Sydney Development Corporation

Sydney Development Corporation ("SDC"), was the first publicly-traded software company in Canada. Founded by Tarrnie Williams, SDC developed an online real-time project management system for the IBM System z^{[citation needed]} mainframe computer, then various different business applications for microcomputers such as the Apple II, and eventually became the first developer and publisher of computer games for microcomputers in Canada.^[1][2]

Sydney Development Corporation

Industry	Enterprise Application Software (EAS) video games
Founded	1978
Founder	Tarrnie Williams
Defunct	1989
Headquarters	Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada
Key people	Tarrnie Williams
Revenue	Can$21 million In 1983
Number of employees	~100

In 1981, SDC agreed to publish Evolution by Don Mattrick and Jeff Sembers, after Williams's 10-year-old son enjoyed a demo of the game.^[3] Evolution sold over 400,000 copies, and Mattrick and Sembers went on to found Distinctive Software.^[4]

Sydney Development Corp. was the fastest-growing public company in Canada in the five-year period 1978 to 1983 with fiscal year 1983 revenues of Can$21 million (equivalent to $57 million in 2023^[5]).^{[citation needed]}

The company filed for bankruptcy on 23 May 1989.^[6]