Reset��aims to provide ‘C-Suite-in-a-box’ solutions and is��focused��on helping gaming companies turn their investments into stable businesses.��

It��provides��organisational design and interim operational support, and helps brands activate in gaming with accurate data and measurable results.��

The Reset team already has a proven track record for its services having supported clients such as Samsung, Kia, BT and Duracell, eSports teams London Spitfire and��Ellevens, and tournament operators including BLAST and FACEIT in the last year.��

Reset was��co-founded by four executives from the worlds of gaming, sport, media & entertainment.��

Duncan McMonagle, who has spent two decades working with global brands and rights-holders across sports and gaming, most notably as CRO at Minute Media, where he launched the companies esports platform DBLTAP, is��joined by Ben Brown, veteran of Accenture, Universal Music and Spotify;��plus��Chris Jordan and Charlie Stebbings, who together co-founded the leading eSports executive search practice at SRI.��

McMonagle��said:��“Our vision is to elevate gaming as a commercial property and develop a sustainable ecosystem. One where fans are prioritised, endemic players have sustainable business models, advertisers reach and engage the right audiences, and investors can deploy capital with confidence.”��

For the past��nine months Reset has managed��all operations for the Overwatch League Team, London Spitfire.����

David Harris, Managing Director of Guinevere Capital,��said: “Having worked with individual members of Reset in their previous roles across the industry, it’s exciting to see this group come together to service the sector.����

“Over the past year with limitations on travel, they have provided an amazing��turn–key service for both operational and commercial support on the ground in the UK.����

“They know the industry and key stakeholders meaning they have been able to pick up and run with everything from London Spitfire watch parties��and��co-streams, to merchandise logistics and go to market sales collateral.������

“They’ve assisted us launching training academies and liaised with University programs working up and down the chain from grassroots to elite level working directly with publishers.������

“We have had no hesitation referring Reset on to work with other groups in the industry and look forward to continuing our relationship in 2021.”��

��Reset has hired Mike Murphy O’Reilly, former Head of Gaming & Esports at Minute Media, who joins as Reset’s Commercial Director.��Murphy O’Reilly �󲹲���worked on brand partnerships with clients including Kia, H&M, Warner-Bros and Activision-Blizzard.��

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It says��the��new chapter will��combine��the three pillars of skills, innovation and start up under one roof, with a focus on building a world-leading reputation in data science, AI, gaming and immersive technologies.����

Based at the heart of MediaCityUK, which was recognised as one of the UK’s fastest growing tech hubs that will propel the region into recovery after the pandemic, HOST will serve as a driving force to the interconnected and collaborative Salford Innovation Triangle – alongside Salford Royal Foundation Trust, with its global-leading innovation factory; Salford University, the fastest-growing University in the North West; and MediaCityUK, the creative tech and digital hub with 8,000 employees and over 250 SMEs.����

IN4.0 Group took over management of the hub on 1 October 2020 with plans to build on its great pedigree, and since then it has already made several high-profile appointments and collaborations.����

HOST has already established significant partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Barclays Eagle Labs, Greater Manchester AI Foundry, AI Tech North and Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, mobilising the most diverse and innovative business community.����

100 MediaTech Innovators

Simon Benson, co-inventor of PlayStation VR, was appointed��director of��immersive��technology in November 2020.����

Dr Maria Stukoff, director of the University of Salford’s Maker Space and former BBC Academy and Sony PlayStation ‘imagineer,’ recently joined the hub to foster future talent and support the development of its eSports and XR immersive community. ��

Several more high-profile announcements are on the horizon for HOST that will further enhance its capability to help drive the region into post-pandemic job rich recovery.����

A precursor to this is��FreelanceHER��100, a ground-breaking 12-week accelerator programme that is currently supporting and empowering over 109 women impacted by the pandemic, to kick-start their careers as freelancers.����

