U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown 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, but soon moved towards publishing original titles.
Following the 1996 takeover of CentreGold by Eidos Interactive, the U.S. Gold name disappeared.
History Early history
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) 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. 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 and the BBC Micro by Micro Power).
Increasing success
By 1985, U.S. Gold projected a turnover of for their first fiscal year, and expected to release further 150 games in the year to come. 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. In 1988, U.S. Gold received the Golden Joystick Award for "Software House of the Year". The company also operated the budget range label Kixx.
In 1988, the company struck a deal with Japanese company Capcom to port their arcade video games for home computers in Europe. They paid or 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. 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.
In October 1994, CentreGold acquired the developer Core Design.
Sale and closure
In April 1996, Eidos Interactive acquired the entire CentreGold umbrella (including U.S. Gold) for ; as a result of this, U.S. Gold and CentreSoft ceased all operations.
Games published Year Title Platform(s) 1984 Beach Head Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro 1984The Dam BustersAmstrad CPC, Apple II, C64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum 1984 Dropzone Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Gear, NES 1984 Raid over Moscow Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC 1984 Impossible Mission Commodore 64, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 7800, BBC Micro, Master System, ZX Spectrum 1985 Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 1985 Bruce Lee ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1985Road RunnerAtari ST 1986Summer GamesCommodore 64, Amiga, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Master System, ZX Spectrum 1986Summer Games IICommodore 64, Apple II, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga 1985 The Goonies Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum 1985 Whirlinurd Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 1985Winter GamesCommodore 64, Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Macintosh 1985 Spy Hunter Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, C64, Apple II, ColecoVision, IBM PC 1986 Gauntlet Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, Commodore 64, MSX, Master System, NES, Genesis, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS, PlayStation 1986 Revolution ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1986 Zorro ZX Spectrum 1986 World Games Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, Master System, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum 1986 Ace of Aces Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, MSX, MS-DOS, Master System, ZX Spectrum 1986 Kung-Fu Master Commodore 64 1986 Infiltrator Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 1986 Leader Board Commodore 64/128, Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple II, MS-DOS, Mac, Master System, Game Gear, Genesis/Mega Drive, Acorn Archimedes 1987California GamesApple II, Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIGS, Atari 2600, Lynx, Atari ST, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, Sega Genesis, Master System, ZX Spectrum 1987Indiana Jones and the Temple of DoomAmstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum 1987 Tower Toppler Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS 1987 Out Run PC-88, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, PC Engine, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum 1987 RoadBlasters Genesis, Lynx, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, NES 1987Solomon's KeyCommodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, IBM PC, PC Engine 1987Street Sports BasketballAmiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum 1987Tag Team WrestlingApple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC 1987 Gauntlet II Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, NES, ZX Spectrum 1988 1943: The Battle of Midway Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 1988 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, FM Towns, MS-DOS, MSX2, PC-88, PC-98, Master System, ZX Spectrum 1988 Bionic Commando Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 1988Dive BomberCommodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum 1988 Last Duel Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum 1988 Vigilante Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum 1988 Thunder Blade Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, IBM PC, X68000, ZX Spectrum 1988 Techno Cop Apple II, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Amiga 1988 Street Fighter Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 1989 Strider Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC, X68000, ZX Spectrum 1989 U.N. Squadron Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum 1989 Tiger Road Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS 1989 Turbo Outrun Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1989Dragons of FlameAmiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, Famicom, MS-DOS, PC-9801, ZX Spectrum 1989 Beast Busters Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST 1989 Crack Down Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum 1989 Cyber Police ESWAT Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 1989 Forgotten Worlds Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, MS-DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, MSX, Genesis, Master System, NES, ZX Spectrum 1990 Line of Fire Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum 1990 Black Tiger Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 1990 Bonanza Bros Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1990California Games IIAmiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Master System, SNES 1990E-MotionAmiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum 1990 Mega Twins Amiga, Atari ST 1990Michael Jackson's MoonwalkerAmiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum 1990 Murder! Amiga, Amiga, Atari ST, DOS 1990 Strider II Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Gear, Master System, Genesis, ZX Spectrum 1991Gauntlet III: The Final QuestAmiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum 1991 Alien Storm Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1991 Another World Amiga, Atari ST 1991Cruise for a CorpseAmiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS 1991 James Pond 2 Game Gear, Master System 1991 Mercs Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 1991 Out Run Europa Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Gear, iOS, Master System, ZX Spectrum 1991 Final Fight Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1991 Shadow Dancer Commodore 64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST 1991Shadow SorcererAmiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS 1992 Olympic Gold Game Gear, Genesis, Master System 1992 Flashback Amiga, Acorn Archimedes, Mega Drive/Genesis, MS-DOS, PC-98, SNES, Sega CD, FM Towns, 3DO, CD-i, Jaguar 1992 Championship Hockey Master System, Game Gear 1992 Super Kick Off Master System, Game Boy, Genesis, SNES 1992 Putty Amiga, SNES, CD32 1993 James Pond 3 Game Gear, Super Nintendo Entertainment System 1993 Winter Olympics Amiga, Genesis, Game Boy, SNES, Game Gear, MS-DOS, Master System 1993 Star Wars Master System, Game Gear 1994 Road Rash Master System, Game Gear 1994 The Incredible Hulk SNES, Genesis, Master System, Game Gear 1994 Power Drive Amiga, CD32, Game Gear, MS-DOS, Genesis, SNES 1994 World Cup Golf: Professional Edition PlayStation, Sega Saturn, 3DO, CD-i, MS-DOS 1994 World Cup Golf: Hyatt Dorado Beach 32X 1994 World Cup USA '94 Genesis, Sega CD, SNES, Master System, MS-DOS, Amiga, Game Gear, Game Boy 1994DominusMS-DOS 1994 Hurricanes SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Gear 1995 Fever Pitch Soccer SNES, Genesis, Jaguar 1995 Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System 1995 Mega Man Game Gear 1996 Izzy's Adventure Windows 95, Windows 3.1 1996 Johnny Bazookatone 3DO, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Saturn 1996 Olympic Soccer PlayStation, Sega Saturn, DOS, 3DO 1996 Olympic Summer Games PlayStation, 3DO 1996 Shellshock PlayStation, Sega Saturn 1996 Duke Nukem 3D MS-DOS
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