Novotrade Ltd.

Import, computer service, spare parts supply, development, printing, development of corporate management systems, technical developments (measuring technology software).

He was among the first to bring computers (Commodore 64) to Hungarian workplaces, schools, and homes in the early stages of the spread of personal computers (from 1982).

The company primarily dealt with imports and the development of gaming software.

The most well-known game software developed are the games "Ecco the Dolphin" and "Eureka!".

Until 1988, the main profile was game software development in Western Europe and America. Game software was rewritten for incompatible systems. (Commodore, IBM, Spektrum…)

The first software was sold to EA in 1984, later developed for Sega, Nintendo, and then for Sony Playstation.

In 1988, they were commissioned by Borland to develop a spreadsheet/database management application, which was completed in 6 months. This became Quattro (the competition was the Lotus 1,2,3 application), of which 1 million units were sold within 1 year of its completion.

A significant number of professional books have been published related to the Commodore 64.

They were among the first in Hungary to release off-the-shelf software applications and the first AppleStore is also linked to their name (Almárium Kft.).

One of the last major projects was in the late 90s, when SunBooks, a sophisticated system for logistics between book publishers and booksellers (on IBM machines), was developed.

The company was founded on January 6, 1983, in which, in addition to the founding members, 93 business organizations (state-owned enterprises, TSZ, banks, financial institutions, etc.) participated. Its establishment required a special permit from the Council of Ministers due to a previous law (regulating socialist company forms). The company that was created was – at that time – the only one not under the control of any ministry. In 1988, the company already had companies in Germany, Anguilla and the USA, at which time they changed their name to Novotrade International. In 1988, they signed a contract with Microsoft for representation in Hungary, but this was finally terminated in 1990. They opened several stores for software and hardware distribution (e.g.: ATARI store on Andrássy Avenue, PC Szalon). The company also founded the first Apple store in Hungary, Almárium (Budapest, Pozsonyi Street). The company is also known for developing a Commodore64 cartridge, which, when connected to an Optima typewriter, could produce very high-quality printed images (written text).

The game software development department was sold to the management, which was then acquired by SEGA, and the name of this division was changed to Appaloosa Inc. Novotrade still had several development companies (e.g. ASK), but they were already dealing with other areas, not game software. In 1999, the company's most significant development, and ultimately the biggest failure, came, the Sunbooks B2B project. They wanted to create an industry solution for the book industry (connecting suppliers and publishers within one program). A fully automated software and backoffice system were created, so the annual turnover of 700,000,000.- HUF increased to 6,000,000,000.- HUF. The goals were ultimately not achieved, as the logistics could not fulfill the service (orders had to be prepared and mailed from central warehouses within 24 hours). The central software would have provided a neutral service against the current monopolies of a few large bookstores. The company was renamed Genesis Energy NyRt in 2006, and then Hun Mining NyRt in 2012. The founder, Dr. Gábor Rényi, left in 2010. The listed company is still alive, but now with a completely different purpose.

It was one of the first Hungarian privately owned joint stock companies.

The institution always had a total of 4-5 employees, project managers, who were the leaders of the given (mostly) development projects. The development tasks were performed by subcontractors. There was a period when 200-300 programmers worked for them.

Around 1988, Bill Gates personally approached Gábor Rényi about leading Microsoft in Hungary.

 The completed software was sent to customers in America via modem internet connection (see Linda film) as early as 1988.

Around 1990, they were among the first people in Hungary to receive an email address.

Before founding Novotrade, Dr. Gábor Rényi worked with Ernő Rubik, and then a prototype of a game he had received was sent abroad, which led Texas Instruments to inquire about whether there was another similar development, which is where the idea of founding the development company came from.

In the beginning, an advance of 10,000 USD per software, which increased with international recognition, for example, for the development of Quattro they already received an advance of 1,000,000 USD. Around the 2000s, an annual turnover of 700,000,000.- HUF, which later increased to 6-7,000,000,000.- HUF

In January 1983, a competition for writing game software was announced (in the program I Offer – for the National Economy), for which more than 1,000 applications were received. The selected applicants received a Commodore 64 (C64) machine, on which they had to program the software. What was difficult (both in terms of development and import) was that the Commodore had a Motorola 8502 chip, which was on the so-called COCOM list (this list contained chips that could be used for military purposes), so permission had to be requested from America for each import, and the company's developers did not receive the documentation for the chips. In Hungary, home computers were manufactured by SZKI, Videoton and the Híradástechnikai Szövetkezet, but they were not competitive with Commodore (annual production of devices in Hungary was 500-1,000 pcs/year, while Commodore's was 5,000,000 pcs/year), so imports were more profitable. Computer technology at that time was not as homogeneous as it is today (now 2-3 platforms, back then 7-8), but it was still worth translating software for all platforms. In 1986, the first Hungarian Commodore show was organized in the Petőfi Hall, which was attended by several hundred exhibitors, and then the Commodore Association's magazine was launched (a monthly magazine for Commodore developers). Approximately 1,200,000 volumes of specialist books were published related to the C64 (programming languages, description and explanation of application software). In 1988, they developed a spreadsheet/database management application called Quattro, which was commissioned by an international company and was a great success.

In addition to game software, they were engaged in print publishing (IT books) and the development of educational software (Oktaszoft and Deltaszoft). The educational software was so-called off-the-shelf applications (in Hungary, previously only custom-developed, thus expensive software was available); they were provided with minimal protection, contained a short description, were put together in a folder, and then covered with foil were placed on store shelves.