 for a six figure sum, Beyond continued to operate as a unique label, mostly releasing games that had already been in development for some time, as well as a number of conversions of existing titles. Telecomsoft did very little with the Beyond label beyond these releases. A number of high profile titles, such as Star Trek: The Rebel Universe

Star Trek: The Rebel Universe

Star Trek: The Rebel Universe is an action-adventure computer game written by Firebird Software and published by Simon & Schuster Interactive...

ended up on the Firebird label, while a highly anticipated Mike Singleton project, Eye of the Moon, failed to materialise.

Games

Title	Developer	Genre	Released for	Year	Format
Goodness Gracious	Paul Jay	Arcade	Commodore 64 Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...	1983	Tape
Kriegspiel	Ron Potkin	Strategy	Dragon 32	1983	Tape
Space Station Zebra	Pat W. Norris	Arcade	Sinclair ZX Spectrum	1983	Tape
Up Periscope	Ron Potkin	Strategy	Dragon 32	1983	Tape
Ankh	Datamost Inc.	Puzzle	Commodore 64	1984	Tape
Aztec	Datamost Inc.	Arcade	Commodore 64	1984	Tape
Lords of Midnight	Mike Singleton Mike Singleton Mike Singleton is a British author and video game developer who wrote various well-regarded titles for the ZX Spectrum during the 1980s. His titles include The Lords of Midnight, Doomdark's Revenge, Throne of Fire, Dark Sceptre and War In Middle Earth. He also wrote a novel, The Eternal Empire,...	Graphic Adventure	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...	1984	Tape, Disk
Mr. Robot	Datamost Inc.	Arcade	Commodore 64	1984	Tape
My Chess II	Datamost Inc.	Board Game	Commodore 64	1984	Tape, Disk
Psytron	Psy-Sci	Tactical Combat	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64	1984	Tape
Spellbound	Pat W. Norris	Arcade	Sinclair ZX Spectrum	1984	Tape
Spy vs. Spy	First Star Software First Star Software First Star Software, Inc. is a computer game development, publishing and licensing company, founded by Richard Spitalny and Fernando Herrera in 1982. It is best known for its classic Boulder Dash franchise and Spy vs. Spy titles, originally written for 8-bit home computers like the Apple II, Atari...	Arcade	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC	1984	Tape
Bounces Bounces Bounces is a 1985 sports/fighting game released for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum.Points are scored by catching and throwing the bouncing ball into a goal, or by knocking the opponent out with the ball or hand-to-hand combat. Each contestant is hampered by being attached to the wall by a length...	Denton Designs Denton Designs Denton Designs was a British video games developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer...	Arcade	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64	1985	Tape
Doomdark's Revenge Doomdark's Revenge Doomdark's Revenge is the sequel to the seminal ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC game The Lords of Midnight by Mike Singleton. It has similar game mechanics to Lords, but adds more detail and complexity with the number of characters and locations increased.-Background:After Doomdark's...	Mike Singleton	Graphic Adventure	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC	1985	Tape
Psi Warrior	Psy-Sci	Arcade	Commodore 64	1985	Tape
Shadowfire Shadowfire (video game) Shadowfire is a computer game for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, published by Beyond. It is notable as one of the first games to use a menu-and-icon-driven interface. It was followed by a sequel, Enigma Force, in 1986.-Plot:...	Denton Designs	Tactical Combat	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC	1985	Tape
Shadowfire Tuner	Denton Designs	Game Editor	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64	1985	Tape
Sorderon's Shadow	Nick Eatock, Simon Welland	Graphic Adventure	Sinclair ZX Spectrum	1985	Tape
Quake Minus One Quake Minus One Quake Minus One is a real-time strategy game published for the Commodore 64 by Monolith/Beyond in 1985 and was written by Warren Foulkes and Mike Singleton.-Premise:...	Mike Singleton, Warren Foulkes	RTS	Commodore 64	1985	Tape
Superman: The Game Superman: The Game Superman: The Game is a 1985 game designed by Fernando Herrera and first published in the US by First Star Software for the Commodore 64. The title was ported to a number of other home computers in Europe.-Gameplay:...	First Star Software	Arcade/Strategy	Commodore 64	1985	Tape
Enigma Force	Denton Designs	Tactical Combat	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64	1986	Tape
Dante's Inferno	Denton Designs	Arcade Adventure	Commodore 64	1986	Tape
Infodroid	Denton Designs	Arcade	Commodore 64	1986	Tape
Romper Room		Educational	Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64	1986	Tape

External links

• Beyond Software (UK) at Moby Games