Member Article

North East games development firm looks to level up following San Francisco Northern Powerhouse mission

Independent game developer Cardboard Sword is closer to securing publication for its first new game, The Siege and the Sandfox, following a UKTI Northern Powerhouse mission to the Game Developers Conference (GDC), in San Francisco, in March earlier this year.

Made up of a group of experienced games industry professionals, the business has only recently made the leap to developing its own games.

North East-based Olly Bennett (pictured below) explained: “We’ve all been involved in high profile games development previously in our careers, but this is our first standalone independent project. GDC is one of the largest and most influential industry trade shows in the world, so we knew it would be a great chance to gain interest and secure a publisher for The Siege and the Sandfox.”

Since returning from the conference the Cardboard Swordsmen have had follow up discussions with publishers met at the event and now hope to secure a deal with one of them in the months to come.

Maria Dotsch, UK International Trade Adviser, commented: “UKTI arranges and supports missions across the world focusing on many different sectors.

“Cardboard Sword have a great new game in development but needed support to be able to attend and make the most out of this event, UKTI was able to do that for them.”

Olly, who is an alumni of Teesside University’s Digital City Fellowship and also runs the quarterly games industry networking event Game Bridge in Middlesbrough, added: “UKTI’s support was vital – without their assistance we would have struggled to attend.

“Their help in meeting new contacts and their financial aid towards costs and getting us on the UKIE stand (UK Interactive Entertainment), gave us opportunities we would otherwise have missed.”