£15.5m live-in games studio planned for Dundee
'Studiotel' project would combine development facilities with on-site accommodation to attract international talent
The city of Dundee is expected to become the home for a new type of games studio that features living spaces as well as working areas.
The £15.5m project is part of a £1bn renovation of Dundee's waterfront and is being dubbed as a 'studiotel' by its creators, local press The Courier reports. It is being devised by local organisation UK Games Talent & Finance, which handles the government's £4m UK Games Fund.
The project has passed the outline stage of getting approved under the Tay Cities Deal, which handles the area's development, and a strategic case is being put forward.
The building would feature all the facilities required for video games development as well as accommodation for international visitors or staff. The hope is that by offering such facilities, Dundee will improve its reputation as an international games hub and appeal to new talent from other territories.
The bulk of the funding will come from a private sector developer, while the Tay Cities Deal process will contribute another £2m. The project's supporters claims the 'studiotel' will significantly increase the development talent in the city, contribute £70m over ten years to the local economy, and eventually become an attraction that can host 200,000 people with public events.
"As a UK and international-facing organisation, we have been actively seeking a home for this concept, with a number of games clusters at home and abroad representing potential," said UK Games Talent & Finance's chief exec Paul Durrant. "We want to grow the volume of original digital intellectual property created and marketed from within the Tay Cities region and attract money and talent to support our growing wealth of creativity."