Umbra Dynamics has emerged as the major winner of the Regional EDGE competition in Tayside, securing a £50,000 top prize at a ceremony held at V&A Dundee. Led by industry veteran Marc Williamson, the former CEO of Tag Games, the studio is tackling a critical but often ignored gap in our ecosystem: the preservation and remastering of gaming’s vast history.
The competition, part of the wider Scottish EDGE programme, saw ten businesses pitch for a share of a £100,000 pot. As the regional top prize winner, Umbra Dynamics now advances to compete for an additional £50,000 in the Royal Bank of Scotland Winner of Winners award.
Founder’s Perspective: A Cultural Imperative
This win for Umbra Dynamics is particularly significant because it addresses a staggering statistic: approximately 87% of games released before 2010 are currently out of print or commercially unavailable. While the industry is often obsessed with the next blockbuster launch, we are allowing our cultural heritage to vanish.
Marc Williamson’s vision to bring these titles back to life on modern consoles – and through physical copies – is more than a business plan; it is an act of cultural stewardship. By building a development and publishing team in Dundee dedicated to this underserved sector, Umbra Dynamics is proving that there is massive commercial value in retro games and the intelligent management of legacy intellectual property.
Strategic Analysis: The Power of Allies
The success of this event also highlights the importance of the networks we build. Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE, has been a long-standing ally of the Scottish Games Network and a vital participant in our recent Hello World! event. Her commitment to taking the competitive pitch format into regional hubs like Tayside is exactly the kind of support our sector needs.
Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE, said:
By taking our competitive pitch format to different parts of the country, we’re able to back businesses with the potential to grow, create jobs and strengthen the economy.
This round’s Regional EDGE Tayside Final has showcased the impressive strength of entrepreneurial talent across the Tayside region.
Building a Resilient Ecosystem
The £50,000 award will allow Umbra Dynamics to hire another engineer, scaling its technical capabilities from its base at Techscaler within Water’s Edge. This is the ecosystem in action: experienced leadership, regional government-backed funding, and a focus on a niche that the broader industry has overlooked.
As Marc Williamson told The Courier, he has “huge ambitions” for the business to be a major player. This is not about a hobby; it is about building a scalable, professional publishing house that treats games as the lasting assets they are and building the sort of ‘long-tail’ market that music, film, and literature have all achieved. At SGN, we see this as a vital piece of the puzzle. If we are to be a world-class games nation, we must be as good at protecting our past as we are at inventing the future.
Learn more about Umbra Dynamics: Techscaler at Water’s Edge