The five floors of the building will also be refreshed to include a state-of-the-art Innovation Lab, which will house a 24/7 security and network operations centre, dedicated to supporting SMEs with secure and scalable digital adoption and nurturing new IP in cyber and AI technology.����

Mo��Isap, CEO of IN4.0 Group, said: “We are delighted to be working alongside Salford City Council as we enter this landmark moment from when The Landing was first established in 2013.����

“HOST, Salford’s Home of Skills & Technology, is not just a name-change, it is a representation of the hub’s mission to establish an ecosystem that supports skills, growth and innovation in the region.����

“Diversity, accessibility and inclusion are at the core of everything we do, and it is imperative we continue to build on these values as we enter this new chapter with HOST. We are an enabler, not just of productivity, but of prosperity for all – we may be about technology, but the benefits we bring are all about people.”����

/plans-revealed-to-create-world-class-esports-cluster-in-london/

Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed an extra emphasis on digital technology and skills more than ever before. Our aim in Salford is to be the UK’s leader in digital enterprise.����

“HOST scaling its ambition and driving this important work forward is another piece in the jigsaw to enable us to do that. It is fostering and nurturing talent which is creating growth, opportunities and jobs that local people can benefit from. It is a very exciting time for this city.”����

Debbie Brown, Strategic Director of Service Reform at Salford City Council added: “The digital sector is continuing to thrive in Salford. HOST will be the engine room to��open up��opportunities for residents and businesses in the city and beyond. I am delighted with the progress and look forward to working with the team on this next step of the journey.”����

Stephen Wild, Managing Director of MediaCityUK: “MediaCityUK is constantly evolving and HOST’s ambitions in data science, gaming and immersive technologies will accelerate our position as the home of globally recognised talent and innovation. Through HOST’s inclusive approach it will make opportunities accessible and help transform visions into a reality.”������

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A report published today by Delancey’s Here East and supported by the London Legacy Development Corporation has outlined a roadmap to create a world-class��eSports��cluster that will drive job creation and bring an industry worth��£130��billion globally to��East London.����

The report, which includes��interviews with��eSports��leaders and academics, identifies��why it believes the��Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park��is��the natural home for��eSports��in the UK,��including��state of the art sporting venues,��close proximity��to international��eSports��teams and close engagement with academic institutions and local initiatives specialising in��eSports.����

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is already home to global��eSports��competitions at the Copper Box Arena, Staffordshire University London – which offered the UK’s first��eSports��undergraduate course – and��eSports��and gaming businesses such as BT Sport, Sports Interactive and��Bidstack.��

/how-bidstack-is-placing-coronavirus-messaging-into-video-games/

A dedicated team, led by Here East and LLDC and including other Park stakeholders and venues, will be established to deliver marketing and communication campaigns, new��eSports��partnerships and collaborations with local initiatives to develop pathways to foster talent.��

The plan will also benefit from use of the existing mechanisms that LLDC, Here East and other Park partners have in place for stakeholder and community engagement. In particular, the existing relationships with youth networks will be a real strength in terms of communication about the games business.��

eSports��generated £60m in revenue across the UK in 2019��and the stakeholders believe they can��accelerate the growth of the industry in the UK and drive job creation and economic growth in London.����

/revealing-uks-100-mediatech-innovators-for-2021/

“Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park already hosts some of the most high–profile eSports competitions, teams and businesses in the UK and Here East has become the fastest growing community of eSports innovation in the country,” said Here East CEO Gavin Poole.��

“This report outlines our vision to transform the Park into a world-class��eSports��cluster that sends a clear message to the global��eSports��community – London has the talent, venues and expertise to become a global capital for��eSports.��

“We have outlined an ambitious roadmap to realise the potential of��eSports��on the Park in a way that brings significant economic and social benefits to the capital, the emerging British��eSports��industry and local communities.����

“We look forward to working with the London Legacy Development Company and the wider Park community to bring this roadmap to life.”��

