Redundancies at Dundee’s biggest computer gaming company are no cause for panic elsewhere in the city, according to a leading industry figure.
Realtime Worlds, which is based in West Marketgait, confirmed a “small number” of job losses as the result of a change in the development cycle of its recently launched online game APB and cuts to a secret second project.
Dr Richard Wilson, chief executive of TIGA, the trade association representing the industry in the UK, said the local gaming development sector would be “very supportive” in the wake of the announcement.
He said, “Everyone will be very sorry to hear the news. I wouldn’t think there would be panic, but there will be obvious sadness at redundancies taking place.
“This kind of thing does tend to happen when you get to the conclusion of a particular development project.
“We should bear in mind that Realtime Worlds has just delivered a very exciting game that I’m sure will be very successful and which generated a lot of interest before it was launched.”
The change will see a number of employees moved from the secret project into a new role providing 24-hour online support to APB, which took over five years to develop.
The company, which employs over 200 people, insisted it is still recruiting in other areas of the business.
Although confident of the continuing success of the Dundee sector, Dr Wilson said tax breaks for the gaming industry — scrapped in George Orborne’s Emergency Budget — were essential for companies in the city to compete worldwide.
He said, “It would put us on a level playing field with our competitors abroad and mean overseas publishers would be much more likely to invest over here.
“It also means that indigenous venture capitalists will be more likely to invest in potentially risky — but also potentially higher return — projects which video games companies represent.
“While the gaming industry in the UK shrunk between July 2008 and July 2009 — we lost 15% of our businesses — the Canadian games industry continued to grow. The only thing that is different is that they had a tax break.
“There are not that many games that make millions of pounds in profits. It’s very hard to get that blockbuster.
“That’s why anything we can do to make the investment environment more attractive and more conducive to the Dundee games industry has got to be a good thing.”
Professor Nicholas Terry, vice-principal of Abertay University and a follower of the games industry, said he did not believe Realtime Worlds’ announcement would be interpreted as a sign of faltering growth.
He said, “I think what we’re seeing here is a natural business process at work. They have just launched a major new game that they have been working on for a number of years.
“They are doing what any business does, which is to respond to early intelligence and reaction to make sure they can maximise the beneficial impact of the launch. I would be very surprised if there was any sense of contagion here.
“The statement by the company makes it very clear that what they are doing is responding to the requirements associated by their new games launch.”
Professor Terry said he remained convinced of the resilience of the city’s gaming industry.
He said, “I think we have been very competent and well-placed and we should congratulate the computer games companies in Dundee for being able to respond positively to market trends and for the workforce available to develop new products.”
Founded in 2002 and headed up by hit game Lemmings designer Dave Jones, Realtime Worlds has enjoyed a meteoric rise.
Members of its team have worked on smash hits including Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown.
APB was developed in Dundee over a period of more than five years and finally had its phased global release last week.
Realtime Worlds chief executive Gary Dale said APB had experienced a “very smooth launch” for an online dedicated game.
He said, “We now have to focus our efforts and resources on running APB as a 24/7 online live operation, creating new content and services for the future and ensuring the best possible experience for the players.”