Major investment for Lochaber games maker

A 'girl friendly' Lochaber computer games manufacturer is setting its sights on becoming one of the major names in the video gaming industry.

Fort William based Genuine Games which makes video games for the female market are making a major investment in the company along with Lochaber Enterprise. The development will see 13 new staff members recruited with the help of a £120,000 funding boost from Lochaber Enterprise.

Genuine Games which started trading just over two years ago with help from the local enterprise agency will see staff numbers increase by 160 per cent from eight to 21 by September 2006. The high tech business has also made it down to the last 20, from an original field of 172, in a Nokia video games award with the results due to be announced in February 2006.

With interest being shown from publishers around the world, the company is set to make a major impact on the growing female market for video games. Its latest offering 'Girlzz-Life is a Party' is about to be released with other titles in the pipeline.

Managing director of Genuine Games Gordon Ross said: "Market research has clearly established that females are looking for games to play and this is starting to be recognised by the sector as a whole.

"The assistance from Lochaber Enterprise will help us take on enough people with the right skills to develop our ideas to the point where they become commercially viable. These long lead in times have a major impact on cashflow, so the financial help makes things happen much faster.

Mr Ross who is originally from Perth, chose to come to Fort William for the quality of life, after being diagnosed with cancer. Prior to his treatment, he worked for one of the major companies in the global gaming industry EIDOS, who are famous for titles like Tomb Raider. Mr Ross was given the all clear from doctors on 2nd November 2005.

He said: "Coming to Fort William has been very beneficial. It has allowed the business to become established, grow and attract a high calibre of workforce. The clean, natural environment has major lifestyle advantages and with the availability of high speed telecommunications and effective transport networks on our doorstep, we can speak to our clients easily and effectively from this base."

The continued expansion of the business will enable Genuine Games to become a multi-product company. This will help spread the risk across the business as more products are developed to the point of launching them in the market place.

Development manager at Lochaber Enterprise Robert Linton said: "Genuine Games has flourished since they started in 2003. Gordon and his wife and new mum Camilla - who is the studio manager - have demonstrated their ability to effectively manage a number of projects at any one time.

"Their knowledge and experience of the video games market is impressive but the business has embraced a strong staff training and development culture which it sees as a key component for its future success. Lochaber Enterprise has been on hand to help advise in these areas and the company has been one of several local businesses to take part in the successful Lochaber Graduate Placement Scheme.

"Due to the technical nature of the new jobs being created, they will attract a premium wage which will have a positive knock-on effect in the local economy by helping to boost the average local wage."