Broderbund
| Company type | Private (originally), later public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games, educational software, productivity software |
| Founded | 1 January 1980 in Eugene, Oregon, U.S. |
| Founder | Doug Carlston, Gary Carlston |
| Defunct | 1998 (acquired by The Learning Company) |
| Fate | Acquired by The Learning Company (SoftKey) |
| Headquarters | Novato, California (final headquarters) , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Doug Carlston (co-founder) |
| Products | Choplifter, Lode Runner, Karateka, Prince of Persia, Myst, Carmen Sandiego series, The Print Shop |
Number of employees | 1,190 (before 1998 acquisition; 500 eliminated in 1998) |
| Parent | The Learning Company (SoftKey) (1998) |
Broderbund Software, Inc. (originally Brøderbund) was a prominent American creator of video games, educational software, and productivity applications. The company rose to fame with 8-bit classics such as Choplifter, Lode Runner, Karateka, and Prince of Persia, all first launched on the Apple II. In addition, Broderbund developed productivity programs like The Print Shop. Among its well-known titles were Myst and the Carmen Sandiego series. Founded in Eugene, Oregon, the firm later moved its headquarters to San Rafael, California and subsequently to Novato, California. In 1998, Broderbund was purchased by SoftKey.
Several of Broderbund's software lines, including The Print Shop, PrintMaster, and Mavis Beacon, remain available under the Broderbund brand. The reestablished Broderbund's gaming titles are distributed by Encore, Inc.. Currently, the Broderbund label is used by Riverdeep for its graphic design, productivity, and educational entertainment products, encompassing The Print Shop, Carmen Sandiego, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, the Living Books collection, and Reader Rabbit. The company also develops software for third-party clients, notably including the security solution ZoneAlarm by Zone Labs.
Broderbund routinely issued school editions of its programs enhanced with additional features to support educators in integrating these tools into classroom instruction.
Etymology
The term "brøderbund" does not correspond to any actual word or family name; it loosely means "band of brothers," combining elements from Danish, Dutch, German, and Swedish languages. The character "ø" references both the Dano-Norwegian alphabet and the slashed zero symbol used in early computer systems. The three crowns featured in the logo symbolize Sweden’s lesser national coat of arms. The company’s name is pronounced ˈbruːdərbʌnd rather than the more commonly heard ˈbroʊdərbʌnd.
History
Broderbund was established in 1980 by siblings Doug and Gary Carlston to distribute Galactic Empire, a strategy game created by Doug in 1979. Prior to this venture, Doug practiced law while Gary held various positions including teaching Swedish. Their sister Cathy joined the business a year later after working in retail. Their brother Don contributed by developing an Apple II game and investing $500. The company’s name was inspired by the Afrikaans word Broederbond, modified to avoid connections with the South African organization of the same name.
Initially concentrating on software designed for legal offices, Broderbund pivoted toward action-oriented games by 1982 due to stronger sales compared to strategy titles. That year, investment came from Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. By 1983, the firm focused on home utility software—including Bank Street Writer—as well as computer literacy initiatives in collaboration with The Jim Henson Company and educational entertainment products. In 1984, Broderbund ranked among the top ten microcomputer software companies with sales reaching $13 million. That same year it acquired Synapse Software during its financial struggles but closed it after failing to achieve profitability.
One of Broderbund’s flagship offerings was The Print Shop, which allowed users to design signs and greeting cards; legal disputes regarding its MS-DOS versions culminated in a landmark copyright ruling that affirmed protection for software "look and feel." Notably, the company declined an opportunity to acquire worldwide rights to Tetris for $50,000.
Negotiations for a merger with Sierra On-Line ended without agreement in 1991. At that time, Broderbund generated approximately $50 million in revenue and controlled about 25% of the educational software market. Following an unsuccessful initial public offering in 1987, it completed a private placement with Jostens before eventually going public on NASDAQ in November 1991 under the ticker BROD. At IPO, The Print Shop contributed 33% of revenues while the Carmen Sandiego franchise accounted for 26%. Discussions about a potential merger with Electronic Arts took place in 1994. Broderbund’s stock reached its peak at $72.50 per share in September 1995 but declined thereafter amid continuing financial losses.
During the early to mid-1990s, industry consolidation intensified as smaller companies faced pressure from rising development expenses and retailer demands. In 1992, Broderbund acquired PC Globe and attempted to purchase The Learning Company in 1995 but was outbid by SoftKey, which acquired The Learning Company for $606 million and adopted its brand name.
Acquisition
On June 22, 1998, Broderbund was acquired by The Learning Company in a stock transaction valued at roughly US$420 million. The arrangement involved exchanging Broderbund shares for 0.80 shares of The Learning Company stock each, representing a premium of about 21% over Broderbund’s market price. Later that year, The Learning Company eliminated 500 positions at Broderbund, amounting to 42% of its employees. Doug Carlston remarked that SoftKey, The Learning Company’s predecessor, had undermined Broderbund by providing excessive rebates to rivals such as Mindscape’s PrintMaster.
