Notable Dates in UK Games Industry History

1950s

1952

• OXO (or Noughts and Crosses) was developed by A.S Douglas for the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), one of the first games developed in the early history of video games.

1957

• 14th October - The British Computer Society (now known as BCS, The Chartered Institute for I.T.) is founded promote the study, practice and advance the knowledge of computing.

1960s

1961

• 25th July - Clive Sinclair founds Sinclair Radionics in Cambridge, developing hi-fi products, radios, calculators and scientific instruments, a precursor to his computer company Sinclair Research.

1970s

1975

• 1st April - The Magnavox Odyssey, the first video game console, is released in the UK.

1980s

1980

• 29th January - The Sinclair ZX80 personal computer was launched by Sinclair Research Ltd of Cambridge.

1981

• 5th March - The ZX81, Sinclair Research's pioneering British home computer, was released.

• May - The Commodore VIC-20 is released in the US and Europe.

• 1st December - The BBC Micro, designed and built by the Acorn Computer company for the BBC, is released.

1982

• January - The Commodore 64 is launched worldwide.

• 23rd April - The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is released by Sinclair Computers.

1983

• 1st August - Manic Miner, developed by Matthew Smith, was released by Bug-Byte for the ZX Spectrum.

1984

• July - Ubisoft Reflections is founded in Newcastle,

• 20th September - Elite, the space trading game written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell, is published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers.

1985

• April - Rare Limited is founded in Twycross, Leicestershire and would go on to have a long history of critically acclaimed and globally successful titles, including Battletoads, Goldeneye 007, Donkey Kong Country and Sea of Thieves.

• June - Atari release the Atari 520ST, the first of their successful ST series of home computers.

• 23rd June - Commodore release the Amiga 1000, the first of the Amiga home computers.

1986

• January - Commodore launch their best-selling Amiga 500, the first low-end Commodore Amiga 16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer.

• 1st September - The Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as the NES, is released in the UK.

• October - Codemasters, one of the oldest active British game studios, founded by brothers Richard and David Darling.

1987

• 18th August - Creative Assembly, one of the largest studios in the UK and creators of the Total War franchise and Alien Isolation, is founded in Horsham, West Sussex by Tim Ansell.

1988

• 13th May - Core Design, developers of the original Tomb Raider titles, is founded in Derby by former employees of Gremlin Graphics.

1989

• March - Tim Berners-Lee lays out his vision for what would become the web in a document called “Information Management: A Proposal”.

• 6th September - Ukie, then known as ELSPA, is founded - the first trade association for the video games industry anywhere in the world.

• Traveller's Tales, best known as the developers of the LEGO games franchise, is founded in Knutsford, Cheshire.

1990s

1990

• September - The Nintendo Game Boy is released across Europe.

1991

1992

• April/June - The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as the SNES, is released in Europe.

1993

1994

1995

• 29th September - Sony Computer Entertainment release the first PlayStation console in Europe.

1996

• 25th October - Tomb Raider, the first game in the best-selling Tomb Raider franchise, is released worldwide by Eidos Interactive and UK developer Core Design. It would go on to sell over 7 million copies globally and and continues to be cited as one of the greatest video games ever made.

1997

• March - Nintendo's N64 console is released in Europe.

• 25th August - GoldenEye 007, developed for the N64 console by UK company Rare, is released.

1998

• 15th July - Codemasters release the hugely successful Colin McRae Rally for the PlayStation, which would go on to sell over 4 million units across all formats.

1999

• 27th March - The first of the massively successful Insomnia Gaming Festivals, Insomnia99, run by Multiplay, brings together a reported 300 PC gamers for the UK's then largest ever LAN party.

• 14th October - SEGA release their Dreamcast console across Europe, launching the "sixth generation" of game consoles.

2000s

2000

• November - Sony Computer Entertainment release the PlayStation 2 in Europe.

2001

• 8th March - The official launch of TIGA, The Independent Games Developers Assocation for the UK.

• June - Nintendo's Game Boy Advance is released in Europe.

• 22nd October - Rockstar Games release Grand Theft Auto III.

2002

• 14 March - Microsoft release the Xbox console in Europe.

• May - The Nintendo GameCube is released in Europe.

• 29th Oct 2002 - Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

• 11th December - Sony's SCE London Studio and Team Soho releases The Getaway for the PlayStation 2. The game is especially notable for its realistic re-creation of large areas of London.

2003

2004

• February - The first British Academy Games Awards takes place.

• 26th October - Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

• 13 December - Rocksteady Studios, creators of the Batman Arkham franchise, is founded in London.

2005

• March - Nintendo's handheld DS console is released in Europe.

• 2nd December - Microsoft release the Xbox 360 console in Europe.

2006

• 4th January - Media Molecule, creators of the LittleBigPlanet franchise, is founded in Guildford, Surrey.

• November / December - The Nintendo Wii is released in Europe.

2007

• 23rd March - Sony Computer Entertainment release the PlayStation 3 in Europe.

• 23rd June - Apple launch the iPhone worldwide.

2008

• 27th October - LittleBigPlanet is released for the PlayStation 3 by UK developer Media Molecule.

• 28th October - The first Eurogamer Expo, now known as EGX and the largest single games event in the UK, takes place at the Truman Brewery in London, attended by 4,000 people.

• November - Playground Games, developers of the Forza Horizon franchise, is founded in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

• November - The first Android-enabled smartphone, the T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream) is released in the UK.

2009

• 2009 was when game profits in UK exceeded those from film for the first time (source?)

• 25th August - Rocksteady Games release the much acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum worldwide.

2010s

2010

2011

• February / March - The Nintendo 3DS is released in Europe.

2012

• November / December - The Nintendo Wii U is released in Europe.

2013

• 17th September - Grand Theft Auto v is released by Rockstar Games and becomes the fasting-selling entertainment product in history, grossing over $1bn in three days. To date, it has sold over 100 million copies and is considered the most profitable entertainment product of all time.

• 22nd November - Microsoft release the Xbox One in Europe.

• 29th November - Sony Interactive Entertainment release the PlayStation 4 in Europe.

2014

• 30th January - The Chancellor, George Osborne, officially launches the video games tax relief (VGTR).

• 1st April - The Uk's video games tax relief officially comes into effect.

2015

2016

• 27th September - Playground Games releases Forza Horizon 3 worldwide and would go on to sell over 2.5 million copies.

2017

• 3rd March - The Nintendo Switch is released worldwide.

• 4rd April - The inaugural Digital Schoolhouse esports tournament culminates with the Grand Final at Gfinity's arena in London, the first immersive careers education event of its kind.

2018

• 18th October - Rockstar Games release Red Dead Redemption 2 for the Playstation 4, and experiences the largest opening weekend of any product in the history of entertainment, making over $725 million in revenue in three days. Within two weeks, it had shipped over 17 million copies, and increased to 23 million copies by February 2019.

2019

• 3rd January - The Entertainment Retailer's Association announces figures showing UK sales of games exceed the combined sales of music and film for the first time.