Tees Tech 2025 Review #1

The Games Edition

The games industry as a whole has taken a huge hit over the last couple of years, with studio closures and lay-offs taking headlines - so many, in fact, that major games industry news publications now have tabs specifically for these topics. Crazy. Thankfully, Tees-based games studios have managed to weather the storm, and we’ve again seen a year of collective growth and good news stories.

I remember a time when the games sector in the Tees Valley was underpinned by a small (albeit strong) number of indie studios, and supported by the reputation of Teesside University’s games development courses. Fast forward to 2025 and we’ve got a seriously strong and diverse cluster that’s operating on an international basis, and creating a name for itself on a national level.

Since 2020, we’ve seen Double Eleven grow from a team of 90 to a team of over 450 across two continents. Radical Forge and SockMonkey Studios both received an injection of capital from Mercia Ventures, with the latter going on to be acquired by global powerhouse, Behaviour Interactive. Tanglewood Games, founded by two former programmers with Epic Games, also made significant strides during this time - cementing their place as a high-level contributor to the cluster. And the next generation in Dink and Observer Interactive are making waves locally and nationally.

This collective growth has led to an influx in talent into the region, along with the retention of local talent that historically would’ve had to look elsewhere. As the industry as a whole heads back to the traditional ‘in-office’ approach, the significance of this strong regional cluster only increases in terms of its importance to local economic prosperity and growth.

Anyway, I’ve picked out some of my favourite stories of the year for a quick wrap-up…

Co-CEOs

In what was my personal highlight of 2025 Tees games news, Double Eleven announced that Kimberley Turner and Mark South were to take the positions of Co-CEO to take the company forward, on the back of the incredible work they’ve delivered for the company over the past 15 years.

Lee Hutchinson announced he would be moving into the role of Chairman of Pneuma Group, Double Eleven’s parent company. This followed the announcement of Cast Iron Games joining the Pneuma Group family. Pneuma Group has since added Last Arrow Games to it’s gaming arm.

Kimberley, Lee, and Mark have all played huge roles in the growth of the digital tech sector in Tees Valley, not just in what they’ve achieved with Double Eleven. They’ve supported new and existing gaming studios in the region, played roles in local policy, and are all amazing ambassadors for the region and it’s potential. Here’s to wishing them all the best in their new roles.

Tees Dominance at UK Gaming Awards

The Games Industry Biz ‘Best Place to Work’ awards saw a plethora of Teesside games studios acknowledged for creating an incredible environment for their teams. Tanglewood Games picked up one of the ‘Small Company’ awards, with Behaviour Interactive netting in the ‘Mid-Sized Company’ category, before picking up the win in the CSR Award (with Tanglewood Games a close runner-up). Middlesbrough’s Observer Interactive then went on to win the Education Award, before Alison Lacy, COO of Radical Forge, rounded up the evening by picking up the G into Gaming Award. To put this into perspective, there were 10 categories. Tees-based games studios were shortlisted in 8 of them. And they picked up 5 accolades. Not a bad night for the travelling Tees contingent. You can read more about it here.

Onto the Game Republic Awards, and Teesside studios Dink were crowned as the Best Small Studio, with Tanglewood Games picking up the Best Mid-Sized Studio gong. Double Eleven’s Pedro Silva then went on to pick up the Community Manager Award. If that wasn’t enough, Teesside games industry veteran, Darren Falcus, was awarded the Games Legend accolade.

Darren is an incredible guy who has played a huge role in so many studios locally. His early work saw the creation of Iguana UK and Atomic Planet - boasting titles such as Street Fighter, NBA Jam, South Park, Miami Vice and Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku. He then moved into a role supporting the next generation of games studios in Tees Valley - with a notable appointment at SockMonkey Studios, playing a significant role in the company’s investment journey and subsequent acquisition.

Game Republic Awards Categories: 13

Tees Winners: 4

Incredible.

Develop of the North?

Maybe too soon, but who knows in the future after Game Republic announced a 3-year deal to hold the Game Republic: New Horizons conference in Teesside. It was an incredible feat to pull this off, with a hat tip to Tees Valley Combined Authority for backing the event early on, alongside local games studios Behaviour Interactive and Double Eleven.

This is a huge nod to the incredible games cluster that is growing in Tees Valley. This could’ve taken place anywhere across the North. But it has started in Tees Valley. And will run here for another 2 years.

The conference kicked off in style with a VIP reception at Double Eleven’s award-winning HQ, before heading to the mighty Riverside Stadium for a day of incredible talks, including; A BAFTA interview with Axel Torvenius, MachineGames’ Creative Director of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a Leadership panel featuring Viki Freeman – Airship, Kimberley Turner – Double Eleven and Lasse Seppänen – Supercell London, and a presentation and panel on the future of funding with Kickstarter’s Head of Games, Asher McClennahan, flying in from the USA.

Super Early Bird tickets are available for the 2026 conference here priced at £119 until 31st December 2025.

Dink Secures Investment

Up and coming studio, Dink, has secured investment from TU Enterprise and Innovation. The funding will allow Dink to focus on their own IP, whilst not impacting their co-development offer.

The investment is best summed up by Dink co-founder, Luke Mills: “We’re glad to see the University’s board investing in games here in the Tees Valley. Middlesbrough has a huge up-and-coming game development scene, and it’s great to see the University playing a key role in supporting the region.

“For us, this investment allows the studio to continue growing here in Middlesbrough, and it feels exciting to be taking this new step with the University’s backing.”

The Next Generation

June saw Archive Interactive and Shiverbug Studios join 19 other graduate game development studios from across the UK to take part in the Tranzfuser programme. Tranzfuser is described as a programme ‘brought to you by UK Games Talent and Finance CIC. It aims to provide an annual shot of top talent into the UK development ecosystem with a particular focus on enhancing creative portfolios with an externally validated project.’

Archive Interactive and Shiverbug Studios then went on to join Ceratops Games in earning a place on The Stable incubator in October, where I’ve had the privilege to work with all three businesses over the last couple of months. They all have a willingness to learn and a passion to drive their businesses forward in their respective pathways, as we hope to add to their journey moving forward.

They were later joined by Dink and Observer Interactive, who were successful in applying for The Forge accelerator programme.

Boss Bean

(Credit: https://teesbusiness.co.uk/)

To close, here’s to Bev Goodall, CEO of Abacus Bean, who has played a huge role in the development and growth of early-stage games studios in Tees Valley. Bev was recognised as the 2025 Janice Webster Unsung Hero at the annual Tees Tech Awards in June for her contribution behind the scenes to the growth of the Tees Valley digital tech sector.