Royal Mail’s set of 12 postage stamps traces Britain’s role at the forefront of the games industry through the 1980s and 90s

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

A new set of postage stamps will celebrate the history of the British video game industry, from groundbreaking space sim Elite to blockbusting action adventure Tomb Raider.

Each of the 12 stamps in the collection features an image from a memorable and influential game, tracing the history of the industry from the 1980s. Also featured are classic titles such as Dizzy, Populous, Lemmings and Sensible Soccer.

“The UK has been at the forefront of the video games industry for decades,” said Royal Mail spokesman Philip Parker. “In the 1980s and 90s young designers grappled with coding on the new microcomputers and set the template for the industry with iconic games. We celebrate some of their landmark creations on stamps.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The evolution of Lara Croft games, from 1996 to 2013. Photograph: Royal Mail Group plc

The 12 games were selected with the help of games industry trade body UKIE as well as veteran video game journalist Julian Rignall, who worked on seminal gaming magazines Zzap!64 and Mean Machines, and Sam Dyer, creative director at Bitmap Books, which specialises in retro video game publications.

The set begins in the mid-80s, focusing on the work of development studios such as Bullfrog (Populous) and Codemasters (Dizzy, Micro Machines), before moving into the 90s with titles from Liverpool-based publisher Psygnosis (Lemmings and Wipeout), Derby’s Core Design (Tomb Raider) and Wakefield’s Team17 (Worms).

“This collection celebrates a selection of the great British video games that have helped define both the national and global development scene over decades,” said Jo Twist, chief executive of UKIE. “Video games are a key part of our cultural footprint.”

The stamps will go on sale on 21 January.