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To do thisThe software wing of [[Amstrad]], '''Amsoft were given a ''' was created with one very simple brief of getting as many games specific goal: to get software on to the shelves as possible to support for the launch and first years of the machine's life, regardless of how good the programme was[[CPC old generation|CPC 464]]. The Amsoft priority [[Amstrad]] owner [[Alan Sugar]] viewed this as a key component of his strategy for entering the already crowded British home micro market in the early years mid-1980s. [[Alan Sugar|Sugar]] was very much quantity over quality, famously refusing determined not to bid for prestigious games make the same mistake as the people behind already doomed machines like the [[EliteDragon 32]] because they could knock out and [[Oric]] and saw a dozen other games for strong software base as a necessity if he was to break the price stranglehold of buying the rights to that one gamemore established trio of machines being produced by [[Acorn]], [[Commodore]] and [[Sinclair]].

Strictly a third party publisherThis domination of the home micro market made it difficult for any manufacturer to make an impact, Amsoft did no coding particularly a new start in housethe industry, instead franchising out to a number of other developers including [[Indescomp]] (who published as the titles software industry in Spain on behalf of Amsoft), [[Mr Micro]] the UK had not reached its full potential by this point and [[James Software]] those companies who had began to name only establish themselves were mostly unwilling to take a fewgamble on the expensive production of software for a machine with no user base.

In this time the distinctively bright Amsoft branding did it[[Alan Sugar|Sugar]]'s job and idea was to take a calculated risk. He reasoned that with the early games amount of money being invested into producing the machine, a dedicated software wing would be a relatively low additional cost with a potentially high yield return - if his software company got a cut of every game sold well thanks then they would soon re-coup at least part of the expenditure particularly when the user base grew enough to some savvy marketing and an eye for a good opportunityhave third party developers approaching '''Amsoft''' to publish their games.

The earliest success for Amsoft, was also place in charge of administrating and it's biggest legacy, was running the [[Roland]] series. Named after [[Roland PerryAmstrad User Club]] and the character was used as the basis for a number of games none of which (with the exception publication of [[Roland in TimeAmstrad Computer User]] and [[Roland in Space]] had anything to do with each other! Instead, the Roland brand was added almost arbitrarily to a selection of games from different developers and despite the generally poor quality of these titles, they still sold by the bucket load!.