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The London-headquartered FinTech has partnered with Correos��Prepago��to empower young people with a safe means of making online purchases for the popular videogame.��

”From Correos, we have created our first digital card, intending to meet our more and more digital and young customer needs, especially those of League of Legends’ fans,”��said��Sergio Ignacio Peinado Jimenez, deputy director of digital transformation & data analysis at Correos.��

“Its digital verification technology allows us to connect with consumers increasingly used to immediacy in purchases and payments.����

“Consequently, the engagement between the new customer, who mainly searches and buys online with our brand, is growing and evolving.”��

Emilio Gutierrez,��country��manager��for��Iberia at PFS,��said: ”It has been an enriching experience to ensure League of Legends’ loyal followers remain at the heart of this smart FinTech product with our longstanding friends at Correos.����

“The financial education of young people in Spain is a major driving factor for us. As PFS’ technology can deliver new products at speed, we look forward to advancing the availability of digital payment solutions for the people of Spain as Correos continues to expand its range of financial products.”��

The PFS Correos��Prepago��League of Legends’ product is available on iOS and Android where customers can apply for a Spanish International Bank Account Number (IBAN).����

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Renowned for creating��award-winning apps and education-based games – and for partnering with brands such as Disney,��Marvel��and Dreamworks��–��Kuato��wants to use Panic��Room to showcase how VR can be used in innovative ways.��

Powered by its��newly-patented��‘Actor/Director’ platform,��Panic Room is the world’s first cross-platform,��socially-interactive��virtual reality game, opening the developer up to new platforms and audiences.��

The platform��allows gamers to interact and engage in a shared online space. A typical Actor-Director arrangement involves a VR headset-wearing ‘Actor’ interacting with a virtual 3D world, which can be viewed and controlled by a ‘Director’ through��a secondary device such as a tablet, mobile phone, or PC.����

This approach elevates VR from a typically solo activity to a more interactive and shared experience.��It��demonstrates��how third parties such as parents, teachers��or carers can have visibility of a child during VR gameplay.����

“Virtual reality has progressed significantly over the last decade, but a primary issue stems from��the fact it’s a single-person experience. We are incredibly excited to be launching this game as part of our ambition to shift into the VR market,” said MD��Mark Horneff.����

“In the current circumstances where interactions��are at arm’s length and done remotely, we wanted to offer gamers the chance to escape but stay connected with friends and family,��and also��open the platform up to third party developers to use as well.����

“Panic Room is an internet-based experience which can��be played over Zoom or with two individuals in��close proximity��– a concept we will apply to other developments to support family connectivity.��

“Our aim is to create��compelling and memorable virtual reality experiences where gamers of all ages can share moments with their friends online.����

“Our��model offers a simple, social and cost-effective solution. Our vision is to test out the technology with Panic Room and then extend it to our library of games, which align with�����ܲ��ٴ�’s��education-driven ethos where children can learn and play, whilst parents,��carers or teachers can oversee gameplay.”��

Panic Room, which is platform-agnostic, currently runs on Oculus Rift and has compatibility with a wide variety of platforms such as iOS, Google Play, and PC, with more additional platforms on the horizon.��

The £4.5m funding comes from Horizons Ventures, which jointly-founded the company. Representing the VC, Teddy��Chatjaval��added: “We are thrilled to continue our close relationship with��Kuato��Studios��at this exciting time when they are developing the ‘Actor/Director’ platform for VR.����

“This is a testament to�����ܲ��ٴ�’s��longevity and adaptability to the ever-changing interactive entertainment landscape.”������

Founded in 2011,��Kuato��Studios��utilises��cutting edge analytics software��to��pinpoint��the unique position of��each and every��user’s learning development.����

The team has created 14 apps and games which have been No.1 on over 500 App Store charts worldwide.��

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The acquisition is part of a wider strategy to become the ‘go to’ technical and creative services platform for the global video games industry. It follows the acquired of Gateshead-based game dev firm Coconut Lizard in July of this year.

