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Sumo Digital only moved into its new Leamington Spa office earlier this year, but already the studio is moving onto bigger premises.
Sumo announced it was opening a new studio in Leamington Spa, UK, in February 2019, confirming the new outfit would focus on the development of games for mobile devices. Now, however, the company has moved from its initial office space in Leamington to Bishops House in Homer Close at Tachbrook Park.
“This move offers a great studio space for our teams,” said studio director Chris Southall. “We’re very excited about our upcoming projects for mobile devices and to cementing our position within the fantastic Leamington Spa game development cluster.”
Sumo Group earned £38.1 million in revenue in the year ending December 31st, 2018, a 35 per cent increase year-on-year (YoY). Gross profit also increased – jumping 39 per cent YoY to £18.4 million – and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of £10.4 million, up 25 per cent YoY. However, as this is a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principle) metric, Sumo actually reports a pre-tax loss of £0.5 million – a significant improvement on 2017’s loss of £28 million.
Sumo Digital acquired The Chinese Room – which has since added a number of new staff “across a variety of disciplines” to its team – in a surprise move in August. The move is an important one for Sumo, which IPO late last year, with the company having previously been almost exclusively a work-for-hire studio.
Sumo Digital also recently announced it has teamed up with Focus Home Interactive for a “multiplayer experience without compromise”. Describing the unannounced game as “as dark as it is violent”, the “first fruit of this collaboration” will be developed by Sumo Newcastle, the team behind EVE: Valkyrie.
The company also recently opened its seventh UK based studio, Sumo North West, in Warrington. Led by Scott Kirkland, the studio joins other studios across the UK in Sheffield, Nottingham, Brighton, Newcastle, Leeds, and Leamington Spa, as well as a further studio in Pune, India.
“The opportunity to establish a world-class team of technologists in the northwest of England with the full support and benefits of Sumo is amazing and the demand for the premium services we’ll provide is very strong,” Kirkland said at the time. “We’ve identified work that’s incredibly appealing in terms of client, project, platform profile, variety and challenge. I look forward to growing and nurturing a team that will cement Sumo’s future in the northwest’s vibrant development community!”
