Games firm urges fair play for sector

COBRAMOBILE, a Dundee-based gaming company, is to launch a number of mobile phone titles amid accusations that the Scottish Government is not doing enough to support the sector.

With rave reviews for rival firm Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV, CobraMobile's managing director Mark Ettle believes the Scottish gaming sector is enjoying a revival.

But he says the Scottish Government could do more to help the industry across Scotland.

"Whether people like Grand Theft Auto or not, it's the biggest release of the year in the fastest growing entertainment sector and it was developed in Scotland," he said.

"The Scottish Government should be shouting from rooftops about that. America's always shouting about its film and production industry in Hollywood. If a small city in some other country was creating the number-one blockbuster it would be talked about."

Computer games have overtaken film in terms of revenue, and many are developed in the UK. "The Government has a huge entertainment and media business right here and it should be proud of the fact, rather than shying away from the controversy," said Ettle. "The Government could perhaps look at more funding or tax breaks for the gaming sector."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Government is proud of Scotland's successful games industry. We recognise its importance to the creative industries sector; that is why we continue to sponsor Dare to be Digital, the UK's premier video games competition which encourages talented young people to join this successful, growing industry."

CobraMobile, launched three years ago and now employing 14 staff, has a board of private investors including Nairn-based businessmen Peter and Michael MacKintosh and Glasgow-based John McGinley. Its projected turnover for this year is £1m, rising to £3m by 2010.

At the end of this month it will launch a mobile phone version of its online game Numba. Later in the year, Lego Batman Mobile Adventures and Lego Indiana Jones Mobile Adventures are being released. Ettle said: "We keep the quality of our games high, in terms of visuals and players' enjoyment.

"While we do a lot of work with big-name brands such as Lego and Batman, we also try to create original IP which we take out to the market and publish ourselves.

"After spending the first year developing technologies we can take our content quickly to mobiles and other online platforms and handheld devices, such as iPods."