The Creative Assembly Ltd., part of SEGA Europe Ltd., today announced a third development location in Newcastle, UK. This new studio sits alongside the studio’s headquarters in Sussex, UK and their European studio in Sofia, Bulgaria, across which there are over 850 permanent employees.
The newly established Creative Assembly (CA) North is home to a growing flexible working team developing a project in collaboration with the studio’s Sussex team. While the project is yet to be announced it promises to give players an unforgettable experience. CA North is also home to a newly formed team focused on continuous improvement. This team is dedicated to collaborating across Creative Assembly with the goal of sustained continuous improvement in tools, workflows and development experience.
The new studio is led by industry veteran, Giselle Stewart, who has joined Creative Assembly as Studio Director, alongside her role as Visiting Professor of Practice at Newcastle University. Giselle brings with her over 26 years’ experience with AAA developers, and wider industry experience advocating for the games sector in previous positions as a board member of TIGA, the games developer’s trade association, the Creative Industries Federation and Ukie.
Giselle Stewart OBE, Studio Director at Creative Assembly North said:
“Starting a new development studio from scratch with the full support and insights of one of the UK’s oldest and largest studios is incredibly exciting. We are embracing flexibility, fast iteration, and creation, while fostering cross-location collaboration.
“We are bringing new job opportunities to the North-East, building a studio which amplifies the fantastic culture and values of Creative Assembly. We will also extend the reach of the studio’s award-winning outreach programme, the Legacy Project, to support excellence in industry education in the region.”
Tim Heaton, Chief Studio Officer, SEGA Europe said:
“The inception of Creative Assembly North in Newcastle represents another great stride forward for Creative Assembly and SEGA Europe in terms of growth. Newcastle has a burgeoning reputation as a technology hub and it’s a wonderful opportunity for the studio to add to its talent pool while helping to stimulate sector growth in the region. Everyone at SEGA Europe is excited to see what new experiences Creative Assembly North will contribute to.”
Gareth Edmondson, Creative Assembly Studio Director said:
“Creative Assembly North establishes us in one of biggest cities for gaming in the UK. Alongside bringing more incredible talent onto our projects, the establishment of a new continuous improvement team will see sustained benefits across all our teams for many years to come, contributing to a continually improving development experience for our people.”
CA North is set to recruit around 100 new developers in both technical and creative roles over the coming years, offering a new working location for development teams, including to work on the new unannounced project. This project is in its early prototyping phase, taking a progressive, iterative approach to development and moving quickly on technical solutions and creative potential.
Source: Creative Assembly