Big Red Software

Big Red Software, also known as The Big Red Software Company Ltd, was a computer game developer set up in the UK in 1988 by Paul Ranson. It was bought out by, and merged with, Eidos Plc in 1995 along with Simis and Domark forming Eidos Interactive.

In 1997, Paul Ranson resigned and the company changed its name to Corrosive Software. It continued to develop and complete an RTS project for Eidos called Assault Corps - this project was never released. The company was disbanded by its owner Eidos soon thereafter. Many of the survivors of Big Red were mopped up by Blitz Games - a company with whom they were intimately familiar, having worked closely alongside them at Codemasters.

Big Red had a string of titles for the home computer game market from 1988 to 1995, mainly focusing on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC and later the IBM compatible PC market.

Key Staff

 * Garry Hughes
 * Pete Ranson
 * Fred Williams
 * John Cartwright
 * Keith Stuart
 * Lyndon Homewood
 * Chris Swan
 * Gez Gourley
 * Paul Jennings

Softography

 * Double Dragon 2 - Virgin - (ZX Spectrum)
 * European Superleague - CDL - (Amiga)
 * New York Warriors - Virgin - (ZX Spectrum)
 * Raster Runner - Mastertronic (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Kamikazi - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum)
 * Wacky Darts - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Atari ST)
 * Magicland Dizzy - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Grell and Falla - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC / Commodore 64)
 * Fun School 3 - Europress (Ams CPC / IBM-PC)
 * Fun School 4 - Europress (Ams CPC / IBM-PC)
 * Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Ams CPC)
 * Panic Dizzy - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Steg the Slug - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Seymour Goes to Hollywood - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Ams CPC)
 * CJ's Elephant Antics - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC / Game Gear)
 * CJ's in the USA - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Supa Seymour saves the Planet - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Ams CPC)
 * Sergeant Seymour Robotcop - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Spellbound Dizzy - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Wild West Seymour - Codemasters (ZX Spectrum / Amstrad CPC)
 * Micro Machines - Codemasters (IBM - PC / Game Boy)
 * Tank Commander - Domark (IBM - PC)
 * Big Red Racing - Domark/Eidos(IBM - PC)

Additional Information / Trivia

 * They did NOT develop the Big Red Adventure.
 * Reputably tested and did the write ups for the Game Genie cheat codes
 * Paul Ranson was Development Director at Codemasters whilst simultaneously managing Big Red.
 * The samples heard in Big Red Racing were outtakes from the voice over artists fooling around between takes - the team preferred this stuff for its anarchic nature and opted to use that instead.