In his early life Darling lived on three continents—in the UK, in the Netherlands, in Australia, in France and in Canada—before finally settling in Crewkerne, Somerset.

Initially Codemasters concentrated on what were known as "budget" games at the £1.99 then £2.99 pricepoint for 8-bit home computers such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.

Within the first year of trading Codemasters was the best selling game publisher in Britain with in excess of 27% of the total market according to the Gallup charts.

[5] In the Queen's birthday honours in 2008, Darling was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for "services to the computer games industry".

[7] In July 2012, Darling used his personal blog on the Kwalee website to say that video game consoles have become "like dinosaurs heading for extinction."

[8] In the same month, Darling also met with Vince Cable MP to discuss the British Government's plans for business growth in Leamington Spa.