Games company increases turnover thanks to £60,000 funding from University of Derby’s Invest to Grow Scheme

An East Midlands computer game development company, which received a funding boost from the University of Derby’s Invest to Grow scheme, has increased its staff by 50 percent and seen its annual turnover grow by a third.

Legendary Games, based in Nottingham, develops and publishes online multi-player strategy games on social networking sites, mobile phone applications and through their own web portal.

The Invest to Grow scheme is designed to support private sector businesses in the East Midlands to help them grow and create new jobs.

Before applying for funding from the scheme, Legendary Games spent several years researching and developing a multi-platform, multi-player game framework using cutting-edge HTML5 technology. They negotiated a licence with Nottingham-based company Games Workshop to develop a version of their Mordheim game which would be available on all mobile platforms and browsers.

In early 2015, Legendary Games received a grant of £60,718 from Invest to Grow, providing a vital cash resource to allow them to undertake the project and maximise potential sales. Annual turnover is now on course to grow by another 33 percent by December 2018 and the company is recruiting more staff to help them enhance and develop their product and client portfolio even further.

Through engaging with Invest to Grow, the company is also working with the University’s Knowledge Exchange for Innovation scheme, where they are undertaking a coding project and benefiting from Derby’s academic expertise in this area.

Legendary Games CEO Ewan Lamont said: “The Invest to Grow scheme has been a dream to work with. The rules and engagement are simple and the grant allowed us to put underlying technology in place to underpin our most commercially successful game. Without the funding, we could not have undertaken the project.”

Mark Wheddon, Head of Delivery for Invest to Grow, added: “We are delighted to support Legendary Games through the Invest to Grow scheme. Our funding has seen new jobs created and strong business growth and we look forward to working with them on further collaborative opportunities with the University, now and in the future.”