THE GAMING INDUSTRY


The lines between reality and virtual reality are at their most blurred around Lara Croft. Born, or created, in Derby, this vivacious young archaeologist, heir to a fortune, became one of the most powerful forces in the world of gaming. Her small screen digital adventures spawned a cinematic cult.Within a very small timeframe Lara become one of the most instantly recognisable ‘women’ on the planet. Lara, the computer generated character, has since been


named an ambassador for scientific excellence and appeared on tour with rock band U2 and holds six Guinness World Records (gaming edition), including most successful video game heroine. Twenty years since her birth, she has


starred in 30 video games, won hundreds of awards and featured in two films, grossing an estimated $431,208,728 (£0.3bn) at global box offices. Lara was created by then 24-year-old Toby


Gard, part of the team at Derby-based Core Design, itself part of the Eidos Interactive team which had been tasked with creating the first Tomb Raider video game. What Toby and Core Design did was


change video gaming forever and make Derby one of the most influential cities in this brave new world. In 2003, after Core's Tomb Raider: The


Angel of Darkness was met with mixed critical reviews and limited commercial success, parent company Eidos put Crystal Dynamics, another Eidos-owned studio, in charge of Tomb Raider development. The transfer of the franchise to Crystal


FOCUS FEATURE


GameCity Festival and recruitment drives with Nottingham Trent University. But in 2014 the German parent shut the UK studio, with the majority of staff transferring to Dambuster Studios, Nottingham. This year, after 18 months in development, Dambuster


Studios launched Homefront: The Revolution. Even with Lara now an ex-pat, a report in February from


UKie, the UK’s gaming trade body reported that in 2015 the British games market was worth £4.2bn to the national economy - £210m up on 2014 and equivalent to five per cent year-on-year growth, with the biggest growth sector coming from demand for mobile gaming devices. There are currently about 18,500 full time


equivalent jobs directly related to the gaming sector in the UK - over 13,000 in development and 5,000 in retail. Dr Jo Twist, Chief Executive Officer at Ukie,


said: “This data shows the increasing strength of the games market and confident consumer growth in our industry. “We’re pleased to see the market soar to


Dr Jo Twist of Ukie


‘We’re pleased to see the market soar to nearly £4.2bn for the first time’


Dynamics prompted three key members of the Core Design team and several others to leave the company and establish a development company of their own, Circle Studio. In 2005, Circle Studio finished working on a title called


Without Warning, a third-person shooter for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms. The game was generally poorly received and after


releasing it Circle Studio began making and publishing DVD games rather than video games. The company was liquidated in February 2007, after


releasing nine DVD games and one video game. But Lara continued to be big business. Eidos sold Core Design to Rebellion Developments in


2006 but retained all rights to the Tomb Raider franchise. The remaining Core Design team, under Rebellion


Developments, went on to work on several titles, including Shellshock 2: Blood Trails and Rogue Warrior. But the Derby studio was closed in 2010. In the early noughties, when Lara was enjoying continued


success, Japan’s video gaming industry was going from strength to strength, with various companies combining and being acquired until in 2003 the merger of Square and Enix resulted in today’s sector giant Square Enix. In a deal worth over £84m, Square Enix bought Eidos,


the holding company for Eidos Interactive and acquired all rights to Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. “Since its introduction, Tomb Raider has held a significant


place in video game history, and further cements that with this milestone,” said Ron Rosenberg, Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics, talking about Lara’s 20th birthday earlier this year. Scot Amos, fellow Co-Head of Studio at Crystal


Dynamics, said: “Tomb Raider has become a cultural phenomenon over the past 20 years, selling millions of copies worldwide, sparking one of the most successful video game film adaptations in history.” While Lara has been making millions, other design studios


have come and gone. Free Radical, of Sandiacre, made games such as Haze, Second Sight and Timesplitters, but it went into administration in 2008, re-emerging as Crytek, the UK arm of the German game developer of the same name. Crytek established a good working relationship with Nottingham City Council through its sponsorship of the


business network May 2016 31


nearly £4.2bn for the first time, which is a result of the constant creative and technological innovation in the UK industry, which makes our consumer market extremely strong. “These statistics are hugely valuable to


Ukie in our mission to promote the strength of our sector nationally and internationally, where we aim to show that the UK is the best place in the world to make and sell games.” One local company that did well in the nineties and noughties was Eurocom, of


Mackworth, which created games for the Harry Potter, Batman, James Bond, Ice Age and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises. Founded in 1988, it employed 260 people at its peak but it failed in 2012. In January 2013, with many of its staff coming from Core


Design and Eurocom, Chamber member Eight Pixels Square was launched. It specialises in making free games for mobile handsets, including Cartel King$ and All Guns Blazing. The firm secured a £162,000 grant and a £235,228 loan


from the Derby Enterprise Growth Fund (DEGF). Last November, Eight Pixels Square closed a funding


round with investment reportedly at £2m. Not all video games success in Derby is down to development of games or apps in the city.


Lara Croft images courtesy of Square Enix


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