Sydney Development Corporation

Sydney Development Corporation
IndustryEnterprise Application Software (EAS)
video games
Founded1978
FounderTarrnie Williams
Defunct1989
Headquarters
Vancouver, British Columbia
,
Canada
Key people
Tarrnie Williams
RevenueCan$21 million In 1983
Number of employees
~100

Sydney Development Corporation ("SDC"), was the first publicly-traded software company in Canada. Founded by Tarrnie Williams, SDC developed an online real-time project management system for the IBM System z[citation needed] mainframe computer, then various different business applications for microcomputers such as the Apple II, and eventually became the first developer and publisher of computer games for microcomputers in Canada.[1][2]

In 1981, SDC agreed to publish Evolution by Don Mattrick and Jeff Sembers, after Williams's 10-year-old son enjoyed a demo of the game.[3] Evolution sold over 400,000 copies, and Mattrick and Sembers went on to found Distinctive Software.[4]

Sydney Development Corp. was the fastest-growing public company in Canada in the five-year period 1978 to 1983 with fiscal year 1983 revenues of Can$21 million (equivalent to $57 million in 2023[5]).[citation needed]

The company filed for bankruptcy on 23 May 1989.[6]

  1. ^ "Case: Sydney Development Corp. [C]". MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. February 14, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. ^ "Case: Vancouver's video game family tree [C]". The Straight. The Georgia Strait. January 28, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  3. ^ "A Distinctive Lineage". Escapist. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  4. ^ Wolf, Mark J. P. (2015). Video Games Around The World. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-52716-3.
  5. ^ 1688 to 1923: Geloso, Vincent, A Price Index for Canada, 1688 to 1850 (December 6, 2016). Afterwards, Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021) "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021. and table 18-10-0004-13 "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  6. ^ The Financial Post Survey of Predecessor and Defunct Companies. Vol. 10. Financial Post. 1993. p. 203. Retrieved 2 July 2017.