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Monumental Expands to India
Nottingham UK, 17th November 2008
Monumental, the UK-based online games developer, today announced the opening of a state-of-the-art studio in Pune, India. The studio has been established with the assistance of offshoring experts Quickstart Global, enabling Monumental to benefit from the talent pool in the Pune area.
Monumental have most recently hit the news with the imminent launch of Football Superstars, a Massively-Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) to be published by Cybersports in which players take on the role of footballers both on and off the pitch. While Monumental have previously used staff under a traditional outsourcing model, the attraction of the Quickstart Global model is that each employee is specifically selected by Monumental and lives up to the quality and productivity standards set by them. The studio currently houses a core team with plans to increase this in the near future.
Gylan Hunter, Art Director for Monumental said:
"We were highly impressed by the quality of applicants. Prior to interview we viewed show-reels from candidates and were able to select those who met our criteria, both on a technical and personal level. This process helps us maintain the exceptionally high quality standards we demand. The facilities in Pune are excellent, and our staff there have everything they need to deliver first-class work".
Neal Gandhi, CEO of Quickstart Global commented:
"We are delighted that Monumental chose to establish their operation in Pune. We knew from previous experience in this sector that there were candidates in the area with the specific skills to meet their needs. The Games Industry continues to enjoy significant growth (40% revenue growth in 2009), however the availability of skills remains the biggest inhibitor to growth. Adoption of the Quickstart Global model can solve the problem for growing independent studios".
The opening of the Pune facility will enable Monumental to enjoy sustainable long term competitive advantage and high-growth operational success within the global Online Game and Virtual World marketplace.
Monumental Acquisition in Manchester
Nottingham UK - 13th November 2008
Monumental Games, the UK's fastest growing developer of middleware technology for Massively Multi-Player Online (MMO) gaming and Virtual Worlds, today announced the acquisition of Swordfish Studios (Manchester) from Activision, part of the Vivendi Universal Group.
The Studios comprise a team of 26 experienced developers based in Manchester's cutting-edge MediaCity:UK. The acquisition takes Monumental's workforce to more than 100 people and makes it one of the largest, independent, UK-owned development teams.
Commenting on the acquisition, Monumental's CEO, Rik Alexander, said:
"When this opportunity arose it immediately made sense. The Swordfish team are a perfect fit in terms of culture, expertise and ambition, and there's no doubt that, from today, Monumental is in an even stronger position to drive the future development of the online gaming market."
Importantly, the Swordfish team is one of the very few developers worldwide to have fully solved the hugely complex issues involved in running and managing the XLSP (Xbox Live! Server Platform) server environments for online console gaming. This knowledge base will help to consolidate Monumental's position as the market leading online game developer.
Monumental Games has more than trebled in size during the last 24 months and is seeing a rapidly increasing take up of both its technology and its MMO gaming IP. The company is the lead contractor to Cybersports Limited in its development of "Football Superstars", a new MMO concept that launches in the UK next month, and has development contracts with several other international console and online gaming publishers. Take up of the "Monumental Technology Suite" (MTS), the company's core middleware product, has accelerated almost exponentially during 2008. Today some 50 licensees are actively developing new applications and concepts for launch in the UK and internationally.
"We have long been convinced that MTS offers a far more cost and time effective solution for bringing MMO games to market and for developing Virtual World's for commercial applications. The robustness of the technology, coupled with its ease of use, means that it's ideal both as a development platform and for full commercial application,"
said Rik Alexander.
"Acquiring the Swordfish business in Manchester gives us the capacity to invest ahead of the curve and to maintain our growth profile throughout next year."
Monumental Wins Technology Strategy Board Award
Nottingham UK, 24th September - 2008
Nottingham-based Monumental Games has won nearly £300,000 of funding from the Technology Strategy Board as part of a project to revolutionise the Monumental Technology Suite, the Massively-Multiplayer Engine that now has over 40 licensees worldwide.
The £700,000 project, which will focus on making the Suite's tools 'accessible to all' and providing a browser-compatible development route, begins this month with the objective of commercialising the results within a 2-year time-frame.
Project Chairman Rocco Loscalzo (CTO of Monumental) praised the approach of the Technology Strategy Board.
"This is the first year that the Technology Strategy Board has invited applications from the Creative Industries, and it is encouraging to see recognition for the contribution made by such industries to the UK economy. This award for Collaborative Research and Development has enabled us to kick-start a commercially viable but inherently high-risk project, and we can't wait to get going with our partners."
Monumental Games are the Lead Participant of the consortium that will be taking part in the project. Academic Partner Staffordshire University will join Monumental in the requisite research. Appropriately, the coming academic year sees Staffordshire launch the UK's first dedicated Multiplayer Online Game Design & Programming courses. Other partners include Media and Game Technologies who will provide an integrated billing system, and PlayGen and Digital Native Academy (DNA) who will be providing consultation on various aspects of the project.
Ewan Lamont, who will be managing the project having been instrumental in winning the award, spoke highly of the consortium.
"With these partners we have the ideal breadth of experience and cover all aspects of the route to market. Working together I am convinced we will see fantastic results."
More Key Hires at Monumental
Nottingham UK, 26th August - 2008
Monumental announces the appointment new CFO Mark Howell and welcomes Non-Executive Director Jeremy Middleton to the board.
Monumental Growth: Nottingham Studio Reaches 60 staff (and counting...)
Nottingham UK, 22nd August 2008
In the last 6 months Nottingham-based online games developer Monumental Games has grown from 35 employees to over 60, as it ramps up development on its flagship MMO title Football Superstars and gets two as-yet-undisclosed projects underway.
Recent key hires include Game Director Ron Harris, whose career spans over 20 years in the games industry and includes senior management roles for Sony, EA and Codemasters and Project Lead Ewan Lamont, previously Production Manager of the award winning pen and paper RPG Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 2nd Edition.
"Growth comes with its own challenges,"
says Rik Alexander, CEO,
"and ensuring we get the right people in the right places is a key component. We also have to make sure we retain our excellent staff and that's about more than just offering a highly competitive package."
Alongside his other duties, Ron Harris is keeping a close eye on recruitment:
"The challenge of recruitment for us is all about maintaining the high quality of staff that we currently have. We've revised our benefits package across the board so that it not only helps to attract talented new candidates from around the globe, but also rewards those who have helped us to get to where we are now.
In the end though, I think people work here simply because it's a great environment - and that's the most attractive benefit any studio can offer."