This studio began life as a mod team at the University of Portsmouth and has blossomed since receiving funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The firm broke into the scene with cult hit Dear Esther, which has already sold 100,000 units.
Dakko Dakko
If there was an award for title inventiveness, The 2D Adventures of Rotating Octopus Characterwould sweep the board. Brilliant name aside, this release was the first of two well- received PSP games from the studio, with Floating Cloud God Saves the Pilgrims offering another quirky and clever title from the studio that is planning to expand from its current one- man-and-his-contractor outfit.
Mobile Pie
Having grown from a three-man team to a group of ten, Mobile Pie has managed to expand in both size and clientele despite never taking any form of investment. Recent projects undertaken by the studio include the licensed titles Top Trumps and Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep.
ShortRound Games
Formed in June 2011, ShortRound has achieved success in a remarkably short space of time. Debut game Extraction: Project Outbreak was developed for iOS in only four months and went on to achieve close to 950,000 downloads, both free and paid for.
Six to Start
Having recently moved from the confines of a spare bedroom to a new two-level office complete with a small recording studio, the company has accommodated itself to the on- going success of apocalyptic fitness app, Zombies, Run!, and the extra space is benefiting fans of the game by enabling the studio to record extra missions and radio episodes for the title.
Rodeo Games
Created by former Lionhead, Criterion, Codemasters and Sony employees, this self- funded, fully independent studio benefits from the talents of these four ex-triple-A devs. This experience shines through in output like Hunters: Episode One. The game sold 600,000 in its first year whilst Hunters 2 generated over £150,000 in revenue during its first three weeks on sale.
36 | Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2012
Tanukii Studios/ Room 4 Games
A true micro-studio: this pairing consists of three people who have only ever met face-to-face for 30 minutes but they have still managed to produce a critically well-received DSiWare and 3DS title in the shape of Go! Go! Kokopolo. Communicating largely via email, Tanukki Studios covered the game design, graphics and production side of things whilst Room 4 Games handled the programming.