Gremlin Interactive

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Full name: Gremlin Interactive Limited
Established: 1994
Closed: 1999
Reason: Acquired by Infogrames, rebranded Infogrames Sheffield

Born out of the rebranding of Gremlin Graphics, publisher of legendary 8-bit and latterly 16-bit titles, Gremlin Interactive continued the success of its former incarnation with its popular Actua range of sports titles and Premier Manager series.

In 1996 it acquired renowned Scottish development studio DMA Design, whose creations ran from old school shooters Manace and Blood Money to the unstoppable march of Lemmings games and ultimately, most interestingly, the rampaging Grand Theft Auto franchise. However, the acquisition did not include the rights to GTA, which DMA had already signed over to Bertelsmann.

At this time Gremlin was looking to float on the London Stock Exchange. It was not plain sailing, however. The company failed to raise its target of £12m, leaving it in a vulnerable position.

In 1999 Gremlin was itself acquired by French publisher Infogrames and immediately rebranded as Infogrames Sheffield. Gremlin's founder, Ian Stewart, always intended to continue at the helm of Infogrames Sheffield, but suffered a heart attack and was forced to step away.

Although Infogrames Sheffield was ultimately closed in 2003, the Gremlin name lived on in Stewart's later venture, Zoo Digital. The publisher re-release some of Gremlin's hits in budget form and used Gremlin as a label for Premier Manager releases in the mid-2000s

Software Highlights from Credited Titles

Gremlin Interactive's first work that SPOnG is aware of is the 1994 title, "Nigel Mansell's World Championship" (CD32).

The company has been involved titles released on the PC, PS2, GBA, PlayStation, Dreamcast, N64, Saturn, Jaguar, Sega Megadrive, SNES, Amiga, Amiga AGA and CD32.

The company's most recent involvement was on the 2004 release "Premier Manager 2004-2005" (GBA).

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