1985 was the height of the British home computer scene; an era of games delivered on cassette tapes by young coders producing innovative titles straight out of their bedrooms. Among the most notable of these developers were Ultimate<\/strong>, already responsible for ground-breaking titles like Jetpac <\/em>and Knight Lore<\/em> \u2013 but the studio\u2019s founders weren\u2019t about to rest on their laurels.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was the year that Ultimate co-creators Tim and Chris Stamper would form Rare<\/strong> \u2013 an ambitious new studio intended to focus on dedicated video game consoles, which had already established themselves in Japan and were about to take the rest of the world by storm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2025 marks the 40th \u2018Ruby\u2019 Anniversary of that bold endeavour, and Rare\u2019s inviting everyone to join the celebration of this impressive milestone, offering free gifts, discounts and plenty of swag to claim in their shared-world pirate adventure, Sea of Thieves<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Celebrations begin today,\u00a0August 4, the official anniversary date, with the unveiling of a heritage plaque at the site of Ultimate\u2019s first home in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. For those not within striking distance of the English Midlands, however, there are new gamerpics and an Xbox dynamic background (above) starring a who\u2019s-who of Rare characters old and new.\u00a0<\/p>\nPictures, Plaques and Pressings<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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