Hutch Games Shares £375 Million With Staff

Hutch Games, a Dundee based studio, has been acquired by Modern Times Group (MTG) for £375 million and all the proceeds of that transaction are being shared with their staff. The Stockholm-based MTG acquired the developer of F1 Manager in December of last year – and thanks to company policy, Hutch’s staff received a share of the earnings.

At Hutch, every member of the team is a shareholder. Co-founder and Chief Executive, Shaun Rutland believes that every member of staff owning part of the company has been integral to the companies success:

When we founded Hutch, we wanted to create a world-class working environment and an empowered team dedicated to growing the racing genre on mobile.

We made every member of the team a shareholder to recognize the value of their efforts, so this is an important day for all of us.

We are excited to join MTG – in them, we have found a home that believes in our values, supports us in our mission and can help take our company and our games to the next level.

Shaun Rutland

Who are Hutch?

Hutch are UK-based racing game specialist. The company employs around 100 people between its London HQ and its Scottish studio based in the Dundee and Angus College campus. The company’s three most popular titles, F1 Manager, Rebel Racing and Top Drives, have been downloaded 300 million times in total.

The company signed its first deal with Apple in 2012 and has grown ever since. In 2020 the company was awarded the prestigious GamesIndustry.biz Best Places to Work Award.

Support from the UK Games Fund

In the Hutch’s early days they received funding from the Dundee-based UK Games Fund. UKGF CEO Paul Durrant, expressed his support and admiration for Hutch in a statement on fund’s website:

“Hutch is a spectacular example of what can be achieved by following a clear vision shared across the business. Founder Shaun Rutland has continued to encourage and inform other new games studios and participated in our community events. Their director of product, Jonathan Alpine, also joined Hutch after founding another of our early funded companies demonstrating the inter-connections of our community.”

Paul Durrant, CEO and Founder of UK Games Fund