A world first in its use of graphics and images, The Hobbit was revolutionary in its use of ‘real-time gaming’.The Hobbit transformed the world games scene and was a runaway best seller with over a million units sold.

Future success was to follow (1984) with the The Hobbit’s sequel, again based on JRR Tolkein’s novels, The Lord of the Rings. Selling over half a million units, The Lord of the Rings confirmed that Australian games production was leading the world both in design and technology.

1986 was the year of the Way of the Exploding Fist. Widely regarded as the first ever one on one home beat 'em up, this Commodore 64 classic sold over half a million units and was number 1 in sales throughout Europe in 1986, while Melbourne House, Beam’s publishing label, titles accounted for 20% of all games sold worldwide in that year.

Following the blockbuster success of these early games Beam went on to make a further 75 game titles including the renowned Shadowrun and Smash TV for SNES, the 3D based Mechwarrior, and the Dame Was Loaded just to name a few.

In 1996 Beam Software became the first publicly listed games company on the Australian Stock Exchange. Following its listing Melbourne House marked its listing with seminal Krush Kill and Destroy (KKND) for Playstation . Further successes followed with KKND2, Cricket 97, Alien Earth and the stylish racing game Dethkarz.