Sumo Digital: Expanding New Horizons

Sumo Digital: Expanding India’s Gaming Horizons

Stewart Neal, Studio Director of Sumo India Studios takes us through Sumo Digital’s new Bengaluru Studio and their expansion plans in India.

The gaming industry in India is bursting with talent, and with each passing year, thousands upon thousands join the community of gamers in the country. While video games of all kinds take over the free time and space of the youth, there is also a looming threat of security and safety plaguing the gaming community. However, industry leaders continue to work tirelessly to give players the best and safest gaming experience possible amidst these storms.

Working with digital giants like Apple and Microsoft, Sumo Digital is one of the world’s best game development studios and have expanded its base to India. We talked to Stewart Neal, Studio Director of Sumo India Studios, to give us a glimpse into the world of game development, the measures taken to ensure a safe experience for its gamers, and the opportunities it provides aspiring talent in the game making space.

Tell us more about Sumo Digital and what was the reason for its expansion into India?

Sumo Digital is a part of the Sump Group and has over 15 studios across Europe, America,

By Donna Amo

Canada, and India. Sumo Pune and Sumo Bengaluru will now be collaborating and co-developing on projects. Sumo Pune was established in 2007, and it was the second studio opened by Sumo Digital. Since then, we’ve developed a premium destination for console and PC games in India; a great experience. We have developed video games with partners like Apple, Microsoft, Sony and many more. The reason for the initial expansion in 2007 was to tap into the talent pool in India. Gaming is a growing industry, and looking at the kind of skills there are in areas like film, VFX etc., it was a natural decision. We’ve grown to around 150 studios and expect to continually grow across art programming, design, QA, and production.

Sumo Digital has decided to open a new Bengaluru studio, and plans have also been laid out for Sumo Pune to expand. What can you tell us about it?

It’s exciting as we’ve been planning for an expansion for a long time. So, it’s been amazing to announce that it is finally happening. There was a lot of work involved with the new studio opening up in Bangalore. Stewart Neal, Studio Director, Sumo India Studios

The discussion and planning for the expansion had started before COVID-19 hit. So, now what we’re doing is setting it up when it’s safe to do so. We’re working with the discipline heads across both studios to facilitate the growth of Sumo Bengaluru. The most important thing for the leadership is to ensure a seamless integration for both sites. We have an excellent working culture, and we want to make sure that that translates across both studios. With Sumo Pune over the last 18 months, we’ve purposefully outgrown our current studio space. The range of projects and their success resulted in increased demand across all disciplines, which is why the

expansion was just the natural next step.

What does the expansion offer in terms of new opportunities for anyone looking to join Sumo Pune?

Sumo Pune’s growth is to expand further our commitment to console game development in the city and offer more exciting opportunities to people who want to join Sumo Pune and the team. Regarding direct opportunities, the games that we work on, like AAA console titles, provide tremendous opportunities for technical career growth for the people in the field.

What are some video game projects that Sumo Bangalore has in store for its gamers?

While I can’t go into titles currently in development, some of the previous titles that we’ve developed, like the BAFTA-winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Hood: Outlaws & Legends, Forza Horizon 4, and award-winning Little Orpheus give just an idea of the kind of games, people can expect from us and get excited about.

What part of the video game development process do you think is the most important?

It’s a difficult question to answer because, for me, all departments and steps are equally important. The entire process is crucial, from the initial prototyping design, the programming of systems, the engineering behind it, the artwork, QA to the marketing. It’s a collective effort that makes the game a success. I

As a developer, we undergo strict and robust due diligence processes to partner in the development of games with the publishers.

believe it’s teamwork, support, communication, and co-operation that are most important.

Why is security so important when it comes to video games?

Games are now more community and socially driven with mass amounts of data stored; security threats are a real possibility. Having a robust security measure for video games is a crucial requirement that should not be overlooked.

While the issue of security is mainly dealt with game publishers, as game developers, what is the best that can be done to ensure a safe gaming experience for players?

As a developer, we undergo strict and robust due diligence processes to partner in the development of games with the publishers. We also do an additional input with our IT department, which is as much we can do to promote a safe gaming experience for players.

Most games have a beta-testing period before the official launch of the game. Can you tell us a bit about the importance of this stage in game development?

Beta testing allows us to get live feedback and work with the community to gauge what is successful or not in the game. It is to get all-around input that helps us improve features like specific game balancing or spot bugs. It assists us in understanding ongoing design and content updates that are required, or maybe a change in direction that will help improve the game. It is great to partner up with the community, and at the end of the day, it’s the community and the players that will be playing the game, and we want their experience to be as enjoyable as possible.

Where do you see Sumo Bengaluru five years down the line?

I like to see Sumo Bengaluru become a success and expand and grow along with Sumo Pune and continue to be India’s leading game development studio. We also want to attract more people who will join us on this exciting journey.