Northern studios join forces to form Republic

A group of leading development studios in the North of England have united to form Game Republic, a body aimed at improving their leverage with financiers and government alike.

The three people heading up the initiative, which is backed by developer trade body TIGA and regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, are Code Monkeys managing director Elliot Gay, Martyn Brown of Team 17 and Charles Cecil of Revolution.

The group hopes to attract interest from as many developers in the North of England as possible, and the roster of names already signed up to the initiative includes Idigicon, Gamesauce, Yeti Studios and Outsource Media. If the group is successful in attracting all of the developers in the Yorkshire and Humber regions, it would have an estimated combined turnover of over £200 million.

"This is the only way for developers to go if they are to make the best of the future," Game Republic chairman Elliot Gay told UK trade magazine MCV last week. "It is all about collaboration and unity amongst developers in our region to meet the very tough demands of todayâs marketplace."

In terms of the objectives of the group, Gay commented that the combined turnover of the studios would "give us the leverage to be able to secure the best in capital investment, bank support, Government and regional grant aid, access to overseas trade missions, tax credits and enhanced training programmes for staff."

The group also hopes to support training initiatives that benefit the sector by building relationships with the universities and colleges in the region, and plans to create a "centre of excellence" for videogames development in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Further details about Game Republic can be found at the groups website, GameRepublic.co.uk.

MCV