People
The individuals who made Palace Software what it was - in code, design, and notoriety.
Founders
Pete Stone
Co-founder · Director
Pete Stone co-founded Palace Software as part of the Palace Group entertainment business in 1983. He served as director and project manager throughout the company's independent years, overseeing the commercial and strategic direction of a studio that would become one of the most recognisable names in British 8-bit gaming.
Stone and Leinfellner's partnership defined Palace's identity: an appetite for bold subject matter, striking cover art, and technically ambitious games that stood out on the software shelves of the 1980s.
Richard Leinfellner
Co-founder · Lead Programmer · Technical Director
Richard Leinfellner co-founded Palace Software and served as its lead programmer and technical director. He is the primary source for Palace's history, having discussed the company's founding, the Barbarian years, and the Titus acquisition candidly in his "Blimey It's Only…" YouTube interview series.
Leinfellner departed following the 1991 Titus acquisition along with Pete Stone. Read interview excerpts →
Key Developers
Steve Brown / Steven Brown
Programmer - Cauldron, Cauldron II, Barbarian
Steve Brown programmed both Cauldron (1985) and Cauldron II (1986) for the C64, establishing the technical foundation for Palace's early platform and action game output. He is also credited as programmer on Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (1987), where he coded the fighting engine.
Michael Barlow
Artist - Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior
Michael Barlow created the in-game graphics for Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, bringing the sword-fighting warriors to life on screen. His sprite work on the C64 and Amiga versions contributed to Barbarian's distinctive visual impact.
Stan Schembri
Credited - various titles (C64 community documentation)
Stan Schembri is a Lemon64 forum contributor who has documented additional C64 credits for Palace Software titles, contributing to the preservation and attribution of Palace's development history within the C64 community.
Composer
Richard Joseph
Primary Composer - Barbarian, Barbarian II, Cauldron, Cauldron II, Antiriad, Advanced Pinball Simulator, Torvak
Richard Joseph was Palace Software's primary composer throughout 1985–1990, scoring many of their best-known soundtracks for C64 and Amiga. His Barbarian title theme is among the most recognised pieces of C64 music ever composed. His scores for Barbarian II, Cauldron II, and Sacred Armour of Antiriad are equally celebrated in the SID and MOD music communities.
Richard Joseph went on to compose for many other major titles before his death in 2007. His full biography, career, and extended musical catalogue are covered on the dedicated Richard Joseph fan site - this page does not duplicate that biography.
Barbarian Cover Models
Maria Whittaker
Cover Model - Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior
Maria Whittaker appeared as the female figure on the Barbarian box art, clad in amber fur-trimmed attire. Her appearance - alongside Michael Van Wijk - became the focal point of the Clean Up TV campaign complaints from Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers' and Listeners' Association in 1987.
The amber and honey tones of her costume, against the arena sand backdrop, directly inform this site's visual identity: the #c8872a amber-bronze accent is traceable to Barbarian's cover palette.
Michael Van Wijk
Cover Model - Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior
Dutch bodybuilder Michael Van Wijk appeared as the barbarian warrior on the Barbarian box art. Van Wijk was known in the UK primarily from the TV series The A-Team; he later became a cast member of Gladiators as the character "Wolf" - a career trajectory that became part of the Barbarian mythology.