Many of Broderbund's software titles, such as The Print Shop, PrintMaster, and Mavis Beacon, are still published under the name "Brøderbund".

Games released by the revived Broderbund are distributed by Encore, Inc. Brøderbund is now the brand name for Riverdeep's graphic design, productivity, and edutainment titles such as The Print Shop, Carmen Sandiego, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, the Living Books series, and Reader Rabbit titles, in addition to publishing software for other companies, notably Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm.

The company would often release school editions of their games, which contained extra features to allow teachers to use the software to facilitate students' learning.

Before founding the company, Doug was a lawyer and Gary had held several jobs, including teaching Swedish at an American college.

[10] Gary Carlston said "If we had known we were going to be successful we would not have [chosen that name], as we endured a fair bit of criticism because of the South African connection".

Brøderbund v. Unison (1986) became a landmark case in establishing that the look and feel of a software product could be subject to copyright protection.

[20] After considering another merger with Electronic Arts in 1994,[21] Brøderbund stock price and market capitalization climbed to $72.50 per share by September 1995,[5] and then fell steadily because of continued losses for several years.

[28] Doug Carlston explained that in a bid to roll up Broderbund, SoftKey used their previous acquisitions to weaken the company's position in the industry.

They allegedly gave a rebate to Mindscape's PrintMaster, a direct competitor to Broderbund's Print Shop, that was more than the product was worth.

[31] Mattel reeled from the financial impact of this transaction, and Jill E. Barad, the CEO, ended up being forced out in a climate of investor outrage.

[40] In 2017, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt offered the Brøderbund, The Print Shop, Calendar Creator, and ClickArt brands for licensing.

The company became a powerhouse in the educational and entertainment software markets with titles like Fantavision, Choplifter, Apple Panic, Lode Runner, Karateka, Wings of Fury, Prince of Persia, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, The Guardian Legend, Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, and Myst, which stayed the highest grossing home video game for years.

By the end of the 1980s, games represented only a few percent of Broderbund's annual sales, which by then were heavily focused in the productivity arena and early education and learning areas.

Just before being acquired by The Learning Company (formerly SoftKey), Broderbund spun off its Living Books series by forming a joint venture with Random House Publishing.

[47] All of Broderbund's games for the NES, including the port of its own franchises Lode Runner, Spelunker, and Raid on Bungeling Bay, were developed by third-party Japanese companies.

Broderbund published some titles that were produced by companies that didn't have a North American subsidiary, such as Irem's Deadly Towers, Compile's The Guardian Legend, Imagineer's The Battle of Olympus, and Legacy of the Wizard, the fourth installment in Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer series.

[50] In 1990, Broderbund sold its New Ventures Division, including manufacturing equipment, inventory, and assets, to then-fledgling company THQ.