Jump to content

Mindscape (company)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Mindscape International)

Mindscape
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedOctober 1983; 41 years ago (1983-10) in Northbrook, Illinois, US
FounderRoger Buoy
DefunctAugust 10, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-08-10)
FateDissolved
Headquarters,
France
Parent

Mindscape was a video game developer and publisher. The company was founded by Roger Buoy in October 1983 in Northbrook, Illinois, originally as part of SFN Companies until a management buyout was completed in 1987. Mindscape went public in 1988 and was acquired in 1990 by The Software Toolworks, eyeing Mindscape's Nintendo license. When Toolworks was acquired by Pearson plc in 1994, Mindscape became the primary identity for the development group. Mindscape was then sold to The Learning Company in 1998 and bought out by Jean-Pierre Nordman in 2001, becoming headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Following the poor performance of its products, Mindscape exited the video game industry in August 2011. Notable titles released by Mindscape include the MacVenture series, Balance of Power, Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight, Legend, Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat, Warhammer: Dark Omen and Lego Island.

History

[edit]

Early years (1983–1988)

[edit]

Mindscape was founded in October 1983 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company SFN Companies.[1][2] Mindscape's founder, the Australian entrepreneur Roger Buoy, had previously been a computer analyst for Rolls-Royce and later worked for the software division of Scholastic Inc. before being hired by SFN.[3][2] Buoy acted as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mindscape, and the company released its first product in April 1984.[2] Early games include Déjà Vu, Balance of Power, and Sub Mission: A Matter of Life and Death.[3][4][5] In its early years, Mindscape lost about US$6 million annually.[6]

In July 1986, Mindscape acquired the assets of Scarborough Systems, a software company from Tarrytown, New York.[7] Scarborough Systems continued its operations through Lifeboat Associates, a subsidiary that was not acquired by Mindscape.[8] In October, SFN announced that it would be selling or closing large parts of its business, including plans to liquidate Mindscape.[9] On December 31, Mindscape bought the assets of Roslyn, New York-based company Learning Well.[7] Since Mindscape was not liquidated by the end of 1986, it was assigned to SFN Partners L.P., a limited partnership company.[7] A new corporation set up by Buoy and SFN's former president and chairman, John Purcell, subsequently acquired Mindscape from SFN Partners on January 16, 1987, for $3 million.[7][10] Buoy retained his positions in the company, while Purcell became its chairman.[7] Around this time, Mindscape had 74 employees.[7]

With sales of $12 million, Mindscape was profitable for the first time in the fourth quarter of 1986; it started publishing black numbers by 1987.[7][10] In early 1987, Mindscape introduced the Thunder Mountain label to produce software at a lower price, with Rambo: First Blood Part II being its first release.[11] In March 1987, Mindscape acquired the software division of Holt, Rinehart and Winston formerly known as CBS Interactive Learning, with all operations transferred to Mindscape's Northbrook, Illinois, headquarters.[1] By June 1988, Mindscape filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to prepare an initial public offering (IPO) and become a public company.[10] The move aimed at raising $9.6 million through sale of stock to reduce bank loan debts of $9.8 million.[10] The IPO was completed later that month, with the company beginning trading over-the-counter, and the first shares were issued by July.[12][13] Bob Ingersoll and Dennis O'Malley were appointed vice president (VP) of marketing and VP of sales, respectively, in May 1987.[14] In November, Mindscape signed a lease of 21,000 square feet (2,000 m2) of office space in Wheeling, Illinois, for $236,000.[15] Robert A. Drell, formerly of Dresher Inc., became VP of finance and chief financial officer in October 1988.[16]

Under The Software Toolworks and Pearson (1989–1997)

[edit]

In December 1989, the video game company The Software Toolworks reached an agreement to acquire Mindscape, exchanging every Mindscape share for 0.4375 shares in newly issued Toolworks common stock.[17] The deal was completed on March 13, 1990, and valued at $21.2 million.[18][19] Mindscape had been one of the approximately forty companies licensed to develop for Nintendo video game platforms, which was a major driver of the acquisition.[18][19][20] The two companies merged, and Buoy joined Les Crane on Toolworks's board of directors.[21] Following the acquisition, Mindscape became Toolworks's division working exclusively on games for Nintendo platforms, which sharply increased Toolworks's earnings.[18][19][22] Subsequently, in March 1994, Pearson plc agreed to acquire Toolworks for $462 million, with the deal closing on May 12, 1994.[23][24]

