Astound (company)

Astound, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in. It serves as the video game industry component for its parent company, Olshausen Inc., and includes several subsidiary studios. Astound is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world.

The company was founded in 1985 by Tom Olshausen, Frank A. Linfield and Gary Love, who had previously worked at (with Olshausen also having worked at  beforehand), out of a small office in, developing games for the , s,  computers, the , , the  and the. By the late-1980s, Astound had begun releasing games for consoles – primarily the the (NES), as well as the  and  – and became known for numerous series, including The Pursuit, KnightMyth, Project: Unknown and Acceleration!.

By the early-1990s, Astound saw critical acclaim for Dana Armstrong: Unleashed (1990), their first video game with a female main character, and strong sales for Gods & Heroes (1992) and Tales of The Nutcracker and Orville: Hero of the High Seas (both 1993). A 1995 management shift led to co-founders Linfield and Love leaving the company and Gordon Woodman being promoted to chief operating officer. With Tom Olshausen's other ventures in various technology sectors growing, he formed Olshausen Inc. as a holding company for his businesses. Astound started acquiring numerous studios and various types of intellectual property over the 1990s and 2000s, among these being the Menace, Global Combat and Dimensional Soccer Tournament series.

Studios
Currently operating studios are: Astound also owns a minority stake in South African developer Tegnotrade, of which it is the current primary publishing partner of.
 * Astound Studios Portland (formerly Woodland Software) in, founded in 1986, acquired in 1997.
 * Astound Studios Shanghai in, , founded in 2006.
 * Dimensional Developments in, , founded in 1986, acquired in 1999.
 * Gravitational Studios (formerly Parkway Software) in, , , founded in 1984, acquired in 2008.
 * Hi-Energy (formerly Austin Games Company and Lyrick Software) in, founded in 1991, acquired in 2004.
 * Imaxina in, , founded in 1984, acquired in 2001.
 * Industrial Graphics in, , founded in 1990, acquired in 2001.
 * KGS (formerly Köln-Game-Studios) in, , founded in 1986, acquired in 2003.
 * The Langley Studio in, , created in 2000.
 * The Machine Plant in, created in 2000.
 * River Otter Entertainment (formerly Industrial Gadgets & Gizmos) in, , founded in 1987, acquired in 1998.
 * Stan's Workshop in, founded in 1990, acquired in 2001.
 * Thoroughbred Software in, founded in 1995, acquired in 2002.