Being the UK's capital, it should come as no surprise that London is a big part of the country's video games industry. But how is this region performing, and what challenges is it facing?
Our UK Special continues with Imre Jele from Surgeon Simulator Bossa (pictured, bottom left), James Dobrowski of Eve Onine maker CCP (bottom right), Space Ape COO Simon Hade (top left) and Curve Digital chair Stuart Dinsey (top right) tell us more
What's the development scene like in London right now - both regarding how companies are performing and the culture between studios?
Imre Jele, creator-in-chief, Bossa Studios: London has been buzzing for years with great companies, fantastic products, surprisingly strong meetups and events, and a great scene for developers from all sorts of companies mixing socially and exchanging ideas.
This proud and energised mood has certainly taken a hit since Brexit. Facing the unknown and uncertainty does not encourage innovation and exploration of new ideas and collaborations.
James Dobrowski, VP of product development, CCP: Anecdotally, the London dev scene and the wider UK feels like it’s in a growth phase right now.
Most big studios are on a recruitment drive, we’ve seen some new studios like Wargaming open their doors here, and the UK as a whole has been a hotbed for overseas acquisition.
For us here at CCP, we’re very much in a growth phase. We’ve recently been acquired by the Korean developer Pearl Abyss, the makers of Black Desert Online, and our studio in London is heavily recruiting for both our action-MMO and mobile teams.
The culture between studios in London is fairly open and collaborative for the most part. There are a lot of close friendships between developers at various companies due to staff movement over the years, and we regularly have conversations with other development teams working in similar genres to share thinking and advice.
Space Ape, in particular, has been exceptional at opening their doors to the wider development community in London for regular events, and I’d love to see more studios support similar initiatives in the future.
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PocketGamer.biz's two-week UK Special is shining a spotlight on the country's vibrant games industry ahead of Pocket Gamer Connects London on January 21st to 22nd 2019 - the largest B2B mobile games event in Europe.