Founded in 1993 by majority shareholder Kerry Ganofsky, who will continue leading the studio within Keywords Studios, High Voltage is��an end-to-end, full-service, AAA game developer��based near Chicago, Illinois, with a subsidiary studio in New Orleans, Louisiana.

HVS counts major game franchises such as Fortnite, Saints Row, Mortal Kombat,��Hunter the Reckoning, The Conduit,��and��Lego Racers amongst its credits. ��

Ganofsky said: “We are overjoyed to join an industry-leading global group such as Keywords Studios. We are tremendously excited they share our vision for augmenting our development capabilities and they will provide us the ability to embark upon a growth trajectory for our business creating the next generation of AAA games.

“Furthermore, Keywords Studios’ investment in our studio is an outstanding sign for the continued expansion of game development in Illinois and Louisiana.

“We genuinely look forward to working together with everyone at Keywords Studios and fulfilling a noteworthy role in this new journey with them.”

Andrew Day, CEO of Keywords Studios added: “With its 27-year pedigree of game development in the global video games market, High Voltage brings incredible experience, expertise and additional scale to our fast growing Game Development Service Line.��

“The multitalented team at HVS brings deep expertise in the Unreal Game Engine development environment, honed particularly well in recent years through working closely with Epic Games on Fortnite, as well as a track record of having worked with many client proprietary game engines, gaming platforms and game genres, which all adds further breadth and depth to Keywords Studios’ existing capabilities.”

Keywords Studios to acquire Gateshead game dev firm

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The offer price of 604 pence per share in cash represents an aggregate value of £945m ($1.2bn) for Codemasters’ issued and to be issued share capital.

The Warwickshire-headquartered publisher rose to prominence in the 1980s with hit games including Dizzy.

It is now most famous for racing titles include Dirt, F1, Grid, and the Colin McRae series.��

The deal ends progress of a planned cash-and-stock deal with New York video game holding company Take-Two.

The Codemasters board called EA’s offer “superior” for its shareholders and has withdrawn its recommendation of the offer made by Take-Two.��

EA said the acquisition is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.

“We feel this union would provide an exciting and prosperous future for Codemasters, allowing our teams to create, launch and service bigger and better games to an extremely passionate audience,” said Gerhard Florin, the Chairman of Codemasters.

Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts added: “We believe there is a deeply compelling opportunity in bringing together Codemasters and Electronic Arts to create amazing and innovative new racing games for fans.

“Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment.

“With the full leverage of EA’s technology, platform expertise, and global reach, this combination will allow us to grow our existing franchises and deliver more industry-defining racing experiences to a global fan base.”

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The company, which rose to prominence in the 1980s with hit games including Dizzy, is now a specialist creator of racing games.��

It��has developed the official Formula One game since 2008��and holds that contract until 2025. Its other franchises include��DiRT, GRID and Micro Machines.����

NASDAQ-listed Take-Two Interactive �󲹲���offered��around $1.58 per share in cash, with an additional $4.82 per share in Take-Two stock.��The New York-headquartered firm, which��owns��Grand Theft Auto developer��Rockstar Games��as well as hit franchises including��NBA 2K and BioShock,��has until December 4 to finalise the offer and its terms.��

Warwickshire-headquartered Codemasters, which also has bases in Birmingham and Runcorn,��floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2018.��

It��currently has a market cap of £690m, which has more than doubled in the last year. It��recently��reported��six-month revenues of around £80m, up from £39.8m for the same period in 2019.��

Its shareholders��are��yet to accept the offer,��but the transaction is expected to go through��

Take-Two said it��“believes that the combination of Take-Two and Codemasters would bring together two world-class interactive entertainment portfolios, with a highly complementary fit between Take-Two’s 2K publishing label and Codemasters in the racing genre”.��

In its most recently quarterly results,��Take-Two��revealed profits of��$100m��and��revenues��of $841m.��

