 In 1986 , Cockayne took a decision to alter their products for release on 16 @-@ bit consoles , as he found that smaller 8 @-@ bit consoles , such as the ZX Spectrum , lacked the processing power for larger strategy games . The decision was falsely interpreted as " pulling out " from the Spectrum market by video game journalist Phillipa Irving . Following years of successful sales throughout the mid 1980s , Personal Software Services experienced financial difficulties , in what Cockayne admitted in a retrospective interview that " he took his eye off the ball " . The company was acquired by Mirrorsoft in February 1987 , and was later dispossessed by the company due to strains of debt . 
