Middlesborough video games developer Radical Forge is establishing a publishing division to support its second original game with funding from the recently announced Private Division Development Fund.
The company has recruited Ex-EA marketing director, Stephen Hey, to head up the new department, which will work on in-house projects.
Radical Forge was set up five years ago by two Teesside University graduates and now numbers 70+ team members, with many working remotely as well as in its city centre studio, while Hey is a games publishing veteran of 30 years. His career has included roles at games giants including Ocean Software, Infogrames, Connect2Media, Head First and EA. In the last seven years, he has also worked as a consultant for such clients as Red Bull, MilkyTea, Merge Games, Ripstone, Bossa Games and Wargaming.
Hey has also delivered course design, mentoring and training for Northern Ireland Screen, NextGen Skills Academy and Teeside University, where he first met members of the Radical Forge team.
He said: “In the past 30 years, I’ve worked with a wide spectrum of people and games companies, but I’ve never come across a company culture as unique as Radical Forge’s. It is the most people-focused, supportive and trusting community of game makers I’ve ever seen. The opportunity to get involved and extend this philosophy into publishing was far too good to miss.”
COO Tom Didymus added: “We’ve grown from two founders to a team of 70 plus in five years, and bringing in people with the experience of Stephen will help us fulfil our ambitions for Radical Forge in the future.”
Private Division is a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software. The Private Division Development Fund was launched last month and provides a vehicle to support projects from smaller developers and empower them to self-publish their games.
Radical Forge published its first original IP, Bright Paw, via Rogue Games onto mobile, PC and console platforms in 2020. It had previously gained co-development credits on games including Gangbeasts, RUST, Zombie Army and Jurassic World Aftermath.
