Access Software found the beating heart of the full-motion-video craze. Founded in 1982, it created Tex Murphy, a down-on-his-luck private eye in a post-apocalyptic future San Francisco, and built a series of adventures around him that blended real actors, live-action video and free-roaming 3D exploration into something warm, funny and genuinely noir. When most FMV games were stiff and silly, Tex Murphy had wit, heart and a proper mystery. On the side, Access also made Links, for years the most respected golf simulation in the business.
This is the studio's run: the FMV detective, the golf sim, and one of the most likeable heroes of adventure gaming. Here is the map.
The essential Access
Start here
The Tex Murphy casebook
Noir, humour and full-motion video
A short history of Access Software
- 1982Access Software is founded in Salt Lake City.
- 1989Mean Streets introduces the detective Tex Murphy.
- 1990Links sets the standard for the golf simulation.
- 1994Under a Killing Moon becomes a high point of the FMV adventure.
- 1996The Pandora Directive deepens Tex Murphy's noir world.
The people who built Access
The creators and the face of Tex Murphy. Follow either to their full catalogue.
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Shows and themes that go deep on this era of gaming.
More golden-age studios
Every studio in the series. More on the way.
It turned full-motion video into a smoky, funny, noir detective adventure. That was Access Software.
Frequently asked
What is Access Software best known for?
The Tex Murphy series of full-motion-video detective adventures and the Links golf simulation series. Access was one of the studios that made the FMV adventure genuinely work.
Who is Tex Murphy?
Tex Murphy is a down-on-his-luck private detective in a post-apocalyptic future, the star of a series of Access Software adventures blending live-action video with 3D exploration. The series is beloved for its noir atmosphere and humour.
Did Access Software make Links golf?
Yes. Alongside the Tex Murphy adventures, Access Software developed Links, for many years one of the most respected golf simulation series in gaming.