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. (Wikipedia)

1980s

1980

1981

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

1982

1983

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

1984

• 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. (Wikipedia)

1985

1986

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

1987

• The Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as the NES, is released in the UK. (Eurogamer)

1988

1989

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

1990s

1990

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

1991

1992

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

1993

1994

1995

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

1996

1997

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

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

1998

1999

2000s

2000

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

2001

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

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

• 22nd October - Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto III. (Wikipedia)

2002

• 12 March - Microsoft release the Xbox console in Europe (Wikipedia)

• May - The Nintendo GameCube is released in Europe. (Eurogamer)

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

2003

2004

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

2005

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

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

2006

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

2007

• 23rd March - Sony Computer Entertainment release the PlayStation 3 in Europe. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3 Wikipedia])

2008

2009

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

2010s

2010

2011

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

2012

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

2013

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

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

2014

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

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

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019