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)
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. (The Centre for Computing History
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. (The Centre for Computing History)
1970s
1980s
1980
- 29th January - The Sinclair ZX80 personal computer was launched by Sinclair Research Ltd of Cambridge . (The Centre for Computing History)
1981
- 5th March - The ZX81, Sinclair Research's pioneering British home computer, was released. (Wikipedia)
- 1st December - The BBC Micro, designed and built by the Acorn Computer company for the BBC, is released. (Wikipedia)
1982
- January - The Commodore 64 is launched worldwide. (Wikipedia)
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
- June - Atari release the Atari 520ST, the first of their successful ST series of home computers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST Wikipedia])
- 23rd June - Commodore release the Amiga 1000, the first of the Amiga computers. (Wikipedia)
1986
- January - Commodore launch their best-selling Amiga 500, the first low-end Commodore Amiga 16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer. (Wikipedia)
- 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
- 14 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])
- 23rd June - Apple launch the iPhone worldwide. (Wikipedia)
2008
- November - The first Android-enabled smartphone, the T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream) is released in the UK. (Wikipedia)
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
