Extra Mile Studios
Extra Mile Studios (EM) is a Glasgow-based developer of digital content, primarily focused on the children's and casual/family entertainment sectors. For more than ten years, EM has worked with some of the best known brands in the world, including Bob the Builder, Wallace & Gromit and the Teletubbies.
The company develops for iOS, Android, PC, Mac and consoles, with a combination of producing games to order for companies and creating its own IP.
TalentScotland spoke to EM's founder Bobby Farmer.
Tell me about the history of Extra Mile Studios
Extra Mile grew out of another company I formed 14 years ago. As that company moved more into TV animation, the game development arm spun out and became Extra Mile. A lot of the staff have been with the company for most of its life and their loyalty and experience are the best assets we have.
Our approach has always been very platform agnostic - we'll work with whatever the market demands and have found ourselves having to switch every 18 months or so. First working on PC/PS2, then Wii and DS and now it's all about Android and iOS.
Any exciting developments in the pipeline?
We’re currently working on the next iteration of a well-known franchise, with key new members of staff recruited from outside Scotland. We also have several exciting projects in discussion and on the horizon for 2012, so I anticipate the team will grow further in the coming 12 months.
What do you look for when you’re recruiting?
I don't look at paper qualifications at all. A big part of it is what they've done in the past and personality. It's one of those clichés, but it's probably true - creative people often have demanding personalities and therefore seem to be more prevalent in the games industry! Teamwork and social skills I think are seriously underrated and finding someone who can really get on with the rest of the team is a high priority for us.
And on the experience front, whilst we mainly use Unity for development now, I'd much rather take on somebody who didn't have huge amounts of Unity knowledge, but who seemed like the kind of person we could work with. We can always train people on software.
And why should they want to work for you?
We're very responsible in how we treat staff. One of the reasons we've been around so long is because we're very careful about how we use the company's resources. We don't have big, plush offices, because big plush offices cost a lot of money but don't necessarily help us do a good job.
If you're new to the industry, I completely understand why you'd want to work on a big, sexy household name title, but if you're a little bit older and have responsibilities, job security becomes more important. There's a real value put on people here, not just for what they can do for the bottom line, but for them as people; they've chosen to work here and we owe them that.
And does being based in Scotland help?
Absolutely. We’ve recruited people from outside Scotland who have relocated, on their own and with families, and even those who may initially have decided to come for a fixed period have decided to stay. Persuading people to come and live in Scotland isn't that difficult, and once they've come and seen the place and experienced what life is like here they don't want to leave.