▁before ▁ce asing ▁publishing ▁in ▁favour ▁of ▁distribution ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 3 . ▁The ▁company ▁was ▁acquired ▁in ▁March ▁ 1 9 9 5 ▁by ▁Electron ic ▁Arts , ▁who ▁retired ▁the ▁King soft ▁name ▁later ▁that ▁year . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁Background ▁and ▁foundation ▁( 1 9 7 8 – 1 9 8 2 ) ▁ ▁Before ▁found ing ▁King soft , ▁Fritz ▁Sch ä fer ▁was ▁studying ▁elect rical ▁engineering ▁at ▁R W TH ▁A achen ▁University , ▁where ▁he ▁learned ▁to ▁program ▁in ▁the ▁Fort ran ▁programming ▁language . ▁Sim ult ane ously , ▁he ▁worked ▁a ▁day ▁job ▁for ▁a ▁Mc Donald ' s ▁restaurant ▁also ▁located ▁in ▁A achen . ▁Using ▁his ▁sal ary , ▁Sch ä fer ▁acquired ▁a ▁used ▁Com mod ore ▁P ET ▁ 2 0 0 1 ▁computer ▁for ▁a ▁low ▁price ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 8 . ▁Initial ly , ▁he ▁considered ▁res elling ▁the ▁computer ▁but ▁stuck ▁with ▁it ▁when ▁he ▁started ▁creating ▁small ▁video ▁games ▁made ▁in ▁the ▁B AS IC ▁programming ▁language , ▁and ▁later ▁taught ▁himself ▁to ▁program ▁in ▁the ▁assemb ler ▁language . ▁In ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 8 0 s , ▁ch ess ▁computers ▁had ▁become ▁popular ▁in ▁Germany , ▁with ▁such ▁device ▁being ▁sold ▁for ▁prices ▁r anging ▁between ▁several ▁hundred ▁and ▁over ▁ 1 , 0 0 0 ▁Deutsche ▁Mark ▁( DM ). ▁Sch ä fer , ▁himself ▁also ▁a ▁fan ▁of ▁ch ess , ▁considered ▁this ▁market ▁an ▁opportunity ▁to