Emerald Software was founded in early 1988 with financial support from the Irish government. First based in the UK, it relocated to Waterford and was the first big developer in Ireland eventually with about seventeen programmers and five graphic artists. It was established by Mike Dixon (formerly EMI) and Dave Martin (formerly Martech).
Emerald Software has been active in the gaming industry from 1988 to 1990, with 3 titles tracked on PlayPile. Their catalog primarily spans Platform, Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Shooter, with additional titles in Arcade. The studio carries a solid 65.9/100 average rating across their catalog, with 1 titles rated favorably by the community. Their highest-rated title on PlayPile is Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (65.9/100). Games from Emerald Software are available across 8 platforms, most notably Amiga, DOS, Atari ST/STE.