 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1982 in Mulartshütte, Roetgen, West Germany |
| Founder | Fritz Schäfer |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | , Germany |
Area served | Germany |
Key people | Fritz Schäfer (managing director; 1982–1995) |
Number of employees | 20 (1994) |
| Parent | Electronic Arts GmbH (1995) |
Kingsoft GmbH was a German video game company based in Aachen. The company was founded in 1982 by Fritz Schäfer out of his parents' house in Mulartshütte (Roetgen) to sell his chess simulation game Boss (later renamed Grandmaster), which he developed the year before. Kingsoft expanded into third-party publishing in 1983, starting with Galaxy by Henrik Wening. Most of their games were released for computers developed by Commodore International, predominantly the Commodore 64, Commodore 16 and later Amiga, and were usually based on other company's titles for different platforms. Kingsoft moved to Aachen in 1987 and established a distribution service before ceasing publishing in favour of distribution in 1993. The company was acquired in March 1995 by Electronic Arts, who retired the Kingsoft name later that year.