From Grand Theft Auto to Worms, there are multiple gaming success stories to come out of the city of Leeds.
The industry in Leeds, Yorkshire and the north is burgeoning. A 2020 report by the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) showed that the games industry in the North East, North West and Yorkshire is worth an estimated £300 million.
Gaming also now accounts for more than half of the UK’s entire entertainment market, which is significant for a nationwide-industry.
Here are some of the top developers based in the city of Leeds.
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Rockstar Leeds
In 1997, Gordon Hall, Jason McGann, Dave Box, Ian Bowden and Justin Johnson formed the company, Möbius Entertainment. The business enjoyed some success with Game Advance, producing Bionicle: The Game and Barbie Horse Adventure. Their venture was subsequently bought out by Rockstar Games in 2004 and renamed Rockstar Leeds.
Take-Two, the parent company of Rockstar, planned to work with the company to develop PlayStation Portable games and further Game Boy Advance titles in Leeds.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars were all subsequently created at the studio.
Other notable success stories include Red Dead Redemption in 2010 and its sequel, the award-winning Red Dead Redemption 2.
Team17
Although not technically based in Leeds (Team17’s headquarters is in nearby Wakefield), the business has been a significant force and pioneer in video game development in Yorkshire and beyond.
The business was originally launched as 17-Bit Software, then renamed Team17 back in 1990.
Key players at the birth of the company included Debbie Bestwick, Michael Robinson, Martyn Brown, Andreas Tadic, Rico Holmes, and Peter Tuleby.
Some of the hits for the video game developer include the iconic Worms, Overcooked! Hell Let Loose, DREDGE and more.
Debbie Bestwick was awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to games in 2023. Commenting in an interview with the BBC, she said: “It’s a fantastic honour to be made an MBE. I keep thinking ‘I’m just doing my job!’ Also being a woman in this industry – I’m one of the only female owners of a business in the games industry.”
Red Kite Games
Since 2012, Red Kite Games has been an important player in game development in Yorkshire.
Founded by Simon Iwaniszak, the business is currently based in the Grade-II listed Park Row House in Leeds city centre.
Many of the talents who make up the Red Kite team have inspiring CVs and have played influential roles in creating titles for the likes of Rockstar, Sony, 2K, SEGA, Microsoft and Activision.
Some of Red Kit’s top games include WB Games’ Hogwarts Legacy, Mediatonic’s Fall Guys, 2K’s Mafia series, and Remedy’s Control: Ultimate Edition.
The team has also supported Sumo Digital on Team Sonic Racing, Crackdown 3 and recently joined the Sumo Group of studios.
Dubit
Launched in 1999 in Leeds, Dubit has been making games for the metaverse, kids, and eSports ever since.
Co-founder Adam Hildreth launched the company alongside Matthew Warneford when they were teenagers and looking to enhance how the online world looked and felt.
Dubit has subsequently worked with Nickelodeon, UEFA and H&M and has even created concerts for the likes of Charli XCX and Pink Pantheress in the metaverse.
Charli XCX’s performance was nominated for MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs) first-ever metaverse category last year.
The visual experience was created in Roblox by Dubit for Samsung, with the team deploying motion capture to film the artist performing, create this into 3D, then publish it on the platform.
Fat kraken
Fat Kraken has been operating out of Leeds ever since 2016, providing services across all areas of game design, art and development.
The company is best known for its work on Oddworld: Soulstorm, the successful platform game. Fat Kraken’s team worked with Oddworld inhabitants to provide game design, level design and art for the PS5, Xbox and PC versions.
Toby’s Escape and Vykkers Lab were two all new campaigns in the Oddworld Soulstorm story, fully designed and scripted by the Leeds-based studio.
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