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DROsoft
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1985
Defunct1995
HeadquartersMadrid, Spain
ParentElectronic Arts

DROsoft was a Spanish computer and video game software distributor headquartered in Madrid. The company was founded in 1985 out of DRO Records, Spain's first independent record label.[1] It is considered to have played a part in the golden age of Spanish software,[2] having been described as one of the "principal distributors" of the age.[3][4]

They were associated with the publication of a number of ZX Spectrum games,[5] some of which were marketed specifically for their translations to Spanish.[6] The company was further noted for translations of British-made games into Spanish, with the quality of the translations justifying their higher prices as compared to the rest of their software lineup.[7]

DROsoft also published the first graphical adventure game developed in Spain, Igor: Objective Uikokahonia, developed by Pendulo Studios.[8]

In 1988, they entered into an agreement to cooperate with Dinamic Software in distributing games, both in Spain and internationally.[9]

They were acquired by Electronic Arts on 14 November 1994, in order to allow direct distribution of Electronic Arts' software to the Spanish region.[10] One of its founding directors, Miguel Angel Gomez, later became the managing director of EMI Spain;[11] another, Jesús Alonso Gallo, went on to sell another business, Restaurantes.com, to the Michelin Group.[12]

In September 1995 they distributed the first E-books designed for children, as produced by Broderbund.[13] Their last published game was the Spanish version of Discworld in 1995.[14]

References

  1. ^ Tejada, Ignacio Saenz de (15 November 1986). "El primer lustro de DRO" [The first glimmer of DRO]. El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  2. ^ Rodríguez, Fernando (21 February 2003). "Historia del software español de entretenimiento" [History of Spanish entertainment software]. Macedonia Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. ^ Esteve Gutiérrez, Jaume (2012). Ocho Quilates: una historia de la Edad de Oro del software español (1987 - 1992) [Eight carats: a history of the Golden Age of Spanish software (1987-1992)] (in Spanish). Star-T Magazine Books. ISBN 978-1-5305-2468-6. OCLC 1026223350.
  4. ^ Agudo, Sergio (27 May 2016). "La edad de oro del software español: una reivindicación romántica" [The golden age of Spanish software: a romantic claim]. Malavida (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Dro Soft (Spain)". Spectrum Computing. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  6. ^ "DROSoft Software Catalogue". World of Spectrum. Archive.org. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Dro Soft: Bajaremos los precios de todos nuestros programas" [Dro Soft: We'll lower the prices of all our programmes]. MicroHobby (in Spanish). No. 119. Hobby Press. 10–16 March 1987. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2020 – via archive.org.
  8. ^ Lago, Yago (28 October 2019). "La Mansión Maníaca: entrevista sobre Little Misfortune y 25 años de Igor Objetivo Uikokahonia" [The Manic Mansion: interview about Little Misfortune and 25 years of Igor: Objective Uikokahonia]. MeriStation (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Acuerdo entre Dinamic y Dro Soft" [Agreement between Dinamic and Dro Soft]. MicroHobby (in Spanish). No. 169. Hobby Press. 10–23 May 1988. p. 6. Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via archive.org.
  10. ^ "Electronic Arts acquires distributor in Spain; forms third subsidiary in continental Europe" (Press release). Electronic Arts. 14 November 1994. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013 – via TheFreeLibrary.com.
  11. ^ Llewellyn, Howell (2 November 1996). "EMI Spain ups VP Miguel Angel Gomez to managing director". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 44. Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Jesús Alonso Gallo, business angel y fundador de restaurantes.com" [Jesús Alonso Gallo, business angel and founder of restaurantes.com]. www.elreferente.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  13. ^ "DRO Soft comercializa los Living Books de Broderbund" [DRO Soft distributes Broderbund Living Books] (Press release) (in Spanish). DROsoft. 1 September 1995. Retrieved 10 July 2020 – via PCWorld.
  14. ^ "Dro Soft".

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