XOR Corporation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games, software |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Founder | Glenn Diamond |
| Defunct | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Minnetonka, Minnesota , United States |
| Products | Video games, business software |
XOR Corporation (pronounced ) was a video game developer and publisher headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Established in 1982 by Glenn Diamond, the company operated until 1990. XOR's main focus was on producing titles for DOS and Macintosh platforms, while also creating DOS-based business software such as Blu Chip, a stock portfolio management tool, Thoth, a database management program, and the C programming utility known as C Tools.
Among XOR's Macintosh offerings, two games—MacGolf (1986) and MacSki (1990)—earned spots in the Macworld Game Hall of Fame under the "Best Sports Game" category. Notably, MacGolf achieved significant commercial success, selling 70,000 units by 1988 and holding the distinction of being the best-selling Macintosh game that year.
In 1985, XOR launched NFL Challenge, an American football simulation officially licensed by the NFL, available on both DOS and Macintosh systems. The software gained additional prominence when ESPN utilized it to simulate matchups for its NFL Dream Season series, running each simulation 100 times to predict results. This title was groundbreaking as the first NFL-endorsed software.
Capitalizing on the success of NFL Challenge, CEO Glenn Diamond reached out to the CIA in 1985 with a proposal for official endorsement and collaboration on a gaming project; however, the agency declined to participate.
That same year, XOR teamed up with Timothy Leary on an unreleased project called The Brain Game. This innovative title aimed to integrate Leary's psychological models to foster player intelligence through cognitive assessments and introspection. The initiative also envisioned accompanying media, including a book and potentially an album by Devo.
Games
- St. Hippolyte's Wall (1984, DOS)
- Edo (1984, DOS)
- NFL Challenge (1984, DOS; 1986, Mac)
- MacGolf (1986, Mac)
- MacCourses (1986, Mac)
- Basketball Challenge (1987, DOS)
- Bermuda Square (1987, DOS)
- MacRacquetball (1987, Mac)
- Oligopoly (1987, DOS)
- PRO Challenge (1987, DOS; 1987, Mac)
- Lunar Rescue (1988, Mac)
- Road Racer (1988, Mac)
- Roboman (1989, DOS)
- TaskMaker (1989, DOS)
- MacGolf Classic (1989, Mac)
- MacSki (1990, Mac)
Business and utilities
- Thoth (1984, DOS)
- Blu Chip (1984, DOS)
- C Tools (1984, DOS)