Gaming firm set to create 100 new jobs in the West Midlands

A WEST Midlands games developer is to create 100 new jobs across the region – 75 of them at its head office in Leamington Spa.

Codemasters said the remaining quarter would join its 120-strong team at its games development studio in Birmingham.

Inward investment body Business Birmingham has welcomed the move saying it underlines growing confidence in the region’s gaming industry.

The West Midlands is a major centre for the games industry with an estimated 12,500 technology firms basing themselves in the region, supporting a quarter of all the sector’s UK’s jobs.

The announcement of the new jobs coincided with a major gaming conference at Birmingham Science Park, which attracted the elite of the sector and was an opportunity for games firms to promote themselves to sector journalists and potential investors.

Simon Miles, from Codemasters, said the talent pool in Birmingham, along with the area’s support for the games sector had helped to create a thriving creative business community.

It will use that talent pool to recruit its new staff members.

Sarah Darch, from Business Birmingham, said an expansion announcement by a firm with Codemasters’ reputation was a great boost to both Birmingham and the West Midlands and demonstrated that the industry took Birmingham seriously as a centre for gaming.

She said a number of other local gaming companies were now expanding, employing new staff or attracting investment which was helping to build real momentum in the area.

Codemasters, founded in 1986 by brothers Richard and David Darling, is best known for its driving games such as its Formula One series.