MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Mediatonic is opening a new studio in Leamington Spa.
Creating 60 new jobs, the new studio – which was announced at Interactive Futures, a two-day event held at the Royal Spa Centre over the weekend – aims to have the 60-strong team in place by 2022, and says it has “an emphasis on filling art and engineering roles first”.
“Mediatonic has a presence in many of the largest gaming hubs in the UK, including London, Brighton and Guildford, so we’re delighted to have the chance to make positive connections in what is arguably the UK’s capital of video game development, Leamington Spa,” said Phil Warner, head of art at Mediatonic.
“Cultural growth is all about sharing – and I can’t wait to see how the Leamington Spa community and Mediatonic will bring out the best in each other.”
Mediatonic is one of the UK’s largest independent developers, employing 220+ developers across sites in London, Brighton, and Madrid.
Further to Ukie’s Regional Impact Report and research conducted by the organisers of Interactive Futures, video games companies within the Leamington Spa area expect to open up 500 new jobs in the next two years, offering “huge opportunities for young people and graduates in the Midlands region and beyond” as one of the UK’s largest games hubs.
The vacancies expected to arise include opportunities for artists, designers, producers, programmers, and engineers, although the range of careers on offer extends beyond technical and creative disciplines, too, including marketing, HR, administration, community support, and more.
“Leamington Spa is representative of the ‘roots’ of the UK video games community, an industry that contributes around £2.8 billion in GVA to the UK economy,” said Sarah Windrum, chair of the CWLEP Digital Creative Business Group and board director at the CWLEP. “The region boasts some of the ‘godfathers’ of the global games sector and it is testament to the talent and creativity of the area that we are continuing to attract businesses to the region – all keen to benefit from the buzz that Leamington Spa’s games circle has to offer.
“It’s rare to hear of such a flurry of new job opportunities in one place, so the news that here in Leamington Spa we’ll have up to 500 new vacancies is great for the region and the local community.”
