Telecomsoft (defunct)

About

Telecomsoft was the computer software division of British Telecom (BT), the world's oldest telecommunications company. During the 1980's it published a variety of video games under the Firebird, Silverbird and Rainbird labels.

Telecomsoft

(1984 - 1989) was the software department of British Telecom (BT). Telecomsoft was established shortly after BT was privatized by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. Envisaging a future in the distribution of digital content, Telecomsoft created three different labels to sell video games:

Firebird Software was the first label created. There were two pricing tiers, with Firebird Silver selling budget titles at £2. 50 and Firebird Gold which sold the more ambitious, fully-fledged games for £5. 95.

Silverbird Software, which was a launched rebrand of the Firebird Silver budget range.

Rainbird Software, which concentrated on games for 16-bit systems and the most innovative titles.

Telecomsoft also purchased Beyond Software in 1985, which continued to be run as a separate label.

In 1989, British Telecom considered video game publishing was no longer part of its business strategy and decided to sell Telecomsoft to MicroProse. Most staff chose to remain as BT employees or had already left to join other developers. Shortly after acquisition by Microprose, the Telecomsoft branding alongside the Firebird, Silverbird and Rainbird labels were discontinued.