THE BRIT LIST: DEVELOPMENT
IMRE JELE, ROBERTA LUCCA AND HENRIQUE OLIFIERS, BOSSA STUDIOS
BOSSA Studios is a UK-based studio set up by the British/Brazilian duo Henrique Olifiers and Roberta Lucca and the Hungarian Imre Jele. The trio’s first game Monstermind won a BAFTA for Best Online Game, before they went on to launch the acclaimed and commercially successful Surgeon Simulatorlast year. “Founding a studio in London and grabbing a BAFTA with our very first game, and then having your work recognised by your idols is an unbeatable experience,” says Olifiers. The team cite numerous big influencers in their careers. Olifiers credits Eliteby David Braben as a big inspiration, while Jele says Ian Livingstone’s Fighting Fantasy books, Will Wright’s Simsseries and Gary Gygax have all inspired him. “There seems to be a culture where admiring others and having heroes is considered uncool. So I’m always eager to talk about people who influenced me and my work, which is pretty much every person who has ever made a game,” says Jele.
GEORG BACKER, HOTSAUCE
FORMERLY of Lionhead, Backer has been working with Jonathan Ross and his spouse (not to mention acclaimed script writer) Jane Goldman to produce interesting indie games. Recently the firm released Catcha Catcha Aliens. Backer is also on the BAFTA Game committee, a regular feature on the worldwide game development conference circuit and helped set up the EToo event at Loading Bar last year.
GRAEME STRUTHERS, DEVOLVER DIGITAL
DEVOLVER is technically a publisher, but its support of indie studios has earned the company’s self-titled ‘Code Enforcement Officer’ Graeme Struthers a place in this section. He has been a major supporter of indie titles and has seen huge success with 2012’s Hotline Miami. His hard work has helped Devolver Digital become one of the most respected indie labels in the industry.
www.mcvuk.com
HARVEY ELLIOTT, MARMALADE
TOOLS provider Marmalade has created some of the most popular SDKs for mobile studios, including the Marmalade Juice, which assists studios in porting iOS games to Android.
Elliott leads the company and is a highly influential man in mobile games. He also plays an active role in the wider industry, too, including a role as chair of the games committee for BAFTA.
DAN MARSHALL, SIZE FIVE GAMES
ONE-MAN-BAND Dan Marshall – who used to work under the name Zombie Cow Studios – has been producing quality indie titles for several years now, including the BAFTA-award winning sex education title Privates– a game co-funded by Channel 4. He has become the go-to indie person for advice in that sphere, with the likes of Mike Bithell and Big Robot seeking his help.
Bossa continues to work on new products for Facebook, online networks and is bringing games to iOS, too, including a new version of Surgeon Simulator. And the studio says it is only just scratching the surface of what’s possible in games. Jele concludes: “What really excites me about the game industry’s future is how the cultural effect of games will enter every realm of our lives, how we create a whole new type of entertainment as we get comfortable with our emotional and intellectual power as a form of art.”
FIONA SPERRY, THREE FIELDS ENTERTAINMENT
2014 started with the news that Fiona Sperry had departed EA’s Criterion Games. The firm’s former studio director wasted no time, however, quickly setting up Three Fields Entertainment with Alex Ward. Not only did she help to set up Criterion, she was also at the helm of the Burnoutseries, as well as the recent Need for Speedtitles.
DEBBIE BESTWICK, TEAM 17
TEAM 17’S MD has had a busy year. Bestwick and her team are enjoying one of their most commercially successful periods in its 24-year history, thanks to their focus on digital markets. The company has also returned to publishing by supporting indie devs, and this week the company announced it will now publish games in boxes, too.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we
have achieved and how we go from strength to strength; 2013 was a record breaking year,” says Bestwick. She cites Kevin Toms (creator of Football Managerby Addictive) and more recently Gabe Newell as the execs that have influenced her, and is already eyeing new technology and devices, including streaming technology. “I just want to make games that we are proud of, disrupting traditional publishing for the better, helping indie developers create sustainable business and hopefully some great studios of the future.”
DAN PINCHBECK, THE CHINESE ROOM
THE modest Dan Pinchbeck has been pushing the boundaries of what is possible in video games at The Chinese Room. Recently he worked on Dear Esther, for which the studio was nominated for several awards, including five BAFTAs, and Amnesia: Machine for Pigs. Now he is working with Sony’s Santa Monica studio on the upcoming Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture.
March 28th 2014
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