Pearson was criticized for overpaying in the acquisition, and the acquired company lost $69 million within its first few years under the new ownership.[25][26] By November 1994, the Toolworks name was discontinued in favor of the Mindscape brand.[27] The same year, Mindscape acquired the video game developer Strategic Simulations.[28] In September 1995, it acquired Micrologic Software of Emeryville, California, to undisclosed terms.[29] In January 1996, John F. Moore became CEO after leaving the same position at Western Publishing.[30] In November, Mindscape laid off twelve developed staff as a cost reduction measure.[31] In 1997, Mindscape acquired software company Multimedia Design.[32] In 1997, the final year under Pearson, Mindscape became profitable again, earning $2.7 million.[33] One day prior to the release of Lego Island that year, Mindscape fired all of the development team which worked on the game to avoid paying them any bonuses.[34]

Under The Learning Company and later years (1998–2011)

[edit]

Pearson proceeded to sell Mindscape to The Learning Company (TLC) in March 1998 for $150 million in cash and stock.[35] A waiting period was temporarily imposed by the Federal Trade Commission and subsequently terminated the same month.[36] TLC expected that its stocks would rise $0.05 per share as a result of the acquisition, while Pearson lost around $347 million.[33][37] Later that year, when TLC integrated its Broderbund division, Mindscape took over Broderbund's productivity, reference and entertainment brands.[38] The company's Mindscape unit would acquire Petz developer PF.Magic in 1998.[39] TLC would be eventually acquired by Mattel in May 1999 and became a subsidiary of the company's Mattel Media division, later renamed Mattel Interactive.[40] By then, Mattel occasionally used the Mindscape name for publishing.

TLC and Mattel Interactive's gaming assets were acquired by Gores Technology Group in 2000 and its game brands were reformed under a new entity, Game Studios, in January 2001.[41] The same year, former TLC-Edusoft executive Jean-Pierre Nordman bought out Mindscape from TLC, installing it as a separate entity in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb of Paris, France, and assuming a managerial role.[3][42]

In October 2005, French video game developer and publisher Coktel Vision was sold to Mindscape, wherein eleven Coktel employees were absorbed into Mindscape.[43] The Coktel brand name, however, was retained by Mindscape for many years afterwards; its history officially ended in 2011 when Mindscape closed.[44]

By December 2009, Thierry Bensoussan had become the managing director for Mindscape.[45] The company opened an internal development studio, Punchers Impact, in Paris to develop multi-platform digital download games.[45] The studio's managers, Guillaume Descamps and Jérôme Amouyal, left the studio less than a year later, in September 2010, to found a new studio, Birdies Road.[46] Punchers Impact developed two games—Crasher, a racing game, and U-Sing, a music game. U-Sing performed well at retail, but the cost of music licenses for the game had a severe impact on its revenue, while Crasher underperformed in general.[47][48] As a result, Mindscape announced on August 10, 2011, that it had closed Punchers Impact and laid off its forty employees, while itself would effectively exit the video game industry.[49] Some regional subsidiaries, such as Mindscape Asia-Pacific in Sydney, Australia, continued operating in the video game business as entities independent from Mindscape.[50]

