In June 1982, Your Computer reviewed the new ZX Spectrum at £125 for the 16K model and £175 for the 48K model. A year later, Sinclair’s own advertisement in the same magazine offered them for £99.95 and £129.95. The computer needed to join the growing games market was becoming cheaper while publishers competed to supply its owners.
Price was one part of that market. The games also needed programmers, ways to reach shops and readers who could find out what to buy. Contemporary magazines show those parts coming together, and the strain when the number of businesses grew faster than their sales.
From mail order to the high street
Looking back in September 1984, CRASH’s editorial described a rapid change in Spectrum software retailing. Early in 1983, it said, only a few WHSmith branches stocked a small selection of games and much business went through mail order. By 1984, computer shops, other retailers and newsagents were selling software.
This is a contemporary editor’s account of growth, rather than a complete count of the trade. Its practical implication is clear: a programmer’s cassette could reach buyers through more channels, and more publishers were competing for space in those channels.
A young programmer could become a publisher
Matthew Smith provides a specific example of the opportunities. In February 1984, Sinclair User reported that the 17-year-old author of Manic Miner had left Bug-Byte for Software Projects. The game would appear under the new label. Bug-Byte had held a production licence, the report explained, while the copyright stayed elsewhere.
By May, CRASH was reviewing Smith’s Jet Set Willy for Software Projects at £5.95. It named the author prominently and awarded 95% overall. Readers could follow a programmer’s work from one publisher to another, much as they followed a series of games.
Smith’s age made him a striking example. It does not tell us the age of the typical British developer, or mean that everyone who submitted a game could secure a publishing deal.
Growth also brought failures
Britain’s games business did suffer a serious setback during these years. The September 1984 CRASH editorial opened with company disappearances and complaints about weak sales and orders. It questioned whether the supply of games and shops had expanded beyond the number of buyers.
That month’s Your Spectrum separately reported that Imagine had gone into receivership. Whatever the wider comparison with the American console crash, the British story was not uninterrupted growth. Cheaper computers and new routes into publishing created opportunities; they did not guarantee that a publisher would survive.
Sources
- Tim Hartnell, ZX Spectrum review, Your Computer, June 1982, pp. 20–22: launch-period prices.
- Sinclair Research advertisement, Your Computer, June 1983, p. 101: £99.95 and £129.95 prices, with former prices stated.
- “Manic Minor seeks new horizons”, Sinclair User 23, February 1984, news section: Smith’s age, move and the production-licence distinction.
- CRASH 4, May 1984, pp. 8–9: Jet Set Willy, author, publisher, price and review verdict.
- CRASH 8, September 1984, p. 4, editorial: retail growth, weak sales and company failures, presented as the editor’s assessment.
- “The Mega-Game’s Up!”, Your Spectrum 7, September 1984: contemporary report of Imagine’s receivership.