'''Amsoft''' and its management team, headed up by [[Roland Perry]] and [[William Poel]] both of whom were still heavilly involved in the development of the [[CPC 464]] itself, were given a straight forward brief of getting as much software on to the shelves as possible to support the launch and first years of the machine's life, with a minimum of regard given to the actual quality of the software itself.  Prior to the machine’s launch, the company approached a number of software houses who had made a name for themselves developing for the [[ZX Spectrum]] and [[C64]], provided them with prototype [[CPC]]’s and commissioned the companies to produce software that could support the machine. Every game and program produced was sold under the '''Amsoft''' label with developers given a credit on the uniform loading screens and spine of the cassette inlay along with a unique [[Amsoft SOFT Numbers|SOFT Number]], all of which helped make the programs stand out on the crowded computer shop shelves. Unfortunately, despite a raft of quality games like ''[[Manic Miner]]'', ''[[Pyjamarama]]'' and ''[[Codename MAT]]'' appearing under the label's distinct and brightly coloured livery, '''Amsoft''' quickly developed a bit of a bad reputation in the industry from both frustrated developers unhappy with the cut of profits being taken by '''Amsoft''' through to the games players themselves who became disgruntled at paying top prices (£8.95 per game at a time when new [[ZX Spectrum]] releases were priced at £5.95) for poor titles. As a result companies such as [[Ocean]] and [[Elite Systems]] decided to strike out on their own, releasing their games under their own labels as they did with other machines, now that the user base had begun to be established. === Roland === The earliest success for Amsoft, and it's biggest legacy, was the [[Roland]] series. Named after [[Roland Perry]], the character was used as the basis for a number of games none of which (with the exception of ''[[Roland in Time]]'' and ''[[Roland in Space]]'') had anything to do with each other! Instead, the Roland brand was added almost arbitrarily to a selection of games from different developers and all of which sold by the bucket load, regardless of the quality of game itself.  [[Roland]]’s status as a [[CPC]] icon was firmly established when two of the titles, ''[[Roland on the Ropes]]'' and ''[[Roland in the Caves]]'', were sold as part of the CPC 464 bundle from the beginning of 1985 making [[Roland]]’s games amongst the first played by a large proportion of the [[CPC]] games playing market. Despite this success and his popularity, the [[Roland]] character was shelved as the company attempted to shed the image it had created for itself of allowing any game to be published under their name. [[Roland]] was felt to be indicative of this approach and he was quietly phased out following the release of ''[[Roland in Space]]''. === Decline === The loss of so many early supporters of the CPC as developers was a blow to the company. As well as [[Ocean]] and [[Elite Systems]], the company’s working relationships with [[Kuma]], [[Durrell]], [[Mikro-Gen]] and [[Software Projects]] also soured with each of those companies breaking away from the partnership and releasing games under their own banner. Some of these break-ups were due to the tough negotiating stance taken by ‘’’Amsoft’’’ who refused to be drawn into making bids for ‘expensive’ software when a cheaper alternative could be sought elsewhere. The most infamous example of this being their decision to not even tender a bid for the rights to produce a [[CPC]] version of [[Elite]], arguably the most successful 8-bit game of all time. Not even the re-packaging of their basic ''[[Snooker]]'' and ''[[Pool]]'' games with celebrity endorsement from World Champion Snooker player, Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins could turn their fortunes around. Something had to be done to stop the rot. === Amsoft Gold === In an attempt to combat the growing number of third party developers who were releasing games directly on to the system themselves, '''Amsoft''' attempted to re-establish their position as the leading [[CPC]] software house with a re-branding exercise to coincide with a marked increase in quality that was to prove confusing for the consumer. While maintaining the regular ‘’’Amsoft’’’ range the company also began releasing games under the ‘’’Amsoft Gold’’’ banner. These games came packaged in distinctive gold clam cases and were purported to be the best games that the company had to offer. Linking up with a new batch of companies who were set to have a significant impact on the industry including [[US Gold]] and [[Virgin Games]], ‘’Amsoft’’ had seemed to turn a corner with positive reviews coming in for not only ‘’Amsoft Gold’’ games like ''[[Sorcery +]]'' and ''[[Beach Head]]'' but also releases made on the old label like [[Beyond Software]]’s ''[[Lords of Midnight]]'' and ''[[Alien]]'' from [[Argus Press Software]]. Almost inevitably though, this was to be a short lived renaissance as the quality control soon dipped again with sub-par titles appearing for the Gold range and the stigma attached to their earlier policy never fully seemed to lift from the company. === The End === After a period of inactivity, the final releases which, in the past would’ve been greeted by a blaze of publicity, were almost sneaked out by the company. All the more strangely, these titles were solid ports of high profile arcade games ''[[Tapper]]'' and ''[[Hardball]]''and came out at a time when former partners [[US Gold]], [[Elite Systems]] and [[Ocean]] were leading the charge with home computer versions of all the most popular arcade games of the time. ‘’Amsoft’’ seemed almost apologetic for still being involved in the software business and the company finally pulled the plug on their software publishing wing at the beginning if 1987. Their final game, a conversion of [[Sega]]'s ''[[Spy Hunter]]'' was never released in '''Amsoft''' packagaing and was later brought out by [[US Gold]] as a launch title for their [[US Gold|Kixx]] budget label, the title screen of which still bore the '''Amsoft''' name – a final reminder of this once powerful unit’s presence on the [[CPC]] scene.  == Softography == === Games ===

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