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Together with the likes of Guildford, Dundee and the Warwickshire triangle, Liverpool is one of the original lodestones of UK game development. Indeed, thanks to Psygnosis – since renamed and restructured as Sony’s Studio Liverpool – it has global significance as one of the most established of the platform holder’s western studios.
Standing proud on the north-west English coast, the region’s relative isolation seems only to have strengthened its existence over the years. While other significant developers and publishers on the Manchester side of the M62 motorway have vanished from view, the likes of Bizarre Creations and Evolution Studios have continued to grow, steadily releasing franchises of million-selling software, much of it based around driving very expensive cars, very quickly. Both companies were acquired in substantial deals during 2007; Evolution by Sony and Bizarre Creations by Activision. Their futures are now secure.
Further down the food chain, there are plenty of other companies too, ranging from small startups to established specialist studios, as well as an array of specialist recruitment, outsourcing and production-related outfits. Liverpool John Moores University is also known for its pure science and applied computer game courses, which provide a steady stream of graduates for the industry.
Combined with the rapid regeneration that preempted and followed on from Liverpool’s much-vaunted status as European Capital of Culture in 2008, a new confidence is certainly evident within the region, both in terms of wider business activity, and also for the game sector.