DROsoft

{{short description|Spanish video game company}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{Notability|Companies|date=February 2020}}

{{Infobox company

| name = DROsoft

| type = Subsidiary

| foundation = {{start date and age|1985}}

| defunct = {{End date and age|1995}}

| location = Madrid, Spain

| industry = Video games

| products =

| revenue =

| operating_income =

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| num_employees =

| parent = Electronic Arts (1994–1995)

| subsid =

| homepage =

| footnotes =

}}

DROsoft was a Spanish computer and video game software distributor headquartered in Madrid. The company was founded in 1985 out of DRO Records, Spain's first independent record label.{{Cite news|last=Tejada|first=Ignacio Saenz de|date=15 November 1986|title=El primer lustro de DRO|language=es|trans-title=The first glimmer of DRO|work=El País|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1986/11/16/cultura/532479606_850215.html|access-date=10 July 2020|issn=1134-6582}} It is considered to have played a part in the golden age of Spanish software,{{Cite magazine|last=Rodríguez|first=Fernando|date=21 February 2003|title=Historia del software español de entretenimiento|url=http://macedoniamagazine.frodrig.com/etapa_2001_2002/juegos/Historia%20Soft/Historia%20Soft.htm|magazine=Macedonia Magazine|access-date=23 July 2020|lang=es|trans-title=History of Spanish entertainment software}} having been described as one of the "principal distributors" of the age.{{Cite book|last=Esteve Gutiérrez|first=Jaume |title=Ocho Quilates: una historia de la Edad de Oro del software español (1987 - 1992)|language=es|trans-title=Eight carats: a history of the Golden Age of Spanish software (1987-1992)|publisher=Star-T Magazine Books|year=2012|isbn=978-1-5305-2468-6 |oclc=1026223350}}{{Cite web|last=Agudo|first=Sergio|date=27 May 2016|title=La edad de oro del software español: una reivindicación romántica|url=https://www.malavida.com/es/analisis/la-edad-de-oro-del-software-espanol-una-reivindicacion-romantica-006106|access-date=2020-07-23|website=Malavida|language=es|trans-title=The golden age of Spanish software: a romantic claim}}

They were associated with the publication of a number of ZX Spectrum games,{{Cite web|title=Dro Soft (Spain)|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.php?cat=999&label_id=4025|access-date=10 July 2020|website=Spectrum Computing}} some of which were marketed specifically for their translations to Spanish.{{Cite archive|collection=World of Spectrum|institution=Archive.org|item=DROSoft Software Catalogue|access-date=10 July 2020|item-url=https://ia800604.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/1/items/World_of_Spectrum_June_2017_Mirror/World%20of%20Spectrum%20June%202017%20Mirror.zip&file=World%20of%20Spectrum%20June%202017%20Mirror/sinclair/company-pics/c/CentroMail/DroSoftCatalogoSoftware.pdf}} The company was further noted for translations of British-made games into Spanish, with the quality of the translations justifying their higher prices as compared to the rest of their software lineup.{{Cite magazine|date=10-16 March 1987|title=Dro Soft: Bajaremos los precios de todos nuestros programas|url=https://archive.org/details/microhobby-magazine-119.pdf/page/n4/mode/1up|magazine=MicroHobby|publisher=Hobby Press|language=es|trans-title=Dro Soft: We'll lower the prices of all our programmes|issue=119|page=5|access-date=23 July 2020|via=archive.org}}

DROsoft also published the first graphical adventure game developed in Spain, {{Lang|es|Igor: Objective Uikokahonia}}, developed by Pendulo Studios.{{Cite web|last=Lago|first=Yago|date=28 October 2019|title=La Mansión Maníaca: entrevista sobre Little Misfortune y 25 años de Igor Objetivo Uikokahonia|trans-title=The Manic Mansion: interview about Little Misfortune and 25 years of Igor: Objective Uikokahonia|url=https://as.com/meristation/2019/10/27/reportajes/1572203192_908013.html|access-date=10 July 2020|website=MeriStation|language=es}}

In 1988, they entered into an agreement to cooperate with Dinamic Software in distributing games, both in Spain and internationally.{{Cite magazine|date=10-23 May 1988|title=Acuerdo entre Dinamic y Dro Soft|url=https://archive.org/details/microhobby-magazine-169.pdf/page/n5/mode/1up|magazine=MicroHobby|publisher=Hobby Press|language=es|trans-title=Agreement between Dinamic and Dro Soft|issue=169|page=6|access-date=28 July 2020|via=archive.org}}

They were acquired by Electronic Arts on 14 November 1994, in order to allow direct distribution of Electronic Arts' software to the Spanish region.{{cite press release|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Electronic+Arts+acquires+distributor+in+Spain%3b+forms+third+subsidiary...-a015926355|title=Electronic Arts acquires distributor in Spain; forms third subsidiary in continental Europe.|date=14 November 1994|publisher=Electronic Arts|via=TheFreeLibrary.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516130231/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Electronic+Arts+acquires+distributor+in+Spain%3b+forms+third+subsidiary...-a015926355|archive-date=16 May 2013|url-status=dead}} One of its founding directors, Miguel Angel Gomez, later became the managing director of EMI Spain;{{Cite magazine|last=Llewellyn|first=Howell|date=2 November 1996|title=EMI Spain ups VP Miguel Angel Gomez to managing director|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQkEAAAAMBAJ|magazine=Billboard|volume=108|issue=44|access-date=28 July 2020|via=Google Books}} another, Jesús Alonso Gallo, went on to sell another business, Restaurantes.com, to the Michelin Group.{{Cite web|title=Jesús Alonso Gallo, business angel y fundador de restaurantes.com|trans-title=Jesús Alonso Gallo, business angel and founder of restaurantes.com|url=https://www.elreferente.es/emprendedores/jesus-alonso-gallo--1153|access-date=10 July 2020|website=www.elreferente.es|language=ES}}

In September 1995 they distributed the first E-books designed for children, as produced by Broderbund.{{Cite press release|date=1 September 1995|title=DRO Soft comercializa los Living Books de Broderbund|trans-title=DRO Soft distributes Broderbund Living Books|url=https://www.pcworld.es/articulos/boletin-de-noticias/dro-soft-comercializa-los-living-books-de-broderbund-482860/|access-date=10 July 2020|publisher=DROsoft|via=PCWorld|language=es|archive-date=11 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711232713/https://www.pcworld.es/articulos/boletin-de-noticias/dro-soft-comercializa-los-living-books-de-broderbund-482860/|url-status=dead}} Their last published game was the Spanish version of Discworld in 1995.{{Cite web |title=Dro Soft |url=https://www.mobygames.com/company/1613/dro-soft/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}