Four digital media firms from Tayside and Fife will be thrust into the limelight next week at the world’s largest trade event for mobile and wireless technology.
A contingent of 21 Scottish companies are attending the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona a show that attracts more than 60,000 delegates including representatives of the world’s leading technology firms with the support of Scottish Development International.
Developers Outplay Entertainment, TAG Games and Yoyo Games of Dundee will all be showcasing their latest developments along with Dunfermline-based Zendit, a company which provides a platform for multi-channel internet applications.
Yoyo Games founder Sandy Duncan, a former vice-president of XBOX Europe who worked with Microsoft for 17 years, said it was essential that Scotland’s digital gaming talent found the global recognition it deserves.
He said his company had picked up work at a recent trade fair in Hamburg and he was flying out to the Games Developer Conference in San Francisco immediately after the Spanish conference where Yoyo was to be an exhibitor for the first time.
He said: ”The best-kept secret within the games industry is how prominent the games industry is within Scotland. I met with a guy this week who sold his company to AOL (America Online) for £100m and he asked what we were doing in Dundee.
”I had to explain to him that Dundee was full of games people. Conferences help to explain to people that Scotland is pretty much the centre of British games industry.”
Among the major companies that will be at MWC next week are Qualcomm Ventures, HTC, Nokia, Orange, Microsoft and Intel Capital.
SDI chief executive Anne MacColl said: ”We know the skills, innovation and expertise Scotland has in mobile technology are world-leading.
”The Mobile World Congress is an unparalleled opportunity for our companies to showcase their products and innovations to a global audience.
”The agility of our companies in this sector, their knowledge of the market and creativity and innovation, means they are ideally placed to maximise the global opportunities that this event represents to create new connections and develop new deals.”
The Scottish companies will also link with members of the GlobalScot network from companies such as Juniper Networks, Panasonic and Telefonica 02 Europe who will be on hand to provide advice, support and connections.
Alasdair Gunn, project director for Scottish Enterprise’s Interactive Scotland, said: ”The transformations created by social media, mobile commerce and social gaming are disrupting traditional mobile and internet business models as well as creating a wealth of new business opportunities.
”Scottish Digital Media and Creative companies have recognised that this presents exciting new market opportunities for their business and it’s great to see the global interest Scottish companies are receiving from many of the world’s leading players.”
Photo PA