lifestyle
Gaming in Wales: the indie studios on your doorstep
With the Christmas game releases packing wishlists, John Evans looks closer to home at the small yet passionate community of independent gaming studios in Wales, and what they need to grow.
Once a niche pastime, in 2022 there are now 3.2 billion gamers worldwide. From Gameboy, Nintendo DS and PlayStation to Xbox, PC and now VR, the gaming industry is one that is rapidly changing and growing globally – including here in Wales. Unfortunately, this sector has long been underappreciated and under supported in the UK, even while supporting thousands of jobs and contributing £200 billion to the global economy.
A recent report by Richard Hurford and Ruth McElroy at the University Of South Wales has discovered that the Welsh gaming industry needs significant support and incentives to be able to thrive. The report shows 69 active Welsh video game companies, variously located in Cardiff, Swansea and north-east Wales – but with a lack of resources, generating income can prove difficult, and many companies are unable to develop larger-scale projects. Despite opportunities for growth, skills development is scarce in Wales and there are calls for a Welsh games academy. Here, workers and graduates would receive further education and accessible career routes in order to improve their skills and talent development.
Black Dragon Studios, Dakko Dakko, Deceptive Games, Wales Interactive and Ddraig House are just some of the studios championing the development of the industry
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and pushing Welsh digital creativity. Founder and director of Ddraig House Game Studio, Ella Kingstone, says game design and development was always something she wanted to do. “I’d spend hours as a four-year- old drawing out the full map from Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and designing little games of my own, so that need to create has always been there.”
Kingstone was told she’d never make it in the gaming industry as she was a woman; instead, she’d only be making tea and coffee for the “real developers”. From dabbling in photography, illustration and writing – and, more esoterically, becoming a chocolatier – to being diagnosed with lupus, Kingstone proved them and society wrong, and Ddraig House was established in 2016.
Ddraig House mostly produces console games, notably Dragon Caffi [pictured],
earlier this year. Lunafon: Tales Of The Moon Oak, a horror/thriller game, will be released in the summer of 2023. Kingstone tells me Lunafon draws a lot on Welsh culture and heritage: “We have a bit of a backstory to Arawn and the land of Annwn, and we reference our culture and language a lot.”
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The gaming sector in Wales is, Kingstone tells me, “awesome! It’s nice to see the industry
slowly but surely growing in our beautiful little country.” Although steadily improving, she believes there is still a way to go. “I’d love to see more indies popping up and creating games of all shapes and sizes all across the country. Creative Wales are a great place to start with that.”
Connections is one of the necessary elements for creative companies to succeed, especially in such a small and close-knit country, and Kingstone is certain that more support and advice in helping new and old studios alike, as well as getting in touch with the right people, is vital, but these things can never be rushed. “I live by the adage that a rushed game will always be bad, but a delayed game will eventually be good, and I’ll die on that hill!”
She and the rest of the team are working on and eagerly awaiting the release of Lunafon next year. She hopes she can find some time off afterwards, where I’m sure she’ll be found playing her favourite games Pokemon Sword & Shield and Red Dead Redemption 2. “I hope people will enjoy the games we produce, and that they give that little bit of escapism. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for the people who buy our games and play them.”
Info:
ddraighouse.com
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