imported>The Space Enthusiast: Importing Wikidata short description: "Video game developer"

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Importing Wikidata short description: "Video game developer"

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{{Short description|Video game developer}}
{{redirect|Paul Canter|other people with similar names|Paul Cantor (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Vortex Software
| industry = Software
| founded = 1980s
| founder = [[Costa Panayi]] and Paul Canter
| products = Cosmos <br> [[Sinclair ZX81]] <br> [[ZX Spectrum]]
| services = [[Video game developer]]
}}

'''Vortex Software''' was a [[video game developer]] founded by [[Costa Panayi]] and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game ''Cosmos'' which Panayi had developed for the [[Sinclair ZX81]].<ref>[http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/032/htsquad.htm "Flying Low"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222072424/http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/032/htsquad.htm |date=2007-02-22}} article from [[Sinclair User]] issue 32; interview with Costa Panayi</ref> They converted the game to the [[ZX Spectrum]], but due to the low sales of the ZX81 version they licensed the game to Abbex.

Luke Andrews, Costa's brother-in-law, and Crete Panayi, Costa's brother, became involved to handle the business affairs and advertising respectively. The company was based in [[Manchester]].

In the summer of 1984, [[Mark Haigh-Hutchinson]] was offered a position and ported several of the games to the [[Amstrad CPC]] in addition to writing ''[[Alien Highway]]'' for the ZX Spectrum.
Chris Wood and David Aubrey-Jones were also associated with Vortex as outside contractors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=T.A.C.G.R. - Mark Haigh-Hutchison Interview |url=http://tacgr.emuunlim.com/interviews/mhh.html |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=tacgr.emuunlim.com}}</ref>

The company produced several notable games for the [[8-bit]] [[home computers]] of the period. ''[[Deflektor]]'' was also ported to the [[Amiga]] and [[Atari ST]].

After the production of ''[[Hostile All Terrain Encounter]]'' in 1988, Costa spent the next two years deciding where he wanted to go. In 1990 Vortex was reborn with Costa, Mark and Luke and the intention to develop a game for the Amiga and Atari ST. They developed a much enhanced version of ''Highway Encounter'' in just three months, but failed to find a [[software publisher]] for the game, so it remained unpublished.

Several games achieved critical success, ''[[Tornado Low Level]]'' and ''[[Highway Encounter]]'' appearing in the "[[Your Sinclair]] official top 100",<ref>{{cite journal |date=October 1991 |title=The YS Top 100 Speccy Games Of All Time (Ever!) |journal=[[Your Sinclair]] |issue=70 |pages=31 |url=http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/ystop100.htm |access-date=2006-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060816053829/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/ystop100.htm |archive-date=16 August 2006 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> for example.

== List of games ==
=== ZX81 ===
* ''ZX81 Othello'' ([[1981 in video gaming|1981]])
* ''Word Mastermind'' ([[1981 in video gaming|1981]])
* ''Pontoon'' ([[1981 in video gaming|1981]])
* ''Crash'' ([[1981 in video gaming|1981]])
* ''Astral Convoy'' (1983)
* ''Serpent's Tomb'' (1983)

=== ZX Spectrum ===
* ''Cosmos'' ([[1982 in video gaming|1982]]), Abbex Electronics
* ''Gun Law'' (1983)
* ''[[Android One: The Reactor Run]]'' ([[1983 in video gaming|1983]]), Vortex Software
* ''[[Android Two]]'' ([[1983 in video gaming|1983]]), Vortex Software
* ''[[Tornado Low Level]]'' ([[1984 in video gaming|1984]]), Vortex Software
* ''[[Cyclone (computer game)|Cyclone]]'' ([[1985 in video gaming|1985]]), Vortex Software
* ''[[Highway Encounter]]'' ([[1985 in video gaming|1985]]), Vortex Software
* ''[[Alien Highway]]'' ([[1986 in video gaming|1986]]), Vortex Software
* ''[[Revolution (computer game)|Revolution]]'' ([[1986 in video gaming|1986]]), [[U.S. Gold]]
* ''[[Deflektor]]'' ([[1987 in video gaming|1987]]), [[Gremlin Graphics]]
* ''[[Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)]]'' ([[1989 in video gaming|1989]]), [[Gremlin Graphics]]

=== Amstrad CPC ===
* ''[[Android One: The Reactor Run]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Android Two]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Highway Encounter]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Tornado Low Level|Tornado Low Level (T.L.L.)]]'' (1986)
* ''[[Alien Highway]]'' (1986)
* ''[[Revolution (computer game)|Revolution]]'' (1986, published by U.S. Gold)
* ''[[Deflektor]]'' (1987, published by [[Gremlin Interactive|Gremlin Graphics]])
* ''[[Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)]]'' (1988, published by Gremlin 1990, unfinished)

=== MSX ===
* ''[[Highway Encounter]]'' (1986)

===Commodore C64===
* ''[[Highway Encounter]]'' (Pedigree Software, 1986, published by Gremlin Graphics)
* ''[[Deflektor]]'' (Gremlin Graphics, 1987, published by Gremlin Graphics)
* ''[[Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)]]'' (Gremlin Graphics, 1987, published by Gremlin Graphics)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070203013754/http://bsa.lu/dl/oc/zx81/vortex/history.doc History of Vortex Software] by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson
* [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekpub.cgi?regexp=^Costa+Panayi$&loadpics=on Costa Panayi] at [[World of Spectrum]]

[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Software companies of the United Kingdom]]

Vortex Software - Revision history

imported>The Space Enthusiast: Importing Wikidata short description: "Video game developer"