Notable Dates in UK Games Industry History
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
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
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000s
2000
2001
- 8th March - The official launch of TIGA, The Independent Games Developers Assocation for the UK (Eurogamer)
- 22nd October - Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto III. (Wikipedia)
2002
- 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
2006
2007
2008
2009
- 2009 was when game profits in UK exceeded those from film for the first time (source?)
2010s
2010
2011
2012
2013
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.
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
