[5][6][7][8] Gilsoft was set up by Tim Gilberts, at the time aged 17, in the early 1980s, using money from his father, who ran an electronics store.
[9] Gilberts had been writing software for the ZX81 prior to founding Gilsoft, but with the release of the ZX Spectrum, he was convinced that he could make money by satisfying the demand for games for the new platform.
[9] To simplify these games' development process, Yeandle created a proprietary authoring tool that would eventually become available commercially as The Quill.
[9] While the tool was released for a price of £14.95, Gilsoft expected no royalties from sales made with games developed using it.
[9] Eventually, Gilsoft as a limited company folded, and the team parted ways, including Gilberts' father, who started selling homebrew products.