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Chinese tech giant Tencent led the Series A round into��Lockwood Publishing, which this summer saw its mobile game hit more than 200 million users.��

Existing investors��Novator��Partners, David Helgason and Hilmar Pétursson��joined the round.��

“Players globally are increasingly enjoying games for both the entertainment and the socially interactive experience,” said Tencent corporate vice president Bo Wang.��

“We are delighted to partner with the talents of Lockwood and look forward to supporting their vision of delivering an engaging experience to users.”��

Avakin��Life is described as��a 3D world where people can meet socially. More than a million people use it every day, an audience it has grown organically since launching in 2013.

We are *very* excited to announce that from today on Avakin Life, superstar DJ duo Lucas & Steve will be hosting a series of virtual concerts for our community to enjoy from November 6th to the 9th!

— Lockwood (@LockwoodLKWD)

Lockwood originally developed games for the��PlayStation Home��virtual world, which players inhabited on the PS3. The author��often��played chess in a virtual square, as other people’s avatars wandered around.��

However, as revealed in a��,��Lockwood had to cut staff from 60 to a dozen as the PlayStation��Home��platform��declined. It was shut down in��2015.��

“We have always been ambitious about growing our audience and player engagement through a great experience,”��Bjornsson added in a statement.��

“A validation from a leader like Tencent just increases our confidence that we can reach our goals.��

“We still have a lot of work to do to provide the amazing real-world social sim that we envision.”

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Her employer, London-headquartered Gismart, has achieved 9,000 per cent growth over the last three years to reach $71m turnover and she has worked on a game that reached number one in the game charts in 62 countries and generated 60 million downloads worldwide.

Yet it has not been as simple as it sounds to reach the next level for the Belarus resident who has loved video games for as long as she can remember.

According to business data platform Statista, 46 per cent of gamers worldwide were women in 2017. Yet there is a disparity with those who make their careers in the industry. Statista figures show that, in 2019, 71 per cent of game developers were men and 24 per cent were women, with the remaining four per cent transgender/androgynous/other.

Although Minsk-based Turabova, a level designer, is among the 40 per cent female workforce at Gismart, her road to turning her passion into a career has not been straightforward.

“There were companies I worked for where I was the only woman in the game development team,” she tells �Ͼ�Ʒ��Cloud. “My colleagues treated me differently, some did not take me seriously.”

She had grown up playing games, initially Tetris and Snake, but as soon as her family got a computer at home, video games became her favourite way to unwind after school. “I studied well, but my grandmother was worried about my future,” she says. “Every day I played for at least four hours, and the biggest punishment for me was always a ban on games.”

Before starting her university studies in IT and economic informatics, she was looking for a summer job when she saw a vacancy for a game designer and she decided to follow her dream.

“I envisaged my main barrier was going to be my lack of professional experience, but I was adamant to not let it hold me back,” she says. “The lack of women in the sector was also a hurdle when first starting out, particularly if you find yourself at a male-dominated company, you can be treated differently, and, in some situations not taken seriously.”

While she didn’t have any professional experience in the role, what she did have was experience as a gamer, so she decided to list all the games she’d played in the last 10 years on her CV.

“This helped to demonstrate my passion to prospective employers and proved really valuable when securing a job, helping me to begin my journey in game development,” she says.

When working within other companies, and finding she faced negative perceptions because she was a woman, it was her experience that set her apart.

“I quickly learnt that not all the men in the department had gaming experience like me, so I made sure to tell people about the number of ‘played’ hours I’d spend on games and that would get people to listen to me,” she says. “Despite the challenges, you are ultimately appreciated for your professionalism, experience, and love for games.

“I’ve have seen positive changes over the years, however. I’ve worked in companies where the atmosphere was completely friendly, and where I felt on equal terms from the very beginning. The industry is now considerably more welcoming to women, and there are a lot of women who can now be seen as role models for those considering a career in games development.”

