Firebird (1984-89)(Telecomsoft)> MicroProse (1989>)

Firebird was the first computer game label to be set up at Telecomsoft. It had earlier been named Firefly Software, but was then renamed by James Leavey, shortly after he arrived from mainstream BT to take over as the label's marketing and PR manager. Leavey did this because he found that the original name was not fully protected.

Two price points were initially established: Firebird Silver would release budget titles priced at £2.50 whereas Firebird Gold would release more prestigious titles at £5.95. The Firebird label was aimed squarely at a teenage market, hoping to entice young spenders to invest their pocket money in good quality, low-priced games rather than records and comics.

Although there were doubts as to whether or not the market could afford to sustain a range of budget titles, the Firebird Silver releases proved to be an instant success. The budget software market grew rapidly from that moment on as other publishers, such as Codemasters, decided to capitalise on the successful price points established by Firebird and their early rival Mastertronic.

Firebird Gold established itself just as well as its budget counterpart. Although the price point rose to £9.95, the label became synonymous with many classic 8-bit titles, such as Elite, Revs, Druid and The Sentinel.

Firebird's success allowed them to acquire a number of third party developers (see Telecomsoft acquisitions below) and they also established a deal with Ultimate Play The Game, whereby they would convert and publish a number of their successful ZX Spectrum games to the Commodore 64.

Firebird Silver briefly spawned a new Firebird Super Silver range in 1986. The following titles were sold at a price of £3.95 each:

Game For computer brand Firebird catalog number
Cylu Amstrad 301
Don't Panic Amstrad 302
Booty Amstrad 303
Chimera Amstrad 306
Willow Pattern Amstrad 310
Thunderbirds Amstrad 313
Chimera Commodore 64 305
Willow Pattern Commodore 64 309
Thunderbirds Commodore 64 312
Chickin Chase Commodore 64 316
Microcosm Commodore 64 318
Chimera Spectrum 304
Willow Pattern Spectrum 308
Thunderbirds Spectrum 311
Chickin Chase Spectrum 315
Microcosm BBC 317
Star Drifter BBC 319
Fat Man Sam BBC 321
Chimera Atari 307
Thunderbirds Atari 314
Star Drifter Electron 320

Later, the entire budget range was given an overhaul and relaunched as the single Firebird Silver £1.99 Range. Likewise, a new Firebird Hot label was established to reintroduce mid-price games back into the market. A final overhaul of the Firebird brand was conducted in late 1987 as the budget titles became rebranded as Silverbird and the mid to full-price games as Firebird. These brands remained in effect until MicroProse's acquisition of Telecomsoft in 1989.