A Dundee company formed after the collapse of Realtime Worlds has already become a big noise in the video games world just two months after it was founded.
Raymond Usher’s company Euphonious specialises in creating sounds for video games and mobile phone applications.
Realtime Worlds was Dundee’s largest games developer but went bust last year after its ambitious online game APB failed to hit sales targets.
Hundreds of people were made redundant. Rather than look for a position with a new company, Mr Usher, Realtime’s former audio director, has decided to go into business for himself.
Despite only having started up the business in January, Euphonious has already been drafted in to provide sounds for what is expected to be one of the most popular games of the year: Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean.
The game, due out in May, is the latest in a series of multi-million-selling Lego games that have included adaptations of some of the most popular movies of the past 30 years, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman.
After graduating from Dundee University, Mr Usher worked on the Grand Theft Auto games for DMA Design and Rockstar North before joining Realtime Worlds in 2002.
Mr Usher said setting up his own company had been a daunting prospect.
“It was a life-changing decision to make but it has been one of the best ones,” he said.
He added that many games developers do not have in-house audio teams, which has left a gap in the market for Euphonious to exploit.
“We are basically looking at being the one-stop shop for audio.”
Euphonious already has a staff of five and Mr Usher said he is looking to find suitable premises in Dundee to set up a permanent studio for the company.