Gismart, which has offices in London, Minsk, Beijing and Kyiv in the Ukraine, develops and publishes games, which means there are usually a few dozen games in development simultaneously.

Its open corporate culture and friendly, creative atmosphere sees people hired based purely on their professional experience.

“Every month I have a new project and working at this pace is not only exciting but very interesting too,” she says. “I am responsible for the environment of a game level, which means that I create, balance, and tune mechanics and difficulty for the game, while taking playtesting, feedback and live metrics into account.

“I start my work around 10am and sync up with the team. During the day, I mostly communicate with game developers and game producers. I spend some time analysing metrics and then fixing game levels based on results. At the end of the working day I review my progress from the day and plan the next day’s activities.”

Cool Goal

Her favourite project so far has been Cool Goal, a game that went to number one in the game charts in 62 countries and generated 60m downloads worldwide. “This is the kind of motivation that pushes a game designer but I didn’t stop there,” Turabova adds. “I continue to progress by learning from my colleagues’ experience and attending game design courses.”

She believes employers must actively work towards ensuring a gender balance and look at female candidates favourably to avoid game development being a male-dominated area. Gismart combats this through flexibility according to individual needs, including flexible working for women, as well as offering good social packages and a comfortable office.

“I think companies need to be more open in promoting diversity in the workplace, and in taking an active role in leading positive change,” Turabova says. “They can do this holistically by valuing diversity in all aspects of the business and demonstrating inclusivity both from a strategic business standpoint and in the way people are treated.

“Flexibility and understanding is an important component of creating a more diverse workplace, alongside the fact that doing so can make the business a more appealing and welcoming place for women to work.

“Some examples of adjustments may include providing more flexible working hours and on-site childcare, so that mothers feel more comfortable juggling their work with their children. It may also include allowing employees to take time off for a variety of religious holidays or altering the office ergonomics to account for people who may have disabilities.”

“Women don’t feel part of the conversation”

Software developer Ania Kubow believes more women should consider gaming as a career, so she’s doing all she can to lead by example.

In six months as a YouTuber she has built up a following of 22,000 people for her tutorials in making retro online games. She co-runs a 4,000-strong volunteer-run meet-up for women – – and is on the judging panel for js13kgames, a JavaScript coding competition that runs in August and September and challenges entrants to make a game limited to 13kb.

“I’ve built a community around gaming and learning to code through building games because it’s all about logical thinking,” says Kubow, based in Battersea, London. “People make tutorials on how to build websites but I believe games are the way forward to improve coding skills.”

Her place on the judging panel, she hopes, will encourage other girls to enter and then go on to have careers in gaming. “There’s a challenge to getting women who are interested in software development to believe they could consider gaming because there are not enough women out there working in games development.”

The problem may stem from bootcamps, she says, which, in her experience, tend to signpost people towards other software development roles and offer little in gaming education. For those that do want to develop games, the onus is on them to build up their experience, and that’s where her YouTube channel comes in. “I think women aren’t considering gaming due to the lack of representation in the sector and I’d like to change that,” she says.

Work needs to be done in recruitment, too. “I’ve worked in a start-up and there’s a mentality to recruit people similar to you,” she says. “Women may get overlooked or not feel part of the conversation.” Although there are positive steps being made.

“There are initiatives out there from VCs who will only invest in start-ups if there are women on the board and that’s a step in the right direction.”

Although she hasn’t experienced challenges herself, she has female friends who have faced barriers in their gaming careers. She receives positive feedback from followers, who go on to develop themselves having watched her tutorials.

“It’s fantastic to see young women feeling inspired to go down that route,” she says. “My advice would be to join communities and competitions, ask people in the online communities for advice and people will always be willing to help.

“For businesses, they may have to recruit based on somebody being self-taught rather than having the experience, which isn’t always available. Hopefully we can start to see more women in the industry and things levelling out.”

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