GAMING
Sumo Digital: Expanding India’s Gaming Horizons Stewart Neal, Studio Director of Sumo India Studios takes us through Sumo Digital’s new Bengaluru Studio and their expansion plans in India.
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he gaming industry in India is bursting with talent, and with each passing year, thousands upon thousands join the community of gamers in the country. While video games of all kinds take over the free time and space of the youth, there is also a looming threat of security and safety plaguing the gaming community. However, industry leaders continue to work tirelessly to give players the best and safest gaming experience possible amidst these storms. Working with digital giants like Apple and Microsoft, Sumo Digital is one of the world’s best game development studios and have expanded its base to India. We talked to Stewart Neal, Studio Director of Sumo India Studios, to give us a glimpse into the world of game development, the measures taken to ensure a safe experience for its gamers, and the opportunities it provides aspiring talent in the game making space. Tell us more about Sumo Digital and what was the reason for its expansion into India? Sumo Digital is a part of the Sump Group and has over 15 studios across Europe, America,
By Donna Amo Canada, and India. Sumo Pune and Sumo Bengaluru will now be collaborating and co-developing on projects. Sumo Pune was established in 2007, and it was the second studio opened by Sumo Digital. Since then, we’ve developed a premium destination for console and PC games in India; a great experience. We have developed video games with partners like Apple, Microsoft, Sony and many more. The reason for the initial expansion in 2007 was to tap into the talent pool in India. Gaming is a growing industry, and looking at the kind of skills there are in areas like film, VFX etc., it was a natural decision. We’ve grown to around 150 studios and expect to continually grow across art programming, design, QA, and production. Sumo Digital has decided to open a new Bengaluru studio, and plans have also been laid out for Sumo Pune to expand. What can you tell us about it? It’s exciting as we’ve been planning for an expansion for a long time. So, it’s been amazing to announce that it is finally happening. There was a lot of work involved with the new studio opening up in Bangalore.
Stewart Neal, Studio Director, Sumo India Studios The discussion and planning for the expansion had started before COVID-19 hit. So, now what we’re doing is setting it up when it’s safe to do so. We’re working with the discipline heads across both studios to facilitate the growth of Sumo Bengaluru. The most important thing for the leadership is to ensure a seamless integration for both sites. We have an excellent working culture, and we want to make sure that that translates across both studios. With Sumo Pune over the last 18 months, we’ve purposefully outgrown our current studio space. The range of projects and their success resulted in increased demand across all disciplines, which is why the
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