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 I have been active in the computer games industry for over 20 years.
One of the 80’s generation of self-taught programmers, I wrote my first commercial video game, at the age of 16, for the Vic 20. Other games followed for a succession of new machines, most notably the chart topping Super Sprint for the Atari ST in 1987, which I wrote with a team of friends from Birmingham University, whilst studying for a degree in Software Engineering.
After completing my degree in 1988 I had to make a difficult decision – to stay in the, then fledgling, unpredictable games industry, or accept one of the many offers of more ‘legitimate’ work in mainstream IT.
I wanted to add to my skills and range of experiences beyond what was possible in just the games industry, and so began a career as a management consultant working for Price Waterhouse and PA Consulting where I advised blue-chip organisations, including Egg, Capital Interactive and Racal at senior level on Internet architecture and strategy. These skills gained as a consultant were crucial in helping me to return to the games industry.
While working in the City, I kept an eye on the games market and began to explore new designs for video games in the hope that someday I could take these ideas further. One of these ideas took on a life of its own and after many years evolved into a fully playable PC game called Cubic Juggler. I entered the game in a national competition sponsored by Edge Magazine in the year 2000. It won hands down and the prize was a sponsored international showcase for the product at Milia, held in Cannes each spring. Subequently I signed a deal with Acclaim Entertainment to publish the game, now known as ZooCube - PuzzleKings was born. ZooCube went on to be published worldwide including in Japan, (which is very rare for a western game) and it won several awards for its unique design.
I also provides consultancy services for a number of clients involved in the game industry providing expert advice in mobile and online gaming. I am currently COO of Tiga which is the trade association representing the business and commercial interests of games software developers in the UK and Europe. I also run Tiga’s mobile and casual games special interest group.
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