Private company

Rainbow Arts

German video game developer

Rainbow Arts Software GmbH was a German video game publisher based in Gütersloh.2 From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 19, 2026.

Overview

1984Founded1
  • Industryvideo game industry1
  • HeadquartersDüsseldorf1
  • Founded inGütersloh1
  • Legal formGesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung1

Rainbow Arts Software GmbH was a German video game publisher based in Gütersloh.2

The story

The company was founded in 1984 by Marc Ullrich and Thomas Meiertoberens and acquired by Rushware in 1986. The company's decline began in the early 1990s: The distributor did not manage to cover the costs of selling the titles worldwide, while development costs were constantly rising. The Rainbow Arts name lost its notoriety since then. The parent companies Rushware and Softgold were in turn bought up by the American games manufacturer THQ in 1999. In 1999, Funsoft Holding, which acquired Rushware and sister company Softgold in 1992, sold Rushware to THQ, which was incorporated into THQ Deutschland, THQ's German operations arm.

Rainbow Arts also led one of the first lawsuits in 1993 on the question whether competition exists between a software company and a bulletin board system of similar name ("Rainbow BBS") operated by a student, so that claims under trademark law are enforceable. This was confirmed by the Munich District Court.

In January 2022, Ziggurat Interactive acquired more than 80 titles from Rainbow Arts.

From Wikipedia’s article on Rainbow Arts, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

  • Turrican

Listed on Wikidata.1

3001 O'Connor's Fight

Apprentice

The Baby of Can Guru

Bad Cat

Read the full text

Black Gold

Der Blaue Kristall

Blockout (Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS)

Bozuma

Circus Attractions

Claim to Power

Conqueror

The Curse of RA

Day of the Pharaoh

Danger Freak

Denaris

Down at the Trolls

Earthworm Jim (MS-DOS)

Earthworm Jim 2 (MS-DOS)

East vs. West: Berlin 1948

Future Tank

Flies: Attack on Earth

Garrison

Garrison II: The Legend Continues

Graffiti Man

Grand Monster Slam

The Great Giana Sisters

Hard'n'Heavy

Hurra Deutschland

Imperium Romanum

In 80 Days Around the World

Jinks

Katakis

Khalaan

Legend of Faerghail

Logical

Lollypop

Mr. Pingo

Money Molch

M.U.D.S. – Mean Ugly Dirty Sport

Mad TV

Madness

Masterblazer

Mystery of the Mummy

Nibbler (Amstrad CPC)

Oxxonian

Galactic Attack (Windows)

Realm of the Trolls

Rock'n Roll

R-Type (Commodore 64)

Rendering Ranger: R2

Sarcophaser

Shufflepuck Café (Amiga, MS-DOS)

Sky Fighter

Soldier

Spaceball

Spherical

St. Thomas

Starball

StarTrash

Street Cat

Sunny Shine on the Funny Side of Life

Thunder Boy

To Be on Top

Turrican

Turrican II: The Final Fight

Turrican 3: Payment Day

Time

Vision: The 5 Dimension Utopia

Volleyball Simulator

Warriors

X-Out

Z-Out

From Wikipedia’s article on Rainbow Arts, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1999Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1984Founded Founded in Gütersloh1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3