Human Engineered Software
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development and publishing |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | Jay Balakrishnan, Cy Shuster |
| Defunct | October 1984 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy and shutdown |
| Headquarters | Brisbane, California , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Jay Balakrishnan, Cy Shuster |
| Products | Video games, educational programs, productivity applications, hardware accessories |
Human Engineered Software (commonly referred to as HES or HesWare) operated as a United States-based software developer and publisher from 1980 until 1984. The firm specialized in creating video games, educational programs, productivity applications, and hardware accessories, focusing mainly on platforms such as the Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Atari 8-bit computers.
History
Located in Brisbane, California, HES's portfolio included titles like Project Space Station, Mr. TNT, and David Malmberg's Turtle Graphics. The company also released several games developed by Jeff Minter, including Attack of the Mutant Camels, Gridrunner, and Hes Games. Beyond software, their offerings encompassed tools such as HesMon, Graphics BASIC, and 64Forth—a cartridge-based implementation of the Forth language—as well as hardware products like HesModem and HesModem II.
The enterprise was established in 1980 by Jay Balakrishnan and Cy Shuster, initially operating out of Balakrishnan’s apartment in Los Angeles. Balakrishnan was responsible for creating HESbal (HES Basic Assembler Language), an 8K assembler for the 6502 processor written in BASIC, alongside the text editing program HESedit. This assembler facilitated the development of products such as HEScom—a cable combining software and user port functionality that enabled saving VIC20 software to a PET hard disk. Meanwhile, Shuster managed hardware assembly tasks and developed HESlister, a utility for printing BASIC programs adapted for various systems including the PET, VIC, and IBM PC. Additionally, HESware published OMNIWRITER, a word processing application designed for the Commodore 64.
Significantly, notable game designers Lawrence Holland and Ron Gilbert launched their professional careers at HES before advancing to prominent companies like LucasArts.
Demise
By early 1984, HES had achieved a position tied with Broderbund as the tenth-largest software company targeting microcomputers worldwide and held the distinction of being the leading publisher in entertainment software, with reported revenues of $13 million in 1983. Despite this success, the company filed for bankruptcy in October 1984. Although Avant Garde Publishing Corp sought to acquire HES through a cash purchase, this proposal was denied by the bankruptcy court, resulting in the company's eventual shutdown.