Epyx was one of the most celebrated and prolific software publishers for 8-bit home computers, especially Atari and Commodore, and, to a lesser degree, Apple. But they struggled to transition to newer platforms and that ultimately led to bankruptcy, on October 19, 1989.
Early role-playing strategy games from Epyx
Initially Epyx was called Automated Simulations and its first product was a space-themed war game called Starfleet Orion written in PET Basic for the Commodore PET. They quickly ported it to the Apple II and TRS-80 as well, and followed it up in 1979 with Invasion Orion, which included a computer-controlled opponent.
The next game wasn’t a simulation, requiring a new brand name. Epyx was an appropriate name for a dungeon crawl roleplaying game called Temple of Apshai. Initially released in August 1979 for the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, Epyx ported it to the Apple II, Atari 800, IBM PC, Commodore 64 and VIC-20, Atari ST, Amiga, Mac, Amstrad CPC, and Thomson TO8, updating it for the newer machines in the process. It sold 400,000 copies by 1986, a huge number for the time. It spurred two add-ons, Upper Reaches of Apshai and Curse of Ra, and a prequel, Gateway to Apshai. The first game and its two add-ons were later re-released as the Temple of Apshai trilogy. Epyx released additional games using the same engine, including Crush, Crumble and Chomp!, Rescue at Rigel, and Star Warrior.
A power struggle led Jon Freeman, one of the cofounders, to leave to form Free Fall Associates, who published several hits with Electronic Arts. The remaining cofounder, Jim Connelley took on venture capital and clashed with the new management, leading to his departure as well.
Shifting to arcade-style games
An independent submission from Randy Glover called Jumpman, a platform game with 30 levels inspired by Donkey Kong, changed the company. It became a huge hit on the Commodore 64 and Atari 800, and was ported to the Apple II, IBM PC, and Coleco Vision as well. Epyx shifted focus from strategy/role-playing games to more arcade-like games after the success of Jumpman. This worked, leading to hits like Impossible Mission and Summer Games, a sports game based on the Summer Olympics. Summer Games turned into a series that included Summer Games II, Winter Games, World Games, California Games, The Games: Summer Edition, and The Games: Winter Edition. Epyx’s racing games, Pitstop and Pitstop II, and its Street Sports series, also became classics.
In 1983, Epyx sold $10 million worth of software. That made it the 16th largest software publisher for microcomputers.
The Epyx Fast Load cartridge was a must-have for C-64 owners. By replacing the protocol the C-64 and 1541 used to communicate, it made the 1541 disk drive five times faster. And in case you’re wondering, it worked with other publishers’ games too, not just Epyx titles.
Epyx’s pivot and bankruptcy
But by 1986, Epyx was struggling. It tried to pivot, even creating a game system that became the Atari Lynx. But cashflow problems continued, leading to bankruptcy on October 19, 1989. Epyx’s library didn’t lend itself well to porting to late 80s PCs, partly due to its games’ heavy reliance on sprites. This meant Epyx couldn’t quickly cash in on the rising popularity of PC gaming like some of its competitors did.
Epyx reorganized but was a shadow of its former self, shrinking from 145 employees to fewer than 20. By 1993, with only 8 employees left, Epyx sold its remaining assets. Bridgestone Media Group bought Epyx’s software library and still owns the rights today.
Bridgestone licensed new versions of many Epyx titles for newer platforms. It also licensed them to be included in retro products like Retro Games’ TheC64 Mini. Of the 65 titles included on TheC64, 20 of them are Epyx titles.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.
Epyx and their games represent very good memories for me. I really liked most of their games, but Jumpman and Summer Games were my all time favorites on the C64. Those two games provided many hundreds of hours of fun, and convinced more than a few of my friends to get a home computer. I was very sad when they went out of business.
Wasn’t the disastrous Epyx deal with Atari for the Handy a large factor in the company’s demise? I’m sure I’ve heard or read an interview with one (or more!) of Dave Morse, RJ Mical or Dave Neidle where they express a lot of bitterness and regret about the whole episode. I’m not sure about the detail of the story, but it apparently involved withheld payments from Atari, litigation and a whole load of aggravation for the Epyx team. Dealing with Jack “Business is War” Tramiel was never easy – and with hindsight, keeping Epyx alive to provide software for the Lynx would have been in Atari’s long-term interest.
Yes it was a factor. I may have covered it in my blog post about the Lynx. If I somehow missed it (I’ll be honest my mind’s been on the PHP vulnerability this week), I’ll cover that in a future revision.