MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
In our latest partner spotlight, Universally Speaking director Loreto Sanz Fueyo discusses the most exciting advances in games development of the past year.
QA & Localisation specialist Universally Speaking is an event partner for this year’s Develop Awards, which take place on Wednesday, July 9th. More info below.
Partner Spotlight: Universally Speaking
Year founded: 2003
Website: www.usspeaking.com
For any readers who might not know you, tell us a little more about your company and its goals.
We provide localisation and QA solutions to the digital entertainment industry. Our business is built upon our reputation for quality. Over the last 10 years we have developed standardised processes to ensure quality in everything we do. We have received industry recognition, have long-term relationships with our clients and continuously receive new business from client referrals.
Our staff are leading experts in the localisation and QA fields. We have completed thousands of projects within the digital entertainment industry, including some of the biggest selling games of all time. Our project teams are custom built to match specific project needs. Our teams are enthusiastic and passionate about our services and client products. We will always go the extra mile to meet our clients’ needs, as their success is ours.
Our goal is to help our clients realise the commercial potential of their products through excellent service and outstanding quality.
What differentiates you from similar outfits? What’s unique about you?
Universally Speaking are solely focused on the games industry – although with the increasing popularity of story driven games or TV games we now extend this to interactive entertainment industry. Our company is structured so that we have a wide range of linguists and testers with a huge wealth of experience and skills. This leads to our first unique point, which is our agility. We are more agile and able to respond to last minute requests than other companies we have encountered.
We couple this with our unique characteristic, which is about bringing the personal touch to everything we do. The success of a client is also our success, and we strive to make that happen. We build personal relationships with the client so they know exactly who they are dealing with within our company and they are not treated like a number or the bottom line of the turnover.
What excites and/or encourages you about the games industry and games development today?
Where to begin? Firstly, the arrival and ongoing development of VR and AR is massively exciting, as it will change the way we experience and interact with games, making our experiences more immersive. Secondly, the number of ‘hotbeds’ of talent, where we are seeing things like artistic games or games with a huge amount of support and encouragement for each other, which increases the quality of the games.
We are also seeing across the board many platforms that are stepping up and indeed coders that are enabling companies to produce, perhaps for the first time ever, life-like graphics. Lastly, (because I don’t want to seem like I am getting over excited) we are seeing games becoming more accessible – there is something for everyone no matter what your preferences – from PC to puzzle games to FPS, there is someone out there making it just for you!
Looking at the Develop Awards finalists, what does it say to you about the industry and development today?
The answer to this question is short – it tells me there is a lot of amazing talent out there and it is great to be involved!
Do you have a message for the finalists?
I feel that most who work in the games industry do it for the love of games, of their team and of creating new experiences for their peers to become immersed in. With so many people working so hard most of the year to deliver on time, I think that it is really important to give each and every person who has worked on these projects recognition for their part.
So, well done for getting this far (alive!) and good luck on the night!
Anything else you’d like to add about your company and the Develop Awards?
Occasions like the Develop Awards don’t come round very often, but year upon year we are awed by the industry wide achievements. We feel very privileged to be up there and also very grateful that our hard work, stringent attention to detail and commitment to quality has been recognised. This is something that takes place quietly yet persistently, so it is amazing to for us to be able to give a voice to our team to give credit where it is due.
About The Develop Awards
The 2014 Develop Awards will take place on Wednesday, July 9th at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton, and recognises the best innovators and development talent in the UK and Europe.
If you want to attend, you can book single seats and standard or gold tables by contacting Kathryn.Humphrey@intentmedia.co.uk or calling 01992 535646.
There are multiple new awards this year, with a total of 24 prizes up for grabs, while PlayStation 4 lead architect Mark Cerny is 2014’s Development Legend.
There is a host of big names backing this year’s Develop Awards, including Crytek and Deep Silver as Platinum Partners, a slew of Gold Partners in UKIE, Amiqus, Keywords International, Codemasters, Perforce, Cubic Motion and Unity, Event Partners Wales Interactive, InnoGames and Tandem Events and Table Gift Partner OPM.
For more information on the sponsorship and partnership opportunities still available, contact Alex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.uk or call 01992 535647.
You can find out more about the Develop Awards at the official Develop Awards website.
