LDC Top 50 2018

Mediatonic was founded by gaming enthusiasts Paul Croft and Dave Bailey while they were still at Brunel University. Focused on doing what they love and making people happy, 13 years on, Mediatonic’s first games are still being played today.

The duo has created a highly-diversified business with a unique culture, which gets the best out of Mediatonic’s team of 150 designers, artists and engineers. Its games are notching up more than 100m players worldwide.

Q&A

How’s business doing?

Dave: We’re growing at 70pc year-on-year, we’re profitable, and we are becoming more and more creatively ambitious, building really interesting games. We’ve now opened up in Madrid and we hope to expand into more territories soon.

What drives you?

Paul: I love making things and seeing people interact with the things I’ve made. I would do that even if I didn’t have a business.

Dave: We want to make a substantial number of people feel happier, either through entertaining them with our products or through making a difference to our team’s lives. That’s our goal. I enjoy bringing incredible people together to build something much bigger and better than I could have done alone.

What’s the secret to your success?

Paul: We’re a highly diversified business, and we’re not dependent on any one platform or genre. We both make our own games and work with big brands like Harry Potter. We’ve been going for 13 years now, and our first games are still being played today, which means that revenues smooth out over time, and you maintain a relationship with your players over a long period of time.

How do you get the best from your people?

Paul: Gaming companies often take a mercenary approach to their teams, hiring and firing very quickly. There is a well-publicised thing called “crunch”, whereby teams are worked into the ground. Here, we put people first, and have always promoted a sustainable working culture.

Dave: Some of our people have been here 12 years. We invest in their professional development, and there’s little hierarchy so everyone feels they can have an impact. We don’t tend to lose our talent to rivals.

Fast facts:

• Dave and Paul are both 34 and launched the business while students at Brunel University
• Mediatonic was founded in 2005
• Employs 150 people
• The business is growing 70pc a year
• The business has four offices in the UK and one in Madrid