// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did U.S. Gold say to its date? You're worth your weight.
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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1984[1][2] |
| Founder | Anne and Geoff Brown[2] |
| Defunct | April 1996 |
| Fate | Closed |
| Headquarters | , England |
| Parent |
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U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984[1] by Anne and Geoff Brown[2] in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Holdings (later renamed CentreGold).
U.S. Gold started life as a UK distributor and manufacturer for existing games licensed from the US market,[1][3] but soon moved towards publishing original titles.
History
[edit]Early history
[edit]U.S. Gold was founded in 1984. It initially functioned as a UK manufacturer and distributor for existing games licensed from US publishers (such as Cosmi, Microprose and Synsoft/Synapse)[1][3] that had, until then, only been available on import.
Following negotiations, U.S. Gold were able to sell these games for £10 on the British market, rather than the £30 or so they initially sold for in the United States.[1] Some titles were also converted to run on formats more popular in the UK (e.g. Tapper, which was converted for- amongst others- the ZX Spectrum via Ocean/Platinum Productions[4] and the BBC Micro by Micro Power).[5]
Increasing success
[edit]By 1985, U.S. Gold projected a turnover of US$6 million for their first fiscal year, and expected to release further 150 games in the year to come.[1] The company increasingly moved towards being a publisher of original titles in their own right.
In 1987, they launched GO! label with Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper being the first game released under the label.[6] In 1988, U.S. Gold received the Golden Joystick Award for "Software House of the Year".[7] The company also operated the budget range label Kixx.[8]
In 1988, the company struck a deal with Japanese company Capcom to port their arcade video games for home computers in Europe. They paid £2 million or $3,557,642 (equivalent to $9,700,000 in 2025) for a ten-game deal with Capcom. The first four games they announced as part of the deal were ports of the 1987 arcade games Street Fighter, Tiger Road, 1943: The Battle of Midway and Black Tiger for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and Amiga platforms.[9] Their first five Capcom releases sold over 250,000 copies in the UK by 1989, with their best-selling Capcom release up until then being Bionic Commando with over 70,000 UK sales. Their next Capcom release was Forgotten Worlds in 1989.[10]
Sale and closure
[edit]In April 1996, Eidos Interactive acquired the entire CentreGold umbrella (including U.S. Gold) for £17.6 million;[11][12] as a result of this, U.S. Gold and CentreSoft ceased all operations.
Games published
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anderson, Chris (June 1985). "On top of the US Goldmine". Zzap!64. No. 2. Newsfield. pp. 46–48. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
[Anderson] How big are you? [General manager Tim Chaney] Our first year turnover is expected to be $6m. [Anderson] You expect to release 150 new games this year? [Chaney] That figure takes it across all the machines. [..] [Anderson] [Games cost] 30 quid in the States, how [can you] sell it for ten quid over here? [Chaney] [Geoff Brown convinced them] if they reduced the retail price [and had them] manufactured under licence then the extra volume [would] give them a decent return [..] [Box: "The massive US Gold catalogue"] complete list of titles released for the 64 by US Gold since it started last year [1984]. They're grouped according to the American company they were licensed from.
- 1 2 3 Wilkins, Chris; Kean, Roger M (2015). The Story Of U.S. Gold. Fusion Retro Books. p. 27. ISBN 9780993131530.
On 12 March 1984, Anne and Geoff purchased an incorporated shell, formed on 30 January 1984 with the resonant name of Covsound Ltd, changed its name, and so US Gold Ltd was born.
- 1 2 U.S. Gold (May 1984). "[Advertisement] Introducing U.S. Gold". Your Computer (UK).
U.S. Gold is a new concept in software marketing. We are dedicated to bringing you the best in American software at a sensible price. [..] The ultimate in American software for you on U.S. Gold
- ↑ "Going Platinum". Crash. October 1985.
PLATINUM PRODUCTIONS [specialise in] converting existing games to run on the Spectrum [..US Gold..] have done just that and reaped the benefits [..Ocean..] showed us Beach-Head [licensed by U.S. Gold] on the Commodore and asked us if we could convert it to the Spectrum [plus] Zaxxon [..] Raid Over Moscow [..] Tapper
- ↑ "Tapper, BBC Micro". Archived from the original on 20 January 2026.
Coded by P.A. Morgan for Micro Power and published by US Gold in 1985 [..] [screen shot] Tapper [..] by Micro Power
- ↑ "US Gold's New Label is GO! (Literally)". The Games Machine. No. 1. Newsfield Publications. October 1987. p. 14.
- ↑ Lacey, Eugene (May 1988). "Golden Joystick Awards 1988". Computer and Video Games. No. 79. Future Publishing. p. 39. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
- ↑ Anthony Guter. "Mastertronic Style". www.guter.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ↑ "Ready Steady Go!". Computer & Video Games. No. 80 (June 1988). 15 May 1988. pp. 84–5.
- ↑ "Capcom: A Captive Audience". The Games Machine. No. 19 (June 1989). United Kingdom: Newsfield. 18 May 1989. pp. 24–5.
- ↑ "Eidos proposes to take over Centregold". www.telecompaper.com. 29 March 1996. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ↑ Moss, Richard (31 March 2015). ""It felt like robbery": Tomb Raider and the fall of Core Design". arstechnica.com. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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