Software developed and/or published

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Winter, Christine (March 13, 1987). "MINDSCAPE TO BUY SOFTWARE GROUP". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Winter, Christine (December 2, 1985). "MINDSCAPE". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Cifaldi, Frank (August 10, 2011). "Report: Mindscape Leaves Video Game Industry After Nearly 30 Years". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  4. ^ Aaron, David (December 28, 1985). "PLAYING WITH APOCALYPSE". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  5. ^ Bertoli, Ben (October 10, 2016). "The self-destructing game of 1986". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  6. ^ Storch, Charles (January 31, 1985). "N COS. SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE LEVERAGED BUYOUT". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Winter, Christine (January 19, 1987). "NORTHBROOK SOFTWARE COMPANY BOUGHT BY NEW CORPORATION". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  8. ^ "MINDSCAPE BUYS SCARBOROUGH". Chicago Tribune. July 28, 1986. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  9. ^ Storch, Charles (October 15, 1986). "SFN SELLING TEXTBOOK FIRMS". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d Winter, Christine (June 7, 1988). "$9.6 MILLION STOCK SALE PLANNED BY MINDSCAPE". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  11. ^ "New Mindscape Division". Computer Entertainer. January 1987. p. 6.
  12. ^ "MINDSCAPE OFFERS STOCK". Chicago Tribune. June 24, 1988. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  13. ^ Rudd, David C. (December 6, 1986). "TOOLWORKS TO BUY MINDSCAPE". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  14. ^ Lazarus, George (May 14, 1987). "MORE BRITONS ON MADISON AVE". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  15. ^ "ZURICH-AMERICAN ADDS TO HQ". Chicago Tribune. November 22, 1987. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  16. ^ "DRESHER OFFICER NAMED VP AT MINDSCAPE". Chicago Tribune. October 27, 1988. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  17. ^ "COMPANY BRIEFS". The New York Times. December 6, 1989. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  18. ^ a b c Federal Securities Law Reporter: Federal Regulation of Securities : Laws, Regulations, Forms, Rulings and Decisions Currently Supplemented and Indexed. Commerce Clearing House. 1940. p. 351. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  19. ^ a b c Merger Yearbook: Domestic. Securities Data Company. 1991. p. 327.
  20. ^ Cuff, Daniel F. (April 13, 1990). "BUSINESS PEOPLE; New President Named At Software Toolworks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  21. ^ "Software Toolworks Acquires Mindscape". Computer Gaming World. No. 67. January 1990. p. 64. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  22. ^ Gould, Carole (July 1, 1990). "Mutual Funds; When Small Is Beautiful". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  23. ^ Lohr, Steve (April 1, 1994). "Pearson Enters Multimedia Software Arena". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  24. ^ Bloomberg News (May 13, 1994). "Pearson Completes Deal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  25. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine; Myerson, Allen R. (May 18, 1998). "SIMON & SCHUSTER IN SALE TO BRITISH". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  26. ^ "INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS;Pearson Says Mindscape Will Have Loss in 1996". The New York Times. May 4, 1996. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  27. ^ "TOP OF MIND". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 46. Nielsen Business Media. November 12, 1994. p. 90. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  28. ^ Nutt, Christian (December 16, 2013). "Strategic Simulations, Inc. founder donates company collection to ICHEG". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  29. ^ "COMPANY BRIEFS". The New York Times. September 8, 1995. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  30. ^ "Western Publishing CEO leaves: John F. Moore,..." Chicago Tribune. January 26, 1996. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  31. ^ "Layoffs Hit Mindscape". GamePro. No. 101. IDG. February 1997. pp. 26–27.
  32. ^ Tannenbaum, Fred (August 20, 2007). "Tech firm is taking new product to market for free". The Business Journals. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  33. ^ a b Buerkle, Tom (March 7, 1998). "Pearson Sells Mindscape, Taking Big Loss". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  34. ^ "Lego Island studio Mindscape fired staff to avoid paying bonuses". Eurogamer.net. January 4, 2021.
  35. ^ Dow Jones (March 7, 1998). "COMPANY NEWS; LEARNING COMPANY SETS DEAL FOR MINDSCAPE". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  36. ^ "The Learning Co. moves forward with Mindscape buy". The Business Journals. March 25, 1998. Archived from the original on September 28, 2002. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  37. ^ "Pearson loses Mindscape". CNNMoney. March 6, 1998. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  38. ^ "Learning Co. cuts 500 jobs". CNNMoney. September 11, 1998. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  39. ^ "Learning Co. to acquire PF.Magic". CNET. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  40. ^ "Mattel/The Learning Co. In $3.8B merger". ZDNet. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  41. ^ Schofield, Jack (January 18, 2001). "Games watch". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  42. ^ "Mindscape ou l'objet intelligent à votre service" [Mindscape or the smart object at your service] (PDF). Boulogne-Billancourt (in French). October 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  43. ^ Poischich (October 21, 2005). "VU Games cède Coktel à Mindscape" [VU Games sells Coktel to Mindscape]. Gamekult (in French). Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  44. ^ Crookes, David (December 28, 2018). "From the Archives: Coktel Vision". Retro Gamer. No. 189. Future Publishing. pp. 44–47.
  45. ^ a b Martin, Matt (December 1, 2009). "Mindscape opens new digital studio Punchers Impact". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  46. ^ Pearson, Dan (September 17, 2010). "Punchers Impact bosses found new studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  47. ^ Weber, Rachel (August 11, 2011). "Publisher Mindscape exits industry, 40 jobs lost". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  48. ^ Nunneley, Stephany (August 10, 2011). "Publisher Mindscape moving out of game sector, 40 jobs reported lost". VG247. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  49. ^ MCV Staff (August 10, 2011). "40 jobs gone as Mindscape quits games". MCV. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  50. ^ MCV Staff (August 12, 2011). "Mindscape Asia-Pacific unaffected by French withdrawal from games". MCV. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  51. ^ Donner, Gregory (March 29, 2022). "Workbench Nostalgia: The history of the AmigaOS Graphic User Interface (GUI): Release 1.1". Workbench Nostalgia. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  52. ^ "Beaming UP". The Herald Statesman. June 26, 1989. p. 21. Retrieved August 22, 2021.Closed access icon(Subscription required.)
  53. ^ Warwick, Paul; Wilson, Elaine; Winterbottom, Mark (August 1, 2006). Teaching And Learning Primary Science With Ict. McGraw-Hill Education. p. 97. ISBN 9780335218943. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  54. ^ "Presage Products - Contraption Zack". presage.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 1997. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  55. ^ Kee, Jay (March 1994). "Darth Vader vs. The Terminator". Computer Gaming World. No. 116. pp. 90–94. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  56. ^ "CyberSpeed". Next Generation. No. 18. Imagine Media. June 1996. p. 122.
[edit]