Anco Software Ltd.

Moby ID: 1693

AKA +
  • Anirog Software Ltd. (from 1982 to 1986)

Overview edit · view history

Anco Software was a long-running British game developer and publisher. The company was founded as a spin-off from Anirog Software. Anirog was founded in 1982 by Anil Gupta and Roger Gamon, who were working for Mullard Mitcham at that time. The name Anirog comes from their first names. Anirog was initially primarily a publisher of games for 8-bit computers like the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. They were among the first to use speech embedded in games (e.g. Jump Jet), and had technical offices in Horley, Surrey and a production factory in Dartford, Kent. Anil Gupta formed the spin-off company Anco in secret and shortly after Anirog was dissolved. Roger then formed the Magnificent 7 Software company, however he died after a short illness.

Anco had hits with the football game series Kick Off (1989) and Player Manager (1990), which were released for a number of systems, including consoles. Around the mid-nineties the company shifted from a publisher to a pure developer having publishing deals with companies such as Maxis, Ubi Soft and 3DO. The company was forced to close in 2003 after the death of the company's owner Anil Gupta. The company Floodlit Software was founded 'from the ashes of Anco' in 2003.

Credited on 127 Games from 1982 to 2003

Displaying most recent · View all

Player Manager 2003 (2003 on Windows, Macintosh)
Sven-Göran Eriksson's World Manager (2002 on Windows, PlayStation, PlayStation 2)
Kick Off 02 (2002 on Windows, Macintosh)
Sven-Göran Eriksson's World Challenge (2002 on Windows, PlayStation, PlayStation 2)
PlayAsManager (2001 on Windows)
Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2002 (2001 on PlayStation 2, PlayStation)
Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2001 (2000 on PlayStation, PlayStation 2)
Player Manager 2000 (2000 on Windows, PlayStation)
Kick Off World (1998 on PlayStation)
Player Manager 98/99 (1998 on DOS, Windows, PlayStation)
Kick Off 98 (1997 on DOS, Windows)
Kick Off 97 (1997 on DOS, Windows)
Kick Off 96 (1996 on DOS, Windows, Amiga)
Player Manager (1995 on PlayStation)
Player Manager 2 (1995 on DOS, Amiga)
Player Manager 2: Extra - The Chase For Glory (1995 on DOS, Amiga)
Fantasy Manager: The Computer Game (1994 on Amiga)
Kick Off 3 (1994 on DOS, Amiga, Antstream)
Kick Off 3: European Challenge (1994 on DOS, SNES, Genesis...)
Kevin Keegan's Player Manager (1993 on SNES)

[ view all ]

History +

May 20, 2003

Anco owner Anil Gupta dies and the company is forced to close.

1997

Anco signed a licensing deal with Maxis Software to release Kick Off 97 world-wide.

1982

Company began publishing titles on the VIC 20, Commodore 64 and the Spectrum.

Trivia +

Anco's official web site used to be at http://www.anco.co.uk

Address and contact info in 1991:

Anco Software Ltd.

7 Millside Industrial Estate

Lawson Road

Dartford, Kent

United Kingdom

Tel: 0322 287782

Location (1987)

Anco Software

35 West Hill

Dartford

Kent

DA1 2EL

United Kingdom

[ view all ]

Related Web Sites +

  • From The Dugout
    Fans and players of Anco Software games offering patches, demos and information about their games
  • Anco's website
    The web site is now, in 2015, dead and up for sale. However archived pages are available on 'The Wayback Machine' https://web.archive.org which date back to 1998 and continue through to the end of the company in 2003

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