Tuna funding

PRESS RELEASE: 20 AUGUST 2009

Sheffield-based independent games developer Tuna is the latest Game Republic member to benefit from Screen Yorkshire’s Business Investment Fund, as they announce an investment of £30,000 towards the creation of their new award-nominated title, Cletus Clay ^TM ,.

Cletus Clay ^TM is a videogame made entirely out of clay, using traditional stop frame animation, just like Aardman’s Wallace and Gromittm (but with added shotguns and aliens). Tuna has set up a development blog at www.cletusclay.com to document how the game is being made. Following its nomination for the Excellence in Visual Arts award at the 2009 Independent Games Festival in San Francisco, Cletus Claytm will also be featured at the Eurogamer Expo IndieCade 2009 this autumn.

Alex Amsel, Managing Director of Tuna, says:

‘’As a Sheffield-based company, it’s great that we can be supported locally by organisations such as Screen Yorkshire and Game Republic. With their help Yorkshire has become a fantastic region for the games industry to grow and evolve. We’re really looking forward to showing off Cletus Clay ^TM at the Eurogamer Expo in Leeds.’’

Jamie Sefton, Game Republic Sector Manager at Screen Yorkshire, says:

“The backing of Screen Yorkshire enables our industry-led games network Game Republic and its members to access business investment funds, giving us an opportunity to really make a difference here. We feel that Tuna’s amazing Cletus Claytm has the potential to be one of the indie scene’s strongest titles.”

Screen Yorkshire and Game Republic are also bringing the Eurogamer Expo to Leeds in October to ensure thousands of Yorkshire’s video game enthusiasts get their hands on new titles from developers such as EA, Sega, Konami and of course Tuna, before their release.

The Eurogamer Expo runs from October 27th to the 28th in Leeds and from October 30th to the 31st in London. For more information on the Eurogamer Expo 2009 or to buy tickets, go to http://expo.eurogamer.net/.

Notes to Editor

Tuna

Contact: Sarah Quick, Communications Manager

sarahq@tunatech.com

+44 (0) 114 307 2344

Award nominated Tuna are an independent game production company who have worked on over 70 released titles. Tuna's focus is on developing interesting concepts and collaborating with talented partners to create unique projects. With over 13 years experience working on a wide range of platforms including home console, mobile, and the web, Tuna are specialists in nurturing novel ideas suited to cross platform development.

Game Republic and Screen Yorkshire

Contact: Jamie Sefton,

Game Republic Sector Manager, Screen Yorkshire

t. +44 (0) 113 236 839

e. jamie@screenyorkshire.co.uk

Game Republic, the trade association for the games sector in Yorkshire and Humber, promotes and provides support to the industry through a range of initiatives, investing in games projects, creating better links with academia, developing relationships with international publishers and championing collaboration through hosting regular networking events. In 2007 Game Republic was fully integrated into Screen Yorkshire enabling the games sector in the region to access its strategic investment funds. www.gamerepublic.org

Screen Yorkshire is the regional screen agency, responsible for inspiring, promoting and supporting a successful and sustainable film, broadcast, games and interactive media sector in Yorkshire and Humber. In May 2006 Screen Yorkshire was awarded £10.2m by Regional Development Agency Yorkshire Forward to deliver its Digital Media Content Programme. This ambitious and progressive four-year programme is aimed at creating nearly a thousand jobs, attracting over £50 million of inward investment and helping businesses to compete in a fast-changing global marketplace.

www.screenyorkshire.co.uk