THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
It's a multi-billion pound global industry in which the North West could have been a contender. Erikka Askeland and Kevin Gopal go in search of the region's games software companies
It's a multi-billion pound global industry in which the North West could have been a contender. Erikka Askeland and Kevin Gopal go in search of the region's games software companies
You've probably heard the region is a big games producer. And if you've played games like Wipeout, Destruction Derby, Formula One or Worms - and don't be shy, it is no longer strange for (mainly) men of a certain age to continue a gaming enthusiasm picked up in adolescence - you've played a game developed in the North West.
Yet the potential of the regional industry has never fulfilled its promise. As early as 1996 a BBC documentary profiling some early leading lights asked if then was the time for a massive injection of public support that never materialised. At the time Disney and Time Warner were sniffing about the region looking for games development talent. With the collapse of Liverpool's Rage in January of last year, and another important company, Warthog, having to make profits warnings, the excitement about North West games has dwindled. And the rumour that 70 per cent of Japanese games were produced within a 30-mile radius of Liverpool has recently been found to be completely spurious.
However, like every over-hyped technology industry, main players often concur that tough times serve to distinguish between the men and the boys. "There was a time in the early 1990s when there was a chance to be bad and still make it, whereas now if you are not in the top 5 per cent in the world then you are not going to make it," says Colin Bell, managing director of Juice Games in Warrington.
Bell, who was formerly Rage's group development director, reports that the company has already doubled its employment from 15 to 31 since it launched in January 2003. In addition to developing games for platforms such as the Xbox, Playstation and the soon to be released Playstation Portable (PSP), the company also operates a profitable mobile and interactive TV division. It has completed an interactive TV game for Littlewoods based on the phenomenally popular I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and two games in multiple languages for a leading mobile handset manufacturer.
The stakes are still large. New platforms, online gaming and increasingly complex handsets means that millions worldwide already have a console in their home or pocket. The UK is the third largest games developer in the world, after the US and Japan, and has the third-largest retail market for computer games. The computer games industry in the UK generates over £31bn a year. The games industry body ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) estimates there to be 270 development studios in the UK, while in the North West there are about 40.
A report published by Liverpool John Moores University's International Centre for Digital Content (ICDC) points out that the heydey - particularly on Merseyside - has passed (Computer and Video Games in Merseyside, 2002). Liverpool can no longer be considered to be the Hollywood of the country's game industry (or as others sometimes liked to call it, Silicon Scally). The missing link for the still creative mix of developers in the region is the lack of a major publisher - such as Sony, Electronic Arts or Eidos.
According to the report: "Without a major publisher fostering local creativity by backing their ideas and bringing them to market, Liverpool cannot justifiably call itself a Hollywood of the games industry anymore. Since Sony acquired Psygnosis in the early 1990s and moved its publishing activities to London, leaving only a development studio and quality assurance centre, Merseyside has been without such a major games publisher. A distinct lack of focus has since emerged, and in a period of consolidation, smaller developers have struggled."
Historically there were two big publishers in the region, Ocean in Manchester and Psygnosis in Liverpool - three if you include Rage, which lacked the funds required to become a major player. Psygnosis was sold to Sony in 1994, and Ocean was sold to French Infogrames in 1996.
"They are both the reasons why there are lots of developers around here," says Bell. "Nearly all of them have some kind of heritage to do with those two publishers."
Although in both cases the major publishing and marketing functions inevitably slipped to London, several of the personalities behind the ventures stayed. One of Psygnosis's founders who oversaw its sale to Sony for £325m is Ian Hetherington, now chairman of Evolution Studios in Runcorn. Evolution's managing director, Martin Kenwright, was formerly a bedroom developer, launching his own company, Digital Image Design (DID), at the tender age of 28. In 1999 Kenwright sold a majority shareholding in DID to Infogrames (now Atari) and launched Evolution with Hetherington. With over 50 employees in two locations (Runcorn and Warwickshire), Evolution develops World Rally Championship for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), which sells over 1 million units of the game in Europe alone.
Ocean was also a major player founded by David Ward and Jon Woods. However, once he had sold out to Infogrames, Ward's much noted plans to beef up Manchester as a major development centre failed, and despite his protests the company moved headquarters to London.
Its former office in Castlefield is now occupied by Ifone, of which Ward is the chairman. IFone was founded in April 2000 as a wireless entertainment company developing games for download to mobile phones and wireless devices such as pocket PCs. It holds the wireless rights to a vast range of Infogrames/Atari's catalogue, allowing it to exploit the nostalgia for games such as Tetris, Asteriods and Pong. In return, Atari holds a 20 per cent stake in the company.
The solution to the fracturing of the region's game industry could be the arrival or the development of a new publisher. However, according to John Schorah, head of IP and commercial contracts at law frm Weightman Vizards in Liverpool and former Rage managing director, it is unlikely to happen.
