In association with Microsoft CASE STUDY 3:Beard Bandit CASE STUDY 4:Gateway Interactive
Much like Gnome Factory, Beard Bandit set out to form a unique studio without having to leave their home town, and having been introduced to Microsoft support through the student-focused DreamSpark initiative, The trio is currently at work on Windows 8 game Comet Chaos, which makes use of a broad spectrum of tools provided for fr ee thr ough the BizSpark pr ogramme, allowing the Beard Bandits to implement everything from Achievements to leaderboar ds.
“As an Independent studio BizSpark has given us the tools and accessibility ” been perfect for a bunch of
“A
to apply our skills and do what we love, “This combination of services has been per
As an Indepen
service and creid redit available thro rg
ro service pr ovider
relies heavily on cloud services,” h il bl
re hBi S k through BizSpark m rf
poor students to be able to start up their own studio right out of University Comet Chaos r
he continues. “The Azure re ough BizSpark means that we can launch
our game and support a large number o f players without having to pay a penny.y. It also provides a number of authentication methods. ”
Thanks to BizSpark, the team has also managed to position itself as a er
character design and illustration. “Microsoftf ret ear ally is a company that cares for the little guys,” .
r,, offering ever ything fr om 2D game development to ro
re y.
If Gateway Interactive demonstrates one thing, it is that star t -ups should not be shy about harnessing as many differ ent support packages as possible.
The team is currently in the process of applying to the Microsoft Ve Accelerator pr ogramme that has also been so useful to GallantCloud (see over), and like many teams is enjoying access to the fr ee development tools and support as provided by BizSpark.
Ventur es
Gateway Interactive, which is developing the impressively polished action-strategy title Pure Space for cross-platfor m, is also on boar d with the Microsoft and Creative England match funding initiative Gr eenshoots, e Space is designed owth in cloud re
which may provide the team with up to £25,000. “Pure Space is t-
re
services made available to us over the last few year to be a truly next-generation ga
re ro
me powered by the rapid growthro ver the last few years, and where
fy rs, e we truly
believe the next generation will come into its own, ” enthuses Gateway Interactive ‘dungeon master ’ Louis Deane. “Our game uses an in-house technology which we call ‘Nomadic Gaming’ using a cloud system that runs in Microsoftft Windows Azure.”re
The fact that Gateway Interactive is alr eady building games through its own proprietary tech is a testament to the start-up ’ s ambition, and demonstrates what can be achieved when backed up by BizSpark and empowered by the possibility of the Accelerator and Greenshoots suppor t. “The aforementioned Nomadic Gaming architecture was develop adirect re
re re to platforms
budget of a smaller studio like our
rs rc re e was developed as
result of working with BizSpark, it gave us unparalleled access rm and technologies thtechnologies th
ms and technologies that would other wise be far outside of the urs,” concludes Deane.
To drive innovation and business opportunities in Finland’s mobile ecosystem and across the world, Microsoft and Nokia have invested nine million Eur
To
HOW IT WORKS 5: AppCampus o drive
is b d The new
into the Th
wly established mobile AppCampus program.
applicatil is based
at Aalto Univer ion development program
p sity,y,
Finland, and offers both support and awards o
and €70,000 to teams in the UK where.
he UK
and elsewher
000 to teams in the UK f between €20,000
,000
d nine million Euros each pp gam
oft Venturesenturt V ator f Ve
WORKS 3: Ve
r promising early-stag mmersive programs eezing the countdown i
eezing the countdown ur
n ting business
ad ups.
ance and connections enced mentoring,
successful applicants d connections
turning a new studio g business. For applica
t ning a new stu
t Ventures Accelerator is ge
HOW IT WORKS 4: Greenshoots as p
tablet or £25,000 studios a
Englan stud
tablet or
money- start
to pay b they’re
y b
the prog -up
ica t
Microsoft has partner ed with Creative England to offer up to 10 indie game a cash investment of up to na
fto
the pr gramm y ba
l ans ar
y making application. Aimed at ps in eliiible regions in England es studios
rmobile game idea into a mobile ga li tion Aime
gibl
making money from the game. back the investment when
ki oney fr gramme only r
Applications are closed for this intakeations ar c but plans are already under way for a new programme in 2014.
mon y om the g df
f this intake
per studio to turn an original id
egions in England, equir
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