What have been the other milestones of the last five years? Sustainable growth: Atomhawk has grown as a business every year in terms of headcount, revenue, and locations. Importantly, we’ve done this in a sustainable way that has allowed us to invest in our team and service lines whilst maintaining the values and culture that made Atomhawk such a success to begin with. Ultimately, this allows us to do more for our clients and help support them throughout the development of their games. Annual Art Competition: Each year we set a
theme and challenge the digital art community to create something that hits the brief. The competition has grown year on year, and we’ve unearthed some amazing talent along the way. The theme for 2022 is ‘Forgotten Creation’ and it’s always a highlight of the year to review the entries. Other Worlds Exhibition: We recently held an
exhibition of our work at The Great North Museum in Newcastle. This gave visitors an insight into the creative process and demonstrated the importance of using real-world design cues. A key part of the exhibition was working with local schools to show them that a career in video game art is viable right here in the North East of England. It was also great to see digital art reproduced in
a physical space. It’s often confined to screens so being able to experience their work in a gallery setting was a huge morale boost for our team. StudioQuest: Atomhawk partnered with
ArtStation to create a series that goes behind the scenes of what it takes to be a professional digital artist. From initial client briefing and collaboration with team-mates, and through feedback loops and final delivery, this series touches on a wide range of topics at all stages of the visual development pipeline. We loved creating this series as it gave our team the opportunity to create a brand-new IP and also give some valuable insight to those looking to break into the industry.
Has there been a particular period or project that you consider a standout or defining moment for the company? Atomhawk has contributed to an incredible range of franchises over the years, including Halo, FIFA, PUBG and Call of Duty. One standout partnership we have is with NetherRealm, who we’ve worked with since 2010 on chart-topping franchises like Injustice and Mortal Kombat.
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What are the unique opportunities and challenges you have to deal with as a games studio devoted entirely to the visual arts? Early access: We’re very fortunate to work on a lot of projects during their infancy. This is always exciting as you’re getting a glimpse at what gamers will be playing in 3 – 5 years’ time. Our artists get the opportunity to help shape the look of these games at a key phase in their development which is a big responsibility, but one we always enjoy as a team. On the flip side, working on pre-release
projects tends to mean most of our work becomes shrouded in secrecy until the games are announced by their developers. Sadly, some games also don’t make it past the early stages of development for a variety of reasons. It can be disappointing to have worked on a project that will never see the light of day as there is often a lot of amazing concept art that then has to remain unreleased, but our team appreciates this is simply part and parcel of the complicated process of making games. Games as a Service (GaaS): Atomhawk is
probably best known for concept art that sets the visual tone, and over the years we have built out our service lines to support art creation at all stages of the game development process. Initially, this meant providing support in the pre- production, production and marketing phases, but a major stage now comes post-release in the form of downloadable content (DLC). As game life cycles have evolved to become service-based so too has the appetite and need for more content. Successful DLC needs to appeal to gamers and
help keep them playing and invested in the game. Art plays a huge part in this success and can help sustain and refresh popular games for years beyond their initial release.
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