Gaming firms move into The Sharp Project

Just weeks after indie game studio Fabrik snapped up a 1,200 sq ft unit at The Sharp Project, two more gaming companies have announced plans to move into the Manchester-based digital production complex.

Developer SIGTRAP Games has relocated to The Sharp Project from Huddersfield, where it created its debut product – a strategic shooter called Sublevel Zero.

SIGTRAP co-founder Gary Lloyd said: “Being around diverse digital businesses that congregate here is great.

“Everyone is really friendly and the environment gets the creative juices flowing.”

He added: “The Sharp Project is a cool place full of Northern talent and it feels really good to be part of it.”

Dr Luke Thompson, co-founder of SIGTRAP, commented: “We do a lot of work with Virtual Reality (VR) and were therefore really pleased to win the Microsoft-sponsored Best Windows VR Games prize, for ‘The Crystal Curse’ last month at Jamchester, the UK’s biggest professional game jam.

“We are currently working on a number of prototypes for our next game and developing VR products as well as traditional games. We’re starting to build a name for ourselves for VR and offer consulting on other VR projects.”

Elsewhere, The Sharp Project has welcomed Boomdash Digital, a publisher of free-to-play mobile games that aims to give indie developers a platform from which to compete with bigger publishers and studios.

Boomdash’s co-founder of head of publishing, Steve Tagger, said: “We’re focussed on the monetisation, marketing, and publishing of free-to-play mobile games to engaged communities.

“Working closely with the teams, we simplify the business of free-to-play game publishing, helping developers to improve their gameplay, engagement and monetisation strategy.”

“We make people want to pay to play because they enjoy the experience and really see the value. Player engagement is key to this and through our involvement in a game we look to increase retention rates, player conversation and life time value of players across the board, to dramatic effect.”

The company’s head of production, co-founder Viktorya Hollings, said The Sharp Project fits the bill as a creative hub with a “palpable” energy.

She continued: “We want to help position Manchester at the forefront of the gaming sector again.

“20 years ago it was an important hub for video games and we want to build on that heritage. There is lots of great talent here and we would like to work with local developers as well as indie companies across the globe.”

The Sharp Project’s founder, Sue Woodward, said she believes the complex is quickly gaining recognition as an important hub for Manchester’s burgeoning games industry.

For the last two years, the site has been home to PlaygroundSquad UK, a European gaming school that provides industry-relevant education and training.

Sue commented: “Gaming is another significant digital sector for The Sharp Project, as well as for Manchester as a whole, and we want to play our part in developing the sector and creating jobs for local people.”

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