Gameware Studio Diary

We are not alone

Last month�s Develop magazine, an industry monthly for game developers, carried some optimistic pieces reflecting on some of the rarely reported positive changes taking place in the UK developer community. Whilst the last eighteen months have seen perhaps a couple of dozen studios shutting down, several larger studios have continued to grow and prosper, including publisher�s in-house operations. In the process they are providing employment and a creative outlet for very many of the talented individuals who would otherwise be forced out of games and into, shall we say, less �interesting� forms of employment. At the same time, the industry is seeing an encouraging number of new, focused teams emerge, a good case in point being Venom Games, Indie Games and Juice Games, all three of which have been built up by teams previously employed at Rage, which shut down earlier this year.

Of course, the creation of new studios and specialist development houses is not exclusively a function of one company going down and another springing up in consequence. Many studios come into being as a result of individuals or groups moving on to try their hand at building a business and realising their dream projects. Here in Cambridge, we�ve seen this happen several times and it makes a nice example of location theory in action. Here are a few cases in point:

Back in 2000, our friends Mike, Tameem and Nina left Sony Cambridge to create Just Add Monsters and produced the hugely original and totally over the top Kung Fu Chaos for X-Box. Find out more about JAM at www.justaddmonsters.com

In 2001, Ben and Toby Simpson left Creature Labs to set up Nicely Crafted Entertainment and develop Time of Defiance, a huge, galaxy-spanning MMPORPG receiving critical acclaim from round the world. Check out NiCE�s current projects at www.nicelycrafted.com

Also in 2001, Andrew Barnabas and Paul �Bob� Arnold, formerly in-house musicians at SCEE (and the guys responsible for the ambient strains of the first Creature title) set up their own music composition and sound design facility, Bob and Barn. Subsequently they�ve completed a succession of top-notch audio productions for games as well as TV ads, films and mixed media. Read more at www.bobandbarn.com

Several other former C-Labs staff have been working in loose collaboration and gone on to create their own games which are now available online. Check out the recently released Jig Jag and Fleafall, for free at www.jigjag.com and www.fleafall.com Enjoy!

Yet more experienced individuals are joining a growing number of locally based freelance programmers, artists and designers, such as www.camcreatives.com In fact, it is largely from the freelance community that Gameware draws its skill-base � a phenomenon likely to be repeated much more widely in the coming years, as the games development process tends ever closer to production models in other creative fields such as music, television and film.

Add these outfits up, throw in the mighty Sony Cambridge studio and long-time local devco, David Braben�s Frontier Developments (www.frontier.co.uk), both of which have employed a number of ex-Creature Labbers and I reckon you�re looking at a burgeoning area for games development by any standards.

So, Gameware Development is just one of many games companies round here and one of many newer ones in the UK at that. This really does reflect well on the resilience and enthusiasm that has long been characteristic of British development - and long may it continue!