In July 1986, Mindscape acquired the assets of Scarborough Systems, a software company from
Tarrytown, New York.[7] Scarborough Systems continued its operations through Lifeboat Assoc., a
subsidiary that was not acquired by Mindscape.[8] In October, SFN announced that it would be selling or closing large parts of its business, including plans to liquidate Mindscape.[9] On December 31, Mindscape also acquired the assets of
Roslyn, New York-based company Learning Well.[7] Because Mindscape was not liquidated by the end of 1986, it was assigned to SFN Partners L.P., a
limited partnership company.[7] A new corporation set up by Buoy and SFN's former president and
chairman, John Purcell, subsequently acquired Mindscape from SFN Partners on January 16, 1987, for $3 million.[7][10] Buoy retained his positions in the company, while Purcell became its chairman.[7] At this point, Mindscape had 74 employees.[7]
With sales of $12 million, Mindscape had become profitable for the first time in the fourth quarter of 1986; it started publishing black numbers by 1987.[7][10] In early 1987, Mindscape introduced the Thunder Mountain label to produce software at a lower price, with Rambo: First Blood Part II being the first title to be produced under the label.[11] In March 1987, Mindscape acquired the software division of
Holt, Rinehart and Winston formerly known as CBS Interactive Learning, with all operations moved to Mindscape's
Northbrook, Illinois, headquarters.[1] By June 1988, Mindscape filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to prepare an
initial public offering (IPO) and become a
public company.[10] The move aimed at raising $9.6 million through sale of stock to reduce its bank loan debts of $9.8 million.[10] The IPO was completed that same month, with the company commencing trading
over-the-counter, and the first shares were issued by July.[12][13] Bob Ingersoll and Dennis O'Malley were appointed
vice president (VP) of marketing and VP of sales, respectively, in May 1987.[14] In November, Mindscape signed a lease of 21,000 square feet (2,000 m2) of office space in
Wheeling, Illinois, for $236,000.[15] Robert A. Drell, formerly of Dresher Inc., became VP of finance and chief financial officer in October 1988.[16]
Under The Software Toolworks and Pearson (1989–1997)
In December 1989, video game company
The Software Toolworks reached an agreement to acquire Mindscape, exchanging every Mindscape share for 0.4375 of a share in newly issued Toolworks
common stock.[17] The deal was completed on March 13, 1990 and valued at $21.2 million.[18][19] Mindscape had been one of the approximately forty companies licensed to develop for
Nintendo video game platforms, which was a major reason for the acquisition.[18][19][20] The two companies merged, and Buoy joined
Les Crane on Toolworks' company board.[21] Following the acquisition, Mindscape became Toolwork's division working exclusively on games for Nintendo platforms, which sharply increased Toolwork's earnings.[18][19][22] Subsequently, in March 1994,
Pearson plc agreed to acquire Toolworks for $462 million, with the deal closing on May 12, 1994.[23][24]
Pearson was criticized for overpaying in the acquisition, and the acquired company lost $69 million in its early years under Pearson.[25][26] By November 1994, Toolworks had assumed the Mindscape identity.[27] The same year, Mindscape acquired video game developer
Strategic Simulations.[28] In September 1995, it acquired Micrologic Software from
Emeryville, California, to undisclosed terms.[29] In January 1996, John F. Moore became CEO after leaving the same position at
Western Publishing.[30] In November, it laid off twelve developed staff as a
cost reduction measure.[31] In 1997, Mindscape acquired software company Multimedia Design.[32] In its final year under Pearson, 1997, Mindscape become profitable again, generating $2.7 million.[33] One day prior to the release of Lego Island that year, Mindscape fired all of the development team that worked on the game to avoid paying them bonuses.[34]
Under The Learning Company and later years (1998–2011)
Pearson proceeded to sell Mindscape to
The Learning Company (TLC) in March 1998 for $150 million in cash and stock.[35] A waiting period was temporarily imposed by the
Federal Trade Commission and subsequently terminated the same month.[36] TLC expected that its stocks would rise $0.05 per share as a result of the acquisition, while Pearson lost around $347 million.[33][37] Later that year, when TLC integrated its
Broderbund division, Mindscape took over Broderbund's productivity, reference and entertainment brands.[38] The company's Mindscape unit would acquire Petz developer
PF.Magic in 1998.[39] TLC would be eventually acquired by
Mattel in May 1999 and became a subsidiary of the company's
Mattel Media division, later renamed
Mattel Interactive.[40] By then, Mattel occasionally used the Mindscape name for publishing.
TLC and Mattel Interactive's gaming assets were acquired by
Gores Technology Group in 2000 and its game brands were reformed under a new entity, Game Studios, in January 2001.[41] The same year, former
TLC-Edusoft executive Jean-Pierre Nordman bought out Mindscape from TLC, installing it as a separate entity in
Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb of
Paris, France, and assuming a managerial role.[3][42]
In October 2005, French video game developer and publisher
Coktel Vision was sold to Mindscape, wherein eleven Coktel employees were absorbed into Mindscape.[43] The Coktel brand name, however, was retained by Mindscape many years afterwards; its history officially ended in 2011 when Mindscape closed.[44]
By December 2009, Thierry Bensoussan had become the
managing director for Mindscape.[45] The company opened an internal development studio, Punchers Impact, in
Paris to develop multi-platform
digital download games.[45] The studio's managers, Guillaume Descamps and Jérôme Amouyal, left the studio less than a year later, in September 2010, to found a new studio, Birdies Road.[46] Punchers Impact developed two games—Crasher, a
racing game, and U-Sing, a
music game. U-Sing performed well at retail, but the cost of music licenses for the game had a severe impact on its revenue, while Crasher underperformed in general.[47][48] As a result, Mindscape announced on August 10, 2011, that it had closed Punchers Impact and laid off its forty employees, while itself would effectively exit the
video game industry.[49] Some regional subsidiaries, such as Mindscape Asia-Pacific in
Sydney, Australia, continued operating in the video game business as entities independent from Mindscape.[50]