Dundee’s Tag Games is one of three European games studios to receive $50 million in funding from mobile publisher Scopely, the company behind titles such as Marvel Strike Force, Scrabble GO and Star Trek Fleet Command.
Tag has worked on over 60 titles since the studio was founded in 2006, including Pocket Mortys, CSR 2, Prison Architect, Angry Birds Action, Downton Abbey: The Mysteries of the Manor, and many more.
Alongside Tag, Barcelona-based Omnidrone and Pixel Toys in Leamington Spa are also recipients. All three studios are now working on new games with Scopely ‘across multiple genres’.
Tag Games Investment
According to Scopely following the Tag Games investment, the studio is working on ‘a new title that will further expand Scopely’s MMO strategy slate.’
Marc Williamson, the CEO of Tag Games told the Scottish Games Network:
Having worked with many publishers over the years, Scopely has differentiated themselves as a company of game makers that value collaboration and iteration for the betterment of the player experience above all else,” said Marc. “We’ve been inspired by what we’ve learned from their rich ecosystem so far and look forward to what more we can do together. With Scopely’s support and the technology they’ve built to create truly personalized player experiences as well as the knowledge-sharing across studios, game making is a highly enjoyable adventure.
As well as it’s extensive network of external partner studios, Scopely has a rapidly growing footprint in Europe, with more than 500 EMEA-based employees across Barcelona, Dublin, London, and Seville. The company also has presence across Asia in Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo, and in the U.S. in Los Angeles and Boulder.
Tim O’Brien, the Chief Revenue Officer at Scopely, said:
Our studio ecosystem is built on a culture that values autonomy and creativity to achieve world-class game-making. These studios share our vision to create extremely meaningful, dynamic experiences for players and represent outstanding passion and expertise in their respective genres. We are proud to invest in these studios’ futures, excited to collaborate closely as a unified team, and eager to maximize our combined potential through our transformative Playgami technology platform, deep game-making expertise, and what we believe is the industry’s best publishing infrastructure.
The other two studios which received funding are:
Omnidrone
Barcelona-based Omnidrone is collaborating with Scopely on a yet-to-be-announced midcore title, with over 100 Omnidrone employees working alongside a rapidly growing Scopely team in Barcelona — with over 350 Scopely employees in the city.
Omnidrone Chief Executive Gerard Fernandez leads the studio with his deep expertise in games and an entrepreneurial spirit shared by the combined team. Prior to Omnidrone, Gerard co-founded Microjocs, one of the first companies to create and distribute mobile games in Spain, which was purchased by Digital Chocolate and later purchased by Ubisoft.
“Scopely’s investment in our team allows us the freedom to create a truly unique, fresh and ambitious atmosphere at Omnidrone, and attract even more talent to our studio,” said Gerard. “We can combine the agility of a boutique games studio with the expertise, leadership, and transformative technology of Scopely to collaborate on innovative game experiences that are just as exciting to develop as they are to play. With more than 30 open roles, we are actively seeking the world’s best in game-making to join us on this adventure with Scopely in Barcelona.”
Pixel Toys
Collaborating with Scopely on a different yet-to-be-announced midcore title, Pixel Toys is based in Leamington Spa, England and has developed multiple award-winning titles, including Gunfinger, Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade, Drop Dead, and Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realm War.
Pixel Toys was co-founded by Chief Executive Andy Wafer and Chief Operating Officer Alex Zoro. Together they have led the studio for nearly nine years, drawing upon their combined experience and decades-long careers spanning disciplines of game making, including game design and engineering, marketing, and distribution. Before joining Pixel Toys, Andy held senior leadership roles at Codemasters and FreeStyleGames, which Alex co-founded and served as a senior leader after beginning his career with Rare.
“We pride ourselves on making big, bold games that defy expectations — and that’s only possible because of our uniquely talented and creative people. Scopely shares our mindset and our teams instantly meshed, and that strong dynamic will continue to unlock creativity and shared learnings that will deliver incredible experiences for players. We’ve already learned so much from joining this ecosystem and leveraging the power of Scopely’s Playgami technology and feel highly valued for the expertise and creativity that our studio is contributing as well,” said Andy. “This funding represents an investment in the future of fun.”
Scopely
Scopely is one of the world’s most successful mobile games companies. In March 2020 it launched what it claims is the ‘biggest mobile word game ever’ with Scrabble® GO. It also claims consistent growth, engagement and innovation with its live games, such as its ‘dice franchise’ (which includes Yahtzee With Buddies) surpassing $500M in lifetime revenue. Star Trek Fleet Command introduced players to the entire Star Trek film and television universe to fans. MARVEL Strike Force broke player engagement metrics with 70% of players playing seven days in a row.
In September 2020 Scopely closed a $340M Series E financing round aimed at new investments, and continues to develop new game experiences — such as those with Omnidrone, Pixel Toys, and the Tag Games investment.
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