Broderbund

Broderbund was an American video game publisher and software developer founded in 1980 by brothers Doug and Gary Carlston in Eugene, Oregon. The company became one of the most influential publishers of the 1980s and 1990s across both entertainment software and educational games, publishing Prince of Persia, Myst, Lode Runner, and the Carmen Sandiego series before being acquired by SoftKey International in 1998 and dissolved into The Learning Company. The Broderbund name has continued in limited form through subsequent owners, but the company ceased meaningful independent operation after the SoftKey acquisition.

Lode Runner and the Early Years

Broderbund’s first major hit was Lode Runner in 1983, a puzzle platformer where players collected gold while avoiding enemies across hundreds of levels, with a built-in level editor that made it one of the earliest games with significant user-generated content. It sold over two million copies across multiple platforms and set the company’s trajectory toward games with broad appeal and lasting replayability. Choplifter, also published by Broderbund in 1982, was a side-scrolling helicopter rescue game that became a hit on the Apple II before spreading to other platforms.

Carmen Sandiego

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, first published in 1985 and developed by Broderbund itself, became one of the most successful educational software franchises in history. Players chased the fictional thief Carmen Sandiego across global locations, learning geography through gameplay. The series expanded to Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, and numerous other variations, becoming a classroom staple throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. A PBS television series ran from 1991 to 1996. Netflix revived the franchise as an animated series in 2019.

Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia, designed by Jordan Mechner and published by Broderbund in 1989, was a landmark in cinematic platforming. Mechner used rotoscoping, tracing over film footage of his brother running and jumping, to create animation that moved with unprecedented fluidity for a game of its era. The game’s one-hour time limit and punishing difficulty made it distinctive. Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame followed in 1993. The franchise rights eventually passed to Ubisoft, which published the modern Prince of Persia series beginning in 2003. Jordan Mechner recently reclaimed the original game’s rights.

Myst

Myst, developed by Cyan and published by Broderbund in 1993, became the best-selling PC game of all time until The Sims overtook it in 2002, with over six million copies sold. A first-person puzzle adventure set on a mysterious island with no instructions and no enemies, it was designed around exploration and discovery at a time when most games were action-focused. Myst’s success on CD-ROM helped drive adoption of the format and demonstrated that a patient, contemplative game could reach a mainstream audience. The sequel Riven was published by Broderbund in 1997.

Acquisition and Legacy

SoftKey International acquired Broderbund in 1998 for approximately $420 million, folding the company into The Learning Company brand. The acquisition effectively ended Broderbund as an independent publishing entity. The Learning Company was subsequently acquired by Mattel in 1999 and then sold at a significant loss. Various Broderbund properties including The Print Shop and Carmen Sandiego have changed hands multiple times. The Broderbund name has been used by subsequent owners to market software, but the company that published Myst and Prince of Persia ceased to exist as a meaningful entity after the SoftKey deal.