MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Mujo Games has secured £25,000 to further develop its prize-winning game, Yellow Rock Road, since renamed Beat Guru.
The York-based studio – consisting of graduate students Pedro Custodio, Joni Levinkind, Fynn Levy, and Emma Levin – will use the funds to buy-in additional talent to complete the game, as well as secure software licenses (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz).
Tranzfuser is a UK government-funded video game development competition supported by the UK Games Fund. After initial pitches, 17 finalists were given £5,000 to develop a playable demo and show them at UK consumer show, EGX.
Tranzfuser describes itself as a talent programme designed to "provide an annual shot of top talent into the UK development ecosystem with a particular focus on creative team leaders of the future". It also "looks to supply a pipeline to enterprise and/or employment recognition for new UK games graduates, taking teams from concept and prototyping through to publishing".
"Winning Tranzfuser has opened so many opportunities for our team, and we really hope to make the most of them. We are all incredibly excited to find out what the future holds," said Joni Levinkind, Mujo Games’ lead programmer. "All of our team members have gained a range of skills from game development to management, marketing, and financial planning. We have learnt so much and feel more confident in our ability to succeed as independent developers within the games industry."
“There is an incredible pool of talent in our colleges and universities. We regularly visit the 11 colleges in the NextGen Skills Academy network and the employers we work with are astounded at what students can create at the age of 16,” Marcia Deakin, games partnership director at NextGen Skills Academy recently told MCV, reflecting on the relationship between the industry and academia.
“Brexit has sharpened the focus on the talent pipeline and how we fill the skill gaps and shortages we face. Industry and education need to work together practically to address the issues. What we do need to do is work with colleges and universities to support them to teach what we need rather than teach what they know! Companies can have a huge beneficial effect on vocational education in the UK if they act jointly, rather than as individual businesses.”
