Yorkshire Development Studios Eying Up a Huge 2025
The UK video games market is quite the colossus. While the entire entertainment sector amounted to £11.9 billion in 2023, a hefty £4.74 billion chunk of that came via video games. Globally, the UK even manages to stand sixth for game revenues, with its creations garnering $5.5 billion (£4.3 billion), only trailing the likes of Germany, the Republic of Korea, Japan, China, and the United States. Here in Yorkshire, the gaming industry does very well in all regards. Not only are there world-class developers, but we’ve also got one of the UK’s top recruitment firms for gaming in Rotherham, Aardvark Swift. Next year could be huge for two local studios in particular.
Rockstar Leeds to partake in another world-beating release
If there’s one game that you can point to as the publisher’s dream release, it’s Grand Theft Auto V. It became the biggest entertainment works, in terms of total revenue, of all time and, even with a sequel on the horizon, it continues to rake in cash through new and improved updates. Next year, Grand Theft Auto VI will launch, most likely with the same blueprint as the previous game. It’ll launch with a fully fleshed-out single-player mode with a huge map to explore and then add an online environment that will continue to be updated and built upon. At this time, Rockstar Leeds is most likely working as a supporting developer for the lead studio, Rockstar North.
The Edinburgh-based studio may have had 11 years to work on this sequel so far, but it will have undoubtedly drawn from the skills of Rockstar Leeds in the meantime. As a supportive developer, the Leeds branch will likely be drawn in for the post-release content as well. One of these updates will, without a doubt, be another casino. When the Diamond Casino opened in GTA V’s GTA Online, the PC player count surged to a new post-peak release of 198,011 players on average throughout July 2019. Given the prominence of real casino gaming in the UK, of course, the strong reception of the casino update probably could have been expected.
Across the best online casinos in the UK, players can pick between free spins, deposit-match bonuses, and even no-deposit bonuses. All these offers showcase the level of competition and popularity of the entertainment medium. Online casinos are loaded with hundreds or even thousands of slots as well as a bunch of table and game show games, many of which are live. These elements, in video game form, were captured fully by GTA’s Diamond Casino, which helped its appeal in-game. With GTA VI, timing the launch of the casino will be key, and if they remain in a supporting role rather than, perhaps, developing another Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Leeds could play a role in the money-maker.
Red Kite Games kicking off a new IP in a popular genre
Announced at 2023’s The Game Awards in December, Exoborne looks to combine a whole host of popular game mechanics and themes and will quite possibly launch sometime next year. Under the umbrella of Sumo Digital, Red Kite Games from Sheffield will be a key developer for the new IP, which will combine loadout building, extractions, open-world tactics, gunplay, and a United States that’s in the midst of an apocalypse, spurred on by extreme natural forces.
Uniquely, a big part of Exoborne will be these forces of nature, which will best be showcased as environmental hazards throughout the game. The world is hostile, but you’ll have a whole host of tools, armour sets, weapons, and gear to apply to your character in an attempt to complete your tasks. You’ll need to head out into the world, survive the weather events like apocalyptic storms and lightning strikes, find or loot gear, and then return it for crafting and customisation.
Right now, it’s being built and crafted on UE5, and even though it sounds like another free-to-start online looter-shooter, the developers have clarified that it will be a premium game with a full single-player offering. However, it will be getting plenty of updates and new additions to keep the online elements thriving. Given the premise and game mechanics shown, it’s not a surprise that Exoborne collected over 500,000 wishlist clicks on Steam just a few weeks after its announcement.
Both Rockstar Leeds and Red Kite Games from Yorkshire look to be working hard on what could be two of the biggest releases in gaming next year.
Images: Rockstar / Playstation / YouTube
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Rockstar Leeds to partake in another world-beating release
If there’s one game that you can point to as the publisher’s dream release, it’s Grand Theft Auto V. It became the biggest entertainment works, in terms of total revenue, of all time and, even with a sequel on the horizon, it continues to rake in cash through new and improved updates. Next year, Grand Theft Auto VI will launch, most likely with the same blueprint as the previous game. It’ll launch with a fully fleshed-out single-player mode with a huge map to explore and then add an online environment that will continue to be updated and built upon. At this time, Rockstar Leeds is most likely working as a supporting developer for the lead studio, Rockstar North.
The Edinburgh-based studio may have had 11 years to work on this sequel so far, but it will have undoubtedly drawn from the skills of Rockstar Leeds in the meantime. As a supportive developer, the Leeds branch will likely be drawn in for the post-release content as well. One of these updates will, without a doubt, be another casino. When the Diamond Casino opened in GTA V’s GTA Online, the PC player count surged to a new post-peak release of 198,011 players on average throughout July 2019. Given the prominence of real casino gaming in the UK, of course, the strong reception of the casino update probably could have been expected.
Across the best online casinos in the UK, players can pick between free spins, deposit-match bonuses, and even no-deposit bonuses. All these offers showcase the level of competition and popularity of the entertainment medium. Online casinos are loaded with hundreds or even thousands of slots as well as a bunch of table and game show games, many of which are live. These elements, in video game form, were captured fully by GTA’s Diamond Casino, which helped its appeal in-game. With GTA VI, timing the launch of the casino will be key, and if they remain in a supporting role rather than, perhaps, developing another Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Leeds could play a role in the money-maker.
Red Kite Games kicking off a new IP in a popular genre
Announced at 2023’s The Game Awards in December, Exoborne looks to combine a whole host of popular game mechanics and themes and will quite possibly launch sometime next year. Under the umbrella of Sumo Digital, Red Kite Games from Sheffield will be a key developer for the new IP, which will combine loadout building, extractions, open-world tactics, gunplay, and a United States that’s in the midst of an apocalypse, spurred on by extreme natural forces.
Uniquely, a big part of Exoborne will be these forces of nature, which will best be showcased as environmental hazards throughout the game. The world is hostile, but you’ll have a whole host of tools, armour sets, weapons, and gear to apply to your character in an attempt to complete your tasks. You’ll need to head out into the world, survive the weather events like apocalyptic storms and lightning strikes, find or loot gear, and then return it for crafting and customisation.
Right now, it’s being built and crafted on UE5, and even though it sounds like another free-to-start online looter-shooter, the developers have clarified that it will be a premium game with a full single-player offering. However, it will be getting plenty of updates and new additions to keep the online elements thriving. Given the premise and game mechanics shown, it’s not a surprise that Exoborne collected over 500,000 wishlist clicks on Steam just a few weeks after its announcement.
Both Rockstar Leeds and Red Kite Games from Yorkshire look to be working hard on what could be two of the biggest releases in gaming next year.
Images: Rockstar / Playstation / YouTube
