MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Skillsearch’s head of business development Guy DeRosa discusses the increasing demand for VR and AR professionals.
Tell us about your company.
Skillsearch is one of Europe’s largest recruitment agencies working within the games industry. We’re also known as the organisers of the annual charity bash Play@Develop, and have become best known as the go to agency for professionals in the interactive space – virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality.
What successes have you seen recently?
We’ve just come off the back of an exclusive gig crewing an entire team for a renowned studio’s first big virtual reality project. It’s truly world class and exciting, but as with anything juicy in this industry we’re sworn to secrecy.
What are you working on?
We’re the busiest we’ve ever been so our team is growing. This means there’s lots of training going on but we always have to balance this with ensuring that our performance as a whole keeps increasing. There should also be some exciting announcements around a bit of rebranding soon.
What are the biggest trends in the games industry affecting you right now?
Demand for virtual/augmented reality professionals is crazy right now, and it’s crucial that we respond to that in the most useful way. In response to this we have heavily invested in increasing our internal headcount as well as sponsoring, attending (and even organising) every AR/VR event we can around Europe to ensure our network of ‘interactive’ professionals is the largest of its kind.
What are you looking forward to in games over the next 12 months?
Horizon Zero Dawn, Mass Effect, Resident Evil 7, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy XII.
How did you choose your company name?
Our name actually dates back to 1990 when the company was founded. Our MD, Stuart Gillespie, wanted a name that depicted what we did and came up with Skillsearch. At the time he actually thought it was a little naff and too ‘recruitment agency’ but it immediately gives you the jist of what we do.
