News

Sumo Digital hires industry legend Ian Livingstone, announces plans for new UK studio

Ian Livingstone CBE and Kats Soto bolster a growing Sumo

Sumo Digital hires industry legend Ian Livingstone, announces plans for new UK studio

Sumo Digital, the Sheffield-based independent studio, has today announced that industry veteran Ian Livingstone CBE will be joining the firm as non-executive chairman.

Livingstone is a well-known figure with plenty of history, having co-founded Games Workshop in 1975 before going on to become something of a figurehead in the UK games industry.

Perhaps best known for a 7-year stint as Executive Chairman at Eidos (now Square Enix Europe), Livingstone has also championed the industry with roles at Creative England and the UK government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Experience is key

“We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Ian on board during this exciting time for Sumo, his experience will add tremendous value and will really help us to move forward with our strategic ambitions,” said Sumo CEO Carl Cavers.

In turn, Livingstone praised the "world-class talent" present at Sumo Digital, and spoke of how he looks forward to working with them to develop "new titles and services."

Alongside Livingstone, Sumo has also recruited Kats Soto as Development Director. Soto joins from Codemasters, having first started his games career at SEGA of Japan more than 20 years ago.

Completing its trio of announcements, Sumo Digital has also revealed that a second UK studio - set to join the exisiting 270-strong Sheffield headquarters and an art studio in Pune, India - will be opening before 2015 is out.

Sumo has developed mobile games in the past, notably Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing and its sequel, but has traditionally been more console focused.

Whether or not this new studio will change that remains to be seen, but Sumo has promised more details about the new studio and its purpose in due time.


Tags:
Features Editor

Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.