"We will become more and more specialist, niche and hi-tech. I really hope that Eidos, SCI, Empire in London and Codemaster in the Midlands thrive and prosper and do tremendously. But instead of hankering after this, we've just got to deal with it and be good at what we do. It is after all cheaper to write games here than in the US.
"We were that close to turning the corner with Rage but you have to have deep pockets. To start off now you would need a Roman Abramovich. In the film industry - unlike the games industry - you have an arthouse culture where you can make a film on the cheap. With games it's such an expensive, technology-driven business. There is still a lot to be said for games in the North West, but very much at the development end."
The next leap forward for the games industry might again be coming from Liverpool, at the planned Northwest Development Agency-backed, multi-million pound technology programme Liverpool Digital. According to Digital Industries North West director Nick Whittaker, a main focus of the programme will be a digital content test bed designed to develop all forms of next-generation entertainment, including online gaming.
Training-wise, the local industry can take advantage of graduates of two university courses - the BA (Hons) Computer Games Design at Salford University and MA Digital Games at Liverpool John Moores University.
There is also the M62 Video Games Network, a trade network dedicated to games developers and related services in and around the M62 motorway corridor. Under the wider aegis of the region's Cultural Industries Development Services, the network has helped to put together trade events, seminars and other initiatives.
The M62 Network has also published a directory, giving a detailed profile of 22 games development companies in the North West, alongside 18 additional support services available for games developers. This publication was distributed at last year's E3 Expo in California USA and is available on its website www.m62gamesnetwork.co.uk
LEARNING THE ROPES
Merseyside may have lost its edge as a national leader in producing computer games but in the International Centre for Digital Content (ICDC) it retains a powerful asset.
As its name implies, ICDC, a partnership between Liverpool John Moores University and Mersey Television, is about much more than computer games. Its activities span research, teaching and production in all areas of the digital industries. But it is the only university in the country to enjoy Sony game developer status and has been involved in a number of innovations using gaming technology.
In conjunction with NESTA Futurelab, ICDC has produced Astroversity, which uses the format of a multi-player game to produce a learning resource for 12 to 14-year-old schoolchildren. Children use Astroversity, which is now being piloted in schools in Neston, Wirral, to learn about science as well as developing teamwork skills.
Tony Hughes, ICDC assistant director, says that when children are used to the sophistication of their Playstations and Xboxes at home, there is no point in developing educational resources that are any less sophisticated. Astroversity is also an example of the diversification that games developers are pursuing at a time when, as Hughes points out, the core market is proving difficult.
"The industry is in something of a lull as it moves towards the film model," says Hughes. "Small developers are finding it hard."
Another example of gaming technology moving out of games is Location Activated Nomadic Discovery (LAND), which ICDC has developed in partnership with Ordnance Survey and the Cumbria Tourist Board. LAND combines Ordnance Survey data with a games engine front end to provide a mapping and information system for tourists. Accessed via personal digital assistant, LAND tells the user where they are located and alerts them to nearby places of interest.
ICDC organised a successful games conference last year that brought developers together with big-name publishers. It also provides business incubation and associated services at DigitalINC, the first UK business incubator focused on the digital industries.
Occupants include mobile and handheld games developer Rusty Nutz. ICDC has put in funding applications on behalf of Rusty Nutz and brokered the deal that will see the games company develop products for the portable Playstation.
Hughes says there is a fear that the games market will become less exciting as it becomes more commercial. The major publishers are looking to recoup their costs through games that might bring in the revenue but are not so interesting to play.
But with the right support, there is hope for Merseyside's developers. "There is still a gap for innovative games."
JESTER'S SERIOUS SIDE
Higher risk but a greater slice of the cake is the way Martin Kitney describes Jester Interactive's decision last year to take the unusual step for a games developer of moving into publishing.
Jester Interactive, based in Hawarden, was established in 1991 and is the developer of the international award-winning Music brand of music creation software for the Playstation and, more recently, MTV Music Generator 2 and Super Trucks for Playstation 2.
Awards for the Music series include the Official Playstation magazine's award for the most innovative game and Sony Computer Entertainment America's most innovative game.
But the power of the publishers is forcing developers to respond and chief executive Gavin Morgan and his 45-strong company have taken the plunge, publishing Music 3000 for the Playstation last year, as well as a mobile phone game based on Jetset Willy, the classic video game for which Jester holds all the rights.
"The decision to publish was difficult but justified," says Kitney, PR and marketing manager. "We are not looking to be a massive publisher - we are looking to publish two or three a year. But we are looking for games to license in and we believe we can make a profit."
In September Jester is to launch the official Isle of Man TT motorcycle racing game, TT Superbikes.
Jester is holding out for full-priced creative games at a time when the industry is swamped with £310 products aimed at impulse buyers. In a difficult market, the company is on course
