Activision International 1986 - 1988

European Software Development Manager

Activision were the first third-party software publisher for Atari’s 2600 VCS, and grew to be very successful in publishing innovative software for popular home computer systems.

Their newly established European operation in London soon realized that product localization was important to increase local sales, and then, that they would need to find and publish product specifically to suit local tastes; American home computer software frequently differed to successful products from European publishers, not least because the USA was a 5.25-inch diskette market, while in Europe the cassette was the popular, low cost media of choice.

My role was to establish and run the "Software Studios" from scratch. It was here that I really discovered how much I enjoyed being ‘hands-on’ in all aspects of the business, and would get involved with everything from signing developers through game design to product testing. The role was based in two locations - London and Southampton, and we worked exclusively with 3rd party developers.