[citation needed] As a home and small office software publisher, SoftKey bought the rights to application packages from their authors and distributed them under its own "Key" label.

[7] In 1986, SoftKey released specialized graphics package KeyChart for the IBM PC and compatibles, designed to make time-consuming plotting easier.

[11] With the acquisition of Broderbund, it obtained multiple award-winning brands including Carmen Sandiego, The Print Shop, Living Books, Family Tree Maker, Arthur, and KidPix.

[12] According to founder Kevin O'Leary, SoftKey's business model focused on marketing its retail software products similarly to consumer goods.

[13] O'Leary emphasized offering retailers a diverse range of titles to mitigate risk and ensure a specific sales volume in exchange for allocated shelf space.

[6] SoftKey introduced innovations such as revolving racks for software packaged in standard CD jewel cases, enabling more efficient product displays.

[14] The company expanded software sales from niche markets to general retail locations, including Office Depot, Radio Shack, Willson Stationers, and SmithBooks.

[17] O'Leary wanted to "produce products to service that 40 percent of the market that hasn't bought educational software because of pricing issues.

[23] SoftKey products were sold in more than 19,000 stores in over 40 countries [24] In June of that year, Montgomery Securities raised more than $60 million for the company.

[29][30] He convinced other companies to bundle SoftKey's products with their own, later licensing software from other firms, which proved more cost-effective than internal development.

[34] In October 1995, SoftKey initiated a bidding war against Broderbund for Learning Company, launching a hostile offer valued at $606 million.

SoftKey also announced it had agreed to buy the Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation (MECC) for $370 million, throwing a wrench into Broderbund's offer.

[13][35] O'Leary commented, "They're working on the economics of yesterday", stating that "Learning's premium-priced products were out of step with trends in the market.

[citation needed] MECC' senior vice president of product development Susan Schilling stated: "[O'Leary] had an interest in earning money.

[44] In March 1998, Softkey, now called The Learning Company, acquired Mindscape Inc. from Pearson PLC for $150 million in cash and stock.

[46] In June 1998, Learning Co. agreed to buy rival Broderbund Software Inc., publisher of the blockbuster game Myst, in a stock deal valued at about $416 million.

[4][48] A few weeks later O'Leary, who had been hired as president of Mattel's new TLC digital division, sold his stock in the company for $6 million.

[57][4][58] In January 2000, Mattel brought on software executive and former Sega of America president Bernie Stolar to assist with their financial troubles.

Blake Montgomery of EdSurge wrote, "For many years, people making educational products didn't want them to be entertaining because that could be called "edutainment" and that would hurt your funding.”[61] On April 3, 2000, Mattel announced its plan to dissolve its assets related to the software business.