Spectrum ZX Vega + encounter further delays, blamed on former company directors

Problems continue for the development of the Spectrum ZX Vega+, with the beleaguered console bringing news of further delays.

Retro Computers, the company behind the forthcoming Spectrum ZX Vega+, has come forward to announce a further delay to the retro handheld, just a week after the BBC reported that Retro Computers threatened them with legal action if they reported on delays behind the hardware.

Retro Computers say these new delays are due to a new hardware problem that has been orchestrated by the company’s former directors, the latest a string of personal attacks from Retro Computers.

"During what we had expected would be final testing of the product prior to the first shipment, we discovered that the software for three of the user features, which had been announced for the product, had not yet been implemented," Retro Computers boss Suzanne Martin told Eurogamer in an interview, which is where the following quotes are sourced from. 

"We are taking immediate action to rectify this situation, but realistically we now expect it to take a few weeks before we will be ready to ship the first units. All of us at Retro Computers Ltd very much regret these delays. We are at least a thousand times more frustrated than you are.”

The reason behind these problems? According to Retro Computers, the fault lies at the feet of former directors Chris Smith and Paul Andrews, who Martin alleges took the handheld’s software when they departed.

Martin has also said that some of the 1,000 games that were planned for inclusion on the device have had to be pulled from the platform after rights holders withdrew permission. This was also due to the departing directors, with Martin suggesting that "Andrews has been contacting rights owners and encouraging them to remove their permissions."

Andrews and Smith vigorously deny these claims.