What do you do at Ukie?
I joined Ukie remotely on a short term contract in November 2020 as an extra hand on the Insight & Innovation team, contributing mainly to economic statistics for the preceding year. Outside of an office setting, no-one is really able to perceive how intolerable I am, so my contract was extended and I’m now Industry Analyst making up the rest of the research team under Luke.
I work across all of Ukie’s data and research projects, analysing and interpreting lots of rich sources of data and engaging in some speculative desk research to fill gaps in the industry’s knowledge. I’m part of the team on many of Ukie’s collaborative projects with external partners, which involves slightly less time staring at spreadsheets with some synthwave playing.
Outside of this, I’m helping with some of Ukie’s internal processes and software and trying my best to run some digital board games at online staff socials.
What made you want to work in the games industry?
My degree was in physics but it took me the full four years to realise it wasn’t something I wanted to pursue as a career after university (maths is hard). While I was looking for opportunities, I volunteered at IndieCade’s E3 showcase in 2010 on the back of a lifetime of loving games and they kept giving me more and more responsibility each year. That was my first move into the industry and I haven’t moved out of it since.
I’ve worked in several video games support roles (including at The British Film Institute) and I get a lot of satisfaction out of maintaining and helping expand the infrastructure in the UK that enables the creation of the wonderful games we make here.
What are you playing at the moment?
I just finished Blasphemous, an extremely catholic metroidvania by The Game Bakers in Sevilla. I liked it a lot; it has a few rough edges but it’s a genuinely unpleasant experience, which can be difficult to come by. I’ve gotten around to sinking my teeth into Civilization VI too. I’m still in that initial period of discovery but I’m enjoying it immensely. It’s full of great design decisions, expanding the systems intelligently after Civ V. The game I’ve fallen for hardest in lockdown is definitely Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. I’ve played through it 4 times, I’m still chipping away at some of the boss rush modes and I recently managed a no-hit run against the final boss. It’s the parries that keep me coming back but the world of that game is a sophisticated and tragic examination of the consequences of an older generation being unwilling to pass the reigns to a younger one. Rocket League and Sea of Thieves are currently in the multiplayer rotation while I take a break from Street Fighter V, one of my great loves (I play as M. Bison).
Blasphemous, "A genuinely unpleasant experience," - Download here
What do you do in your spare time, apart from playing games?
Before the pandemic, my two biggest interests were theatre and board games but I’ve since moved out of London and haven’t really been in the same room as anyone else, so I guess talking to my virtual assistant has to qualify as my main pastime now. I have some tickets for Cush Jumbo in Hamlet at The National in October (postponed from 2020) so I’m hoping I’ll feel comfortable attending that. I’m grateful I got to see Jamie Lloyd’s production of Betrayal in 2019 shortly before the onset of COVID, maybe the best thing I’ve ever seen on stage. I’ve barely played any board games in the interim and none with more than two players. I’ve fallen behind on keeping up with board games news but I cannot wait to get together with some friends again for Terra Mystica or Inis, maybe even in some kind of post-lockdown board game retreat.
Do you have a pet? If not, what kind of pet would you like to have one day?
I have no desire to be responsible for a life other than my own.