Dundee mobile development studio Tag Games is working on an important new game with a top US mobile games company.
Last summer Scopely announced it was investing more than $50million (£37million) in three game studios in Spain (Omnidrone), England (Pixel Toys) and Scotland (Tag).
The studios were said to be working closely with Scopely on a number of in-development games across multiple genres.
A ‘rather massive’ project’ for Tag Games
Tag Games chief executive Marc Williamson confirmed Scopely was now a shareholder in the Dundee business.
He said: “We are currently working with them on producing this new, amazing product.”
Mr Williamson described it as a “rather massive” project.
“The deal with Scopely has enabled us to push forward with hiring for this project. We are creating something that we hope will have a very long lifetime.
“This project is our focus. We are not currently thinking about anything else.
“Unfortunately, I can’t say much about it apart from its something new for us – lots of work ahead of us to get it to market. I hope to be able to talk more about it soon.
“Annual turnover should be very healthy if the game is a success.”
Tapping into Dundee’s gaming history
Mr Williamson said the benefits of Tag being based in Dundee were that it had a great depth of games talent and new, excellent graduates every year.
“There is a history here, one that perhaps we refer to too much. The future is bright – look at all the great companies making games and digital products here and across Scotland.”
Mr Williamson said that, traditionally, Tag would work with three or four customers at a time, but it is currently focused on just the large project.
So what makes Tag stand out from other companies its field?
The CEO said: “It’s probably the fact that 2022 will be our 16th year making mobile and tablet games. We have been here from the very beginning and there is nothing we haven’t seen or solved over the years.
“We have a fantastic team that blow me away every day with their passion and talent. Who wouldn’t want to work with that group of people?”
Mr Williamson said that there were no secrets to Tag’s success to date.
“You have to have smart people making smart decisions at the right time and being a flexible business. If you don’t keep moving forward and evolving yourself and your processes, you stagnate.”
Difficulties posed by Covid and Brexit
Covid-19 meant that Tag staff couldn’t be in the office, but the firm’s boss said moving to home working had been an easy process.
He added: “I realise how incredibly lucky we are to be working in a sector that has grown and strengthened over the past two years rather than struggle.”
But Mr Williamson said that, due to the impact of the pandemic, there were 20 to 30 Tag staff he had never met in person.
“That feels really weird,” he added.
He praised the team for their incredible output, resilience and determination through what has been a challenging time for everyone.
It is, Mr Williamson added, much harder to hire staff now as a result of Brexit.
“The UK isn’t seen as a welcoming place,” he said.
“Sending equipment to staff in Europe is now a lottery about how many extra charges and delays we are going to have.
“Thousands of pounds worth of customs charges for sending a laptop to mainland Europe is not helpful.”