In 1998, Broderbund collaborated with Nickelodeon to create CD-ROM games based on Nicktoons franchises like Rugrats.
The following year, Mattel acquired the merged entity for $3.6 billion. This purchase had a significant negative financial impact on Mattel, resulting in CEO Jill E. Barad stepping down amid investor dissatisfaction. By September 2000, Mattel divested its game division, Mattel Interactive, along with related assets to Gores Technology Group, a private equity firm. At this point, Broderbund’s product lines were overseen by The Learning Company Deutschland GmbH in Germany—a subsidiary of The Learning Company (formerly SoftKey), itself owned by Gores Technology Group. The company operated under two distinct brands: Blue (Broderbund) for infotainment and design software such as Cosmopolitan My Style 2 and PrintMaster, and Red (The Learning Company) for children’s educational titles.
In 2001, Gores Technology Group sold the entertainment segment of The Learning Company to Ubisoft while transferring other assets—including the Broderbund brand—to the Irish company Riverdeep. Ubisoft currently publishes many titles originally developed by Broderbund, including the Myst series. Encore, Inc., under Riverdeep’s ownership, holds licensing rights and manages direct-to-consumer sales of the Broderbund catalog. In May 2010, Encore expanded its offerings by acquiring Punch! Software.
In 2014, Doug Carlston contributed Broderbund’s corporate archives and a collection of significant titles—such as Myst, Prince of Persia, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?—to The Strong National Museum of Play; these materials were subsequently transferred to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games for archival preservation.
By 2017, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was offering licensing arrangements for the Broderbund brand and associated products including The Print Shop, Calendar Creator, and ClickArt.
Products
Broderbund’s initial success stemmed from the game Galactic Empire, developed by Doug Carlston for the TRS-80. Their debut Apple II release was Tank Command, created by Donal Carlston.
The company established itself as a prominent producer of educational and entertainment software with acclaimed titles such as Fantavision, Choplifter, Lode Runner, Karateka, Prince of Persia, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, and Myst, which sustained high sales over multiple years. Throughout the 1980s, Broderbund was a dominant force in the U.S. computer market with releases spanning all major platforms.
Originally concentrating on Apple II systems, Broderbund expanded its offerings to include IBM PC ports after 1985 and supported the Apple IIGS during the late 1980s due to its educational software emphasis. Many popular titles were licensed internationally to developers across Western Europe and Japan. During the 1990s, Broderbund primarily focused on educational software for PCs and Macintosh computers while occasionally releasing role-playing and strategy games.
Among its notable product lines was the influential Print Shop desktop publishing series. The company also published genealogy software like Family Tree Maker, home design applications such as 3D Home Architect, and banner creation tools including Banner Mania. By the late 1980s, revenue from productivity and educational software outweighed that from gaming titles.
Prior to being acquired by The Learning Company (formerly SoftKey), Broderbund spun off its Living Books series through a joint venture with Random House Publishing. Although critically well-received, this partnership achieved only limited commercial success and was dissolved following The Learning Company acquisition.
Broderbund briefly ventured into the video game console market through its New Ventures Division by publishing several titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). These included ports of franchises like Lode Runner, Spelunker, and Raid on Bungeling Bay, all developed by third-party Japanese studios. Additionally, Broderbund released NES games from publishers lacking North American branches such as Irem’s Deadly Towers and Compile’s The Guardian Legend.
The company also developed and marketed an innovative motion-sensitive NES controller called the U-Force, which operated without physical contact; however, it did not achieve commercial success. Furthermore, Broderbund distributed Irem’s NES title Sqoon. In 1990, Broderbund sold its New Ventures Division—including production equipment and inventory—to THQ, which was then an emerging company.
Within the United States market, Broderbund published Arsys Software's 1986 third-person action RPG shooter titled WiBArm. Additionally, the company briefly maintained a board game division that produced Don Carlston's Personal Preference along with board game adaptations based on its video game properties.
See also
- List of companies based in Oregon
- Red Orb Entertainment — The game publishing arm of Broderbund, later operated under the support of Mindscape
External links
- Articles with short description
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Broderbund games
- Defunct video game companies of the United States
- Video game development companies
- Video game publishers
- Software companies based in Oregon
- Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Video game companies established in 1980
- Video game companies disestablished in 1998
- Mattel
- Software companies established in 1980
- Software companies disestablished in 1998
- 1980 establishments in California
- 1998 disestablishments in California
- Companies based in San Rafael, California
- Companies based in Marin County, California
- Novato, California
- Companies based in Eugene, Oregon
- 1998 mergers and acquisitions