The amazing tale of the UK game industry is a must-watch

Way back when I was just a little boy, my first ever home computer was a Commodore VIC-20. I graduated to a Sinclair ZX Spectrum + a year or so later in about 1990. I can remember buying games on audio cassette in WH Smith, patiently typing in lines of BASIC from written instruction and my parents telling me that my £7.99 copy of Hero Quest was "too much for a game and we'll never spend that much on one game ever again". But those halcyon days of the games industry are long gone and in the heady days of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One's global success, the industry's UK roots are being forgotten. That's where From Bedrooms to Billions comes in.

It's a film that documents the astronomical rise of the games industry from the bedrooms of amateur coders--who realised they could make money from their hobby by copying tapes and selling them by mail order--through to the revolutionary shake-up of the industry when the 16-bit consoles emerged. Truth is, we never really had that infamous E.T./Atari slump in the UK, because we were perfectly happy playing with our Speccys and Commodore 64s. This film shows that side of story. Look, it's got Jeff Minter in it:

The film was made by Anthony and Nicola Caulfield and was crowd-funded through Indiegogo (and I'm pleased to say we ran a story urging people to support it, back in 2012). It's a long film at some 2.5 hours long and there is as much bonus footage again available if you want it. Why is it so long? It's full of interviews with industry luminaries, like Peter Molyneux, The Oliver Twins, Dave Perry, Mark Healey and loads more. And they've all got interesting things to say.

I've watched the digital version of the film and would recommend it to anyone who wonders what gaming used to be like 'in the olden days', or already knows and wants to get nostalgic. You can buy it from www.frombedroomstobillions.com for £9.95 upwards, depending on which edition you want and whether you want a download or a boxed Blu-Ray or DVD.

Do you have something really cool that you'd like to share with us? Let us know! Maybe we'll even post it. Can email us at suggestions@gamesradar.com or find us on Twitter @GamesRadar.

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

Latest in Games
Dragon Age Inquisition
Dragon Age actor says the last time he played Inquisition, he upheld the RPG tradition led by Baldur's Gate 3 actors and romanced his own character: "Which is the best — the best"
Monster Hunter Wilds
Capcom promises "this is just the start for the next generation of Monster Hunter" as Wilds shatters sales milestones: "The Guild authorizes this celebration!"
Lester sitting at a computer in some artwork for GTA Online
Some GTA 5 players can't bring their characters to the new PC upgrade, and the open-world game's mixed Steam reviews are hammering FPS caps and a lack of text chat
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Assassin's Creed Shadows is the first game in the series with "a fully customizable sandbox" as your base, which is where Yasuke and Naoe hang out and pet baby animals
Monster Hunter Wilds screenshot of spider boss Nerscylla
Monster Hunter Wilds takes an infamously rare and annoying material from the old games and absolutely buries you in it – and also buries you in tiny spiders
Marvel Rivals Clone Rumble
Marvel Rivals' new Clone Rumble mode sounds like the kind of absolute chaos multiplayer games need more of
Latest in Features
Monster Hunter Wilds
Playing Monster Hunter Wilds in multiplayer is a confusing mess, but in defiance of Capcom I've jury-rigged a co-op campaign that actually works
Shoto Hinata in Haikyu!! The Movie: VS The Little Giant
Haikyuu VS The Little Giant: Release date speculation, story, trailer, and everything we know so far
Batman (2025) #1
DC’s new Batman relaunch finally has me excited to follow the Caped Crusader again
Ghost of Tsushima screenshot of Jin interacting with a fox
Assassin's Creed Shadows' Knowledge system sounds like it's tapping into what I loved most about Ghost of Tsushima
Fighting side-scrolling opponents in Absolum
Street of Rage 4's developer returns with Absolum – a fantasy flavored beat 'em up with a Hades twist
Cooking in Monster Hunter Wilds
As a stalwart member of the Dual Blades community, Monster Hunter Wilds has done us dirty by not importing Rise's beloved Wirebugs