A global game-changer
LET Green Man Gaming (GMG) entertain you this Easter with its vast library of digital video games opening up thrilling journeys of discovery for seasoned players and first-timers.
The versatile UK business is now a leading e-commerce site with clients worldwide and is renowned for good value deals for computers and consoles. But there’s also much more.
A champion of developers and studios, GMG plays a crucial role bringing ideas and talent to a mass market with services from publishing and investment to global distribution and marketing.
Enhancing these is a social channel where customers connect, manage games, and shout about their achievements while providing data for GMG about what’s working well and what could in future.
Although still overlooked for the star performer it is, the UK’s video games market is worth £7billion boasting 35 million players and is the sixth largest in the world.
At the forefront of that growth is GMG, which launched in 2010, and generated £62m in net revenues last year. It has a team of 100 staff and works with 2,000 publishing partners as well as investing in its own games. “There’s a high level of dynamism here. We adapt to industry trends, utilise data effectively and expand offerings to meet diverse needs of gamers worldwide,” says founder owner Paul Sulyok, a tech entrepreneur who served in the military in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. With multiple patents, GMG’s partnerships include with Pewter Games in Dublin that resulted in the Filthy Animals: Heist Simulator. “Despite part of the game being developed in Ukraine at the start of the war, the project succeeded,” adds Sulyok. “Model Builder from Moonlit Studios in Poland also proved to be a good hobby game in lockdown and we are developing the next direction for it.” Preferring organic growth but open to offers and M&As, his bottom-up strategy has paid off, Sulyok explains.
“We saw a gap for growth in the industry’s model.We start with understanding what the customer wants, then take service to the next level with a proactive entrepreneurial approach.
“The industry is changing, more players are older and have less time. Games need to reflect that and interactive simulation experience is increasingly popular, such as learning to fly a plane.”
For GMG and the UK industry the sky’s the limit, or at least it could be, if the UK upped its game on the investment front with more support for entrepreneurs and bigger tax incentives.
“We need to mend our broken funding cycle,” says Sulyok. “Video games perfectly embody the British psyche – technical and engineering expertise combined with artistic creativity.”
GMG’s best game tips: Alaskan Road Truckers, the sci-fi tactical Marauders and action role play Starfield.