Pretty Cool Games: Newly launched Yorkshire videogames studio makes string of hires
A NEW Yorkshire-based videogame development studio has taken on a string of senior staff as it looks to build its team following a launch earlier this year.
Founded by married couple Sitara Shefta and Will Dudley, Leeds-based Pretty Cool Games announced its official launch in August.
The company has now taken on six new staff, with plans to eventually grow to a team of 10.
Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Ms Shefta said the process of growing the team had been “really exciting”.
She said: “We basically were working away kind of in incognito mode, as I like to call it, for the last year.
“There were only two of us. We co-founded the studio together, and we were bootstrapping for just over a year, and we basically made a tech demo or prototype together. We managed to secure investment off the back of that, and now we've just grown the team.”
Ms Shefta began her games production career working at EA in around 2011, and went on to work for Yorkshire-based Sumo Digital, working on games including Little Big Planet Three.
She later went on to set up No Brakes Games in Tenerife, working at the studio for around six years.
Mr Dudley, who also worked at No Brakes Games in recent years, previously worked with Xbox Studios and Sony as a technical artist.
Speaking on why the couple returned from Tenerife to Yorkshire, Ms Shefta said: “I missed being back in Yorkshire, to be honest. I think we both missed the UK, which I think people are often surprised to hear.
“We really missed the culture, missed being around family and friends. There's much more of a game development scene here as well.”
Amongst the new hires made by Pretty Cool Games is Joe Hurst, who has joined the team as a technical director. He has worked at studios including Offworld Industries, Blackbird Interactive, Jagex and Lucid Games.
Mia Torr has also joined Pretty Cool as lead designer, having previously worked on major titles including Star Wars: Battlefront II and Need For Speed.
The company’s other hires are Anthony Fekih, Baptiste Billet, Olivia Gregory and Luke Sanderson.
Ms Shefta said the company would keep its team “small and lean”, bringing in contractors when needed to support projects. She added: “It's very much a hands-on approach”.
The hires come after Pretty Cool Games secured funding from Coreblazer, the investment initiative of Chinese game company, Hypergryph.