Hundreds of jobs lost in computer games industry

Dundee, long acclaimed as the centre of the computer games industry in Scotland, has suffered a series of body blows over the last couple of weeks. More than 150 jobs were lost when leading games company Realtime Worlds, responsible for games like APB and the developing My World, went into administration. Other local companies including Denki and Cohort have also seen dozens of jobs axed recently.
These job cuts are a disaster for all affected and particularly for the young people who made up a large part of the industries workforce. In Dundee the local Abertay University produce scores of graduates who go on to work in games development. The number of positions available for new graduates is, however, disappearing fast.

The economic crisis, both here and in the US, is having a big impact on the viability of the industry and it is another door being slammed in the face of young people.

The Socialist spoke to a young worker who lost his job at Realtime Worlds to find out what happened.
 
“There was rumour as long ago as last year about Investor funding running out. The company had attracted tens of millions of dollars in venture capitalist funding. They put their trust in Realtime Worlds to deliver a profitable game.

“We didn’t really know the extent of the problems the company was in financially until recently but it turns out that we had borrowed money from a creditor which then moved to seize the companies accounts in the US and UK. Now there is talk of splitting the company up but keeping the potentially profitable MyWorld part.   

“Going into an administration was a huge shock for us all but it is a sort of in joke in the games development industry such is its fragile nature. There was a lot of tension and resentment near the end towards the bosses – particularly for keeping us in the dark about what was going on.

“We’ve been badly treated. By going into administration the company will avoid paying our wages for August, our money due in lieu of notice and the redundancy pay we are entitled to. Instead we will have to apply to the government for this money. I worked for a number of years with the company and I’m gutted.

“We worked hard to make this company a success, more hours than we had to and it’s a real kick in the teeth.”

“I’ll try to find another job now, but there is very little of that calibre around today in Dundee. It could end up going back to nothing, an unemployment desert, like we were 20 years ago.”