WHEN MIRRORSOFT SANK
SAVING THE FIRST SAMURAI
W hen, on the 5 November 1991, Mirror Group owner Robert Maxwell died after falling from his yacht near the Canary Islands, it incited a seismic effect on many companies, not least the developers who were busy creating games for Mirror Group’s software house, Mirrorsoft. After Maxwell’s death, enormous inconsistencies were discovered in the Mirror Group’s accounts, and the company quickly subsided into bankruptcy. First Samurai had just shipped, and an estimated 80,000 copies had been sent to distributors for its first run on the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. “With bated breath, we were just waiting to see what would happen, as there were so many rumours,” recounts Mev in his book, Life Is A Game. “Suddenly, we heard the terrible news that the whole group, including Mirrorsoft had gone into receivership.”