Companies & Studios

Melbourne House

From Australia with code

Melbourne House published some of the 8-bit era's most acclaimed games, from Way of the Exploding Fist to The Hobbit.

C64Spectrum publishersdevelopersaustralian-gaming 1978–2010

Overview

Melbourne House started as a book publisher in Australia before pivoting to software. Their Beam Software development studio produced technically ambitious games—Way of the Exploding Fist, The Hobbit, Shadowfire—that competed with the best British and American developers. The Tolkien licence alone made them notable; the quality made them respected.

Fast facts

  • Founded: 1978 by Alfred Milgrom in Melbourne, Australia.
  • Original business: book publishing.
  • Development arm: Beam Software (later Krome Studios Melbourne).
  • Major titles: Way of the Exploding Fist, The Hobbit, Shadowfire, Lord of the Rings.
  • Tolkien licence: rare rights to adapt Middle-earth works.
  • Later ownership: acquired by Infogrames (1999), brand phased out.

The Hobbit

Their 1982 text adventure became legendary:

  • Sophisticated parser: understood complex sentences.
  • Illustrated: graphics accompanied text on capable machines.
  • Thorin singing: NPCs acted independently, sometimes unhelpfully.
  • Commercial success: sold over a million copies.
  • Cultural bridge: brought Tolkien fans to gaming.

Way of the Exploding Fist

The 1985 fighting game established Beam Software’s reputation:

  • Technical excellence: smooth animation, responsive controls.
  • Genre-defining: one of the first serious fighting games.
  • Competition: rival to System 3’s International Karate.
  • C64 version: considered definitive.

Beam Software

The internal development studio produced quality:

  • Technical ambition: pushed hardware further than expected.
  • Varied output: adventures, fighting games, licensed titles.
  • International reach: published in UK, Europe, North America.
  • Long history: continued development through multiple corporate owners.

Legacy

Melbourne House proved Australian developers could compete globally. Their technical standards, especially on C64, matched or exceeded British competition. The Tolkien games brought literary fans into gaming; Fist brought martial arts cinema aesthetics to computers.

See also