Rainbow Arts

Rainbow Arts Software GmbH

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	1984; 40 years ago (1984)
Founder	Marc Ullrich, Thomas Meiertoberens
Defunct	1999 (1999)
Fate	Merged
Successor	THQ Deutschland
Headquarters	Gütersloh , Germany
Products	Turrican series
Parent	Rushware (1986–1999)

Rainbow Arts Software GmbH was a German video game publisher based in Gütersloh. The company was founded in 1984 by Marc Ullrich and Thomas Meiertoberens and acquired by Rushware in 1986.^[1] The company's decline began in the early 1990s: The distributor did not manage to cover the costs of selling the titles worldwide, while development costs were constantly rising. The Rainbow Arts name lost its notoriety since then. The parent companies Rushware and Softgold were in turn bought up by the American games manufacturer THQ in 1999.^[2] In 1999, Funsoft Holding, which acquired Rushware and sister company Softgold in 1992, sold Rushware to THQ, which was incorporated into THQ Deutschland, THQ's German operations arm.^[3]^[4]^[5] Rainbow Arts also led one of the first lawsuits in 1993 on the question whether competition exists between a software company and a bulletin board system of similar name ("Rainbow BBS") operated by a student, so that claims under trademark law are enforceable. This was confirmed by the Munich District Court.^[6]

In January 2022, Ziggurat Interactive acquired more than 80 titles from Rainbow Arts.^[7]

Games

3001 O'Connor's Fight
Apprentice
The Baby of Can Guru
Bad Cat
Black Gold
Der Blaue Kristall
Blockout (Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS)
Bozuma
Circus Attractions
Claim to Power
Conqueror
The Curse of RA
Day of the Pharaoh
Danger Freak
Denaris
Down at the Trolls
Earthworm Jim (MS-DOS)
Earthworm Jim 2 (MS-DOS)
East vs. West: Berlin 1948
Future Tank
Flies: Attack on Earth
Garrison
Garrison II: The Legend Continues
Graffiti Man
Grand Monster Slam
The Great Giana Sisters
Hard'n'Heavy
Hurra Deutschland
Imperium Romanum
In 80 Days Around the World
Jinks
Katakis
Khalaan
Legend of Faerghail
Logical
Lollypop
Mr. Pingo
Money Molch
M.U.D.S. – Mean Ugly Dirty Sport
Mad TV
Madness
Masterblazer
Mystery of the Mummy
Nibbler (Amstrad CPC)
Oxxonian
Galactic Attack (Windows)
Realm of the Trolls
Rock'n Roll
R-Type (Commodore 64)
Rendering Ranger: R2
Sarcophaser
Shufflepuck Café (Amiga, MS-DOS)
Sky Fighter
Soldier
Spaceball
Spherical
St. Thomas
Starball
StarTrash
Street Cat
Sunny Shine on the Funny Side of Life
Thunder Boy
To Be on Top
Turrican
Turrican II: The Final Fight
Turrican 3: Payment Day
Time
Vision: The 5 Dimension Utopia
Volleyball Simulator
Warriors
X-Out
Z-Out

References

^ Gamer-Redaktion, Retro (30 March 2017). Retro Gamer Spezial 2/2017 – C64: Alles über den legendären Brotkasten C64. ISBN 9783957881656.
^ "Telecompaper". www.telecompaper.com. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ Gamer-Redaktion, Retro (27 November 2015). Retro Gamer Spezial 1/2016: DAS ERSTE JAHRBUCH. ISBN 9783957880680.
^ "THQ Acquires Leading Game Publisher/Distributor in Germany". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. 2 December 1998. Archived from the original on 24 February 1999. Retrieved 16 June 2019 – via Yahoo.com.
^ Drews, Alexander (March–April 2020). "Interview with Thomas Meiertoberens - The return of Magic Bytes". Amiga Future Magazine. 143: 10–14.
^ "AG München: Mailbox Rainbow BBS - Terhaag & Partner Rechtsanwälte: Markenrecht, Wettbewerbsrecht, Internetrecht, Medien, Presserecht, Urheberrecht, Datenschutz - Fachanwalt". www.aufrecht.de. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
^ "Ziggurat Interactive Finishes Deal to Acquire Select Titles of Innovative Studio Rainbow Arts". 14 January 2022.