Sumo lands heavyweight partnership

A COMPUTER games studio backed by Manchester-based private equity firm NorthEdge has agreed a deal with entertainment mammoth Disney.

Sumo Digital will now be working on Disney Pixar’s Infinity 3.0 game, which will feature some of the Californian entertainment firm’s most well-known characters, from Pirates of the Caribbean to Toy Story and Frozen.

In conjunction with Avalanche Software, the Utah-based video game publishing arm of Disney, Sheffield-based Sumo will add a Star Wars theme and improve gameplay.

In 2014 NorthEdge backed Sumo the management team including chief executive Carl Cavers, to stage a MBO from Foundation 9 Entertainment, an US entertainment media company.

Employing more than 240 people, Sumo Digital is headquartered in Sheffield with offices in India, and has already worked on well known games such as  LittleBigPlanet3, Sonic and Sega All Star Racing and Xbox Fitness.

Carl Cavers, chief executive at Sumo Digital, said: “The investment from NorthEdge has enabled us to capitalise on significant opportunities in the market. LittleBigPlanet3 has been really well received, and we’re incredibly excited to be building on this success by working with one of the world’s biggest entertainment brands.”

Phil Frame, investment manager at NorthEdge Capital, added: “Disney Infinity 3.0 is an outstanding addition to Sumo’s portfolio of partners.”