Company Sumo Digital offices of Polish origin to open in Prague this month Pixel Ant Games. The new team will lead Eugene Hartonwho has served as lead producer on projects such as DayZ as well as Dying Light 2.
PixelAnt Games was founded in 2020 in Wroclaw, Poland by Adam Lason and Pavel Roleder. They have gained experience in the gaming industry through many years of work in the company. techland and collaborated with other studies. The main idea of the new studio was to build a place free from the weaknesses of the current game development – without crunches and without violent and complex internal structures – a place that will provide its employees with opportunities and space for professional and personal development. The values and culture of the company, laid down during the creation of the studio, gradually transformed into a concept called Gamedev 2.0.
The business model of PixelAnt Games is built on two pillars. The first joint developmentthat is, cooperation with other studios to create games, which allows cooperate with famous AA+ and AAA games and opens up opportunities to learn from more experienced teams.
In 2021, PixelAnt Games became part of Sumo Digital, providing the company with financial stability and immediate access to the world’s largest publishers. Sumo Digital paid £250,000 for PixelAnt Games.
“We are very pleased that the Sumo Digital family is expanding in Central Europe,” said Gary Dunn, CEO of Sumo Digital. “PixelAnt Games is ideally positioned to invest in the people and potential that the Czech Republic has to offer. The expansion also allows us to meet growing business demand while ensuring that we continue to deliver world-class game development to locations around the world.”
FIRST OWN GAME AND HELP FOR OTHER COMPANIES
In parallel with the joint development of PixelAnt Games in total creates the first custom game. A team of experienced developers under his leadership is working on its development. Pavel Roledergained experience working on games such as Call of Juarez, Dying Light and Dying Light 2. Currently, the project is at the final stage of the conceptual part and the first prototypes are being created..
Do it at PixelAnt Games they are working on about 10 joint projects. More than 60 people already work in the studio in Wroclaw.
“We believe that with the opening of a new studio in the Czech Republic, we will be able to grow in a way that does not disrupt our culture, and at the same time, a new, different and interesting offer for people will appear on the site. local market”. says Adam Lason, co-founder of PixelAnt Games. “Our branch will have wide autonomy in its activities, and its leaders will make decisions about the recruitment of employees, the projects in which they will participate, and also work on their diplomas.”
“The Czech Republic is a stable market for video game development. There are also many experienced and talented game developers here, so our expansion in this direction seemed natural to us.” adds Pavel Roleder, co-founder of PixelAnt Games. “It was not for nothing that we knew the right person who could help us develop the company in the local market and become a guarantor of our values - the basis of the research we build.”
GAMEDEV 2.0
Adam Lason and Pavel Roleder used their previous experience in and out of the studio to create a number of negative effects on people working on game development, including prolonged crunches that led to professional burnout.
To prevent such situations when creating a place without typical industry weaknesses, the founders of the studio created a concept called Gamedev 2.0.
This concept is based on two main principles:
– Values, which are absolutely essential for the studio and pave the way for creating a place based on respect, personal and professional development, without the hassle; in other words, values that serve all decisions – from everyday decisions to strategic decisions
– Stable business modelwhich guarantees sustainable growth of the company, gives employees a sense of security and the possibility of development – joint development finances their own intellectual property, and this solution gives space to find the most interesting solutions for our titles.
One of the important prerequisites that PixelAnt Games is aware of is the employment of employees, not only in terms of their skills and experience, but, above all, in terms of the ability to come to terms with a culture of learning. Thus, the founders of the studio make sure that, despite its growth, the core values are preserved without losing the corporate identity.
Gamedev 2.0 is not only a package of benefits, such as premium private healthcare or a flexible work and working model, but also ample opportunities for the realization of their own interests and professional development. The company guarantees paid days that employees can use for training, access to training courses and participation in professional conferences.
“We rely on honesty and transparency at every turn. We do not want to form a large corporation, whose employees are just cells in a spreadsheet, and in presentations of success – bars and graphs, ” Adam Lason says “For us, the most important people are those who have their own hobbies, interests and common values. Surprisingly, creating a “studio with a human face” is not so difficult – you just want to not be a jerk.
PixelAnt Games is looking for people who want to expand the range of studios in both locations. Jobs related to programming, level design and graphics, sound, as well as HR are waiting to be filled. All job offers can be found here.
Source :Indian TV
