[Industry news] Pretty Cool Games announces formation of new remote independent studio, funding and debut title in development

This is a press release posted alongside our usual editorial content.

Today sees three celebration-worthy announcements for the UK games industry: the creation of a new independent video game development studio called Pretty Cool Games, investment in the studio, and finally, the studio is hiring, providing a much-needed boost for the UK Game Development Community.

15 months ago, Pretty Cool Games was conceived by accomplished videogame developers Sitara Shefta and Will Dudley. During this time, Shefta and Dudley have been working behind the scenes building some pretty cool prototypes, which have attracted attention from investors and publishers alike.  With long backgrounds in game development, including being part of the original development team of the multi-million-selling Human: Fall Flat, Shefta and Dudley are well placed to form Pretty Cool Games.  “We’re building a small but mighty team, allowing us to craft truly imaginative games with creativity and agility”, stated Shefta while describing her vision for the studio “Maintaining a culture of empowerment where everyone has a stake in what they are developing is imperative for the working environment we want to create”, she concludes.

The second Pretty Cool news is that the Pretty Cool Games team has secured funding from Coreblazer, the investment initiative of Chinese game company Hypergryph. Highlighting the impressive prototype Pretty Cool Games has developed, this investment represents their first European investment.  “From the earliest prototypes, we could already feel the creativity and potential of this team.” Says Clare Yang, Head of Investment at Hypergryph “Sitara and Will are true entrepreneurs, and working with them has been a genuine pleasure — we’re excited to support Pretty Cool Games as they bring their vision to life.”

Pretty Cool Games can now forge ahead with making their first product a reality.  Dudley says, “We want to build games that surprise players, make people laugh and create fun memorable moments, so this is at the centre of our development processes.” Continuing, “We’re building a truly unique and characterful new game in the AA space, with incredibly fun, fantastically playful, physics-based gameplay. It’s a sandbox game focused on player expression, with emergent gameplay and systems.”  Shefta adds, “We’re gameplay-first; we have an idea, prototype it quickly, and see how it feels in the player’s hands and iterate from there. We think players respond when they can see and feel the creativity that’s gone into a game, and they in turn feel free to be more creative in how they play a game.”

Pretty Cool news number three is that the team are now hiring, with artists and level designers being the immediate priority.  While Co-Founders Shefta and Dudley are based in Leeds, the studio will give employees the opportunity to work remotely, enabling the studio to hire the best talent while not limiting themselves geographically.

Multi-award-winning Shefta takes the title of Co-Founder and CEO and has previously worked with Sumo Digital, Dream Reality Interactive, and most recently served as CEO and Studio Director for No Brakes Games in Tenerife, where she established and directed the development team behind Human: Fall Flat.  In addition to Human: Fall Flat, Shefta has contributed to an impressive roster of titles including LittleBigPlanet 3, Dead Island 2, Disney Infinity and Arca’s Path.  A passionate advocate for women within the games industry, Shefta also sits on the TIGA Board of Directors and is a member of UKIE.

Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Dudley has worked on numerous AAA and indie titles including the Human: Fall Flat franchise, Tom Grennan VR, Transformers, Fable the Journey and Kinect Sports Season Two.  Dudley is a versatile developer, originating as an environmental artist, a technical artist and as part of the tech and innovation team at Sony.  Bringing Pretty Cool Games a wealth of multi-platform experience, Dudley has previously worked at No Brakes Games, Sony (SIE), Lionhead Studios, and Rare.