In the most recent issue of Develop, the industry magazine for the creators of video games, there’s a regional focus piece looking at the games sector in Scotland.
The piece pulls in quotes from a number of companies, including Rockstar North, Tag, eeGeo, Denki and YoYo Games.
The article explores the impact on the games industry, should Scotland become independent, as well as the influence of Abertay university and the collapse of Realtime Worlds in 2010.
It’s very well worth a read and picks up on a number of companies and individuals you never really hear from (outside your excitingly comprehensive and decisively well-written Scottish Games Network). Here’s a brief extract…
If you’re in doubt as to Scotland’s impact on the global games industry, consider this. Grand Theft Auto V is currently in production in the nation’s capital city of Edinburgh.
Quite simply, perhaps the most culturally important video game series of all time is a product of Scotland.
And yet triple-A is but one facet of the country’s rich variety of developers and games-related organisations. Indie games education and social also thrive in the UK’s northerly most region, making an impact felt the world over.
“In common with the rest of the UK development sector, Scotland is world renowned for excellence in design and creativity,” offers Andy Semple, Rockstar North’s studio director.
“The Scottish sector benefits from the close relationship between the companies that operate in the development space and a strong program of games courses in higher education. There is a great willingness from those already in the business to foster and support new talent coming through.”
Positive stuff indeed from one of the world’s most respected games studios, but Semple isn’t alone in his optimistic outlook. So much so, in fact, that it’s hard to find more than a whisper of negativity when talking to those from inside the Scottish games sector.
“Scotland’s development scene is thriving, absolutely,” offers Professor Louis Natanson, Aacademic director of the Institute for Arts, Media and Computer Games at renowned Dundee establishment the University of Abertay, in support of Semple’s statement.
“Realtime Worlds’ collapse sparked off a huge number of new start-ups focusing on different areas of the industry, which produces a healthy mix of different revenue models and approaches. It all helps make the Scottish scene much more diverse and much more resilient.”
You can read the rest of the article over on the Develop website, or in the latest issue.
