SockMonkey_Studios

SockMonkey Studios

SockMonkey Studios

British video game studio


Behaviour UK - North (formerly SockMonkey Studios) is a British video game developer, founded by Teesside University graduates[1] Bob Makin and Darren Cuthbert, in Middlesbrough, North East England.[2]

Quick Facts Industry, Founded ...

History

Founded in February 2013[3] with the help of DigitalCity,[4] prior to SockMonkey Studios Makin and Cuthbert worked at other studios[5] including Team17, Jagex and Iguana.

Makin and Cuthbert were later joined by industry veteran Darren Falcus.[2] Building their foundation on primarily work for hire jobs, the studio collaborated with numerous video game companies such as SEGA, Double Eleven and Team 17[2][6] to assist in the porting of their games to other consoles.

After setting up their offices on Victoria Road in Middlesbrough, in 2015 they moved their headquarters to the Phoenix Building at Teesside University,[4] moving again to Boho 5 [7] as the studio grew and as of 2021 reside at 16/26 Albert Road North[8] in Middlesbrough.

From its inception, the studio experienced growth due to increasing demand within the gaming industry and by 2020 had added dozens of positions. In 2019 alone they reported doubling the headcount in their Teesside office.[9]

In 2020, during an expansion phase, Ron Ashtiani[10] - former CEO of Sumo Group's Atomhawk Business - was added to the board of directors.[11] During 2020, the studio also received funding[12] from Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

In February 2023 it was announced that SockMonkey Studios had been acquired by Behaviour Interactive, becoming Behaviour UK - North.[13]

Contract work

Although the studio also worked on full-scale development[6] SockMonkey was predominantly a work-for-hire studio, having worked globally on contracts for both PC and console,[2] including US-based developers such as tinyBuild and Outfit7.[14]

Awards[15][16]

More information Year, Institution ...

Games[6]

More information Year, Game Title ...

References

  1. Manning, Jonathon (2018-07-04). "Teesside Uni graduates some of most successful at launching firms". TeessideLive. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  2. Manning, Jonathon (2019-02-05). "Games studio SockMonkey to create 50-strong team by 2021". TeessideLive. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  3. "Teesside app development startup expands with new offices". Bdaily Business News. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  4. "SockMonkey Studios". www.sockmonkeystudios.net. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  5. "SockMonkey Studios". Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  6. Manning, Jonathon (2019-09-04). "Middlesbrough's game studio SockMonkey kits out Boho Five office". Business Live. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  7. Manning, Jonathon (2020-11-18). "Game studio SockMonkey plans to triple headcount after move". Business Live. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  8. Dawson, Richard (June 17, 2020). "Teesside games studio raises £250,000 to launch its first title". North East Times. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  9. "SockMonkey Studios". Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  10. "UK studio SockMonkey raises £250,000". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  11. Imrie, Jane (November 18, 2020). "Games studio levels up with move to emerging Teesside tech hub". Bdaily Business News. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  12. "Shortlist & Winners". North East Business Awards. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  13. "Tees Tech Awards". Tees Business. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  14. Manning, Jonathon (2020-09-24). "North East Business Awards 2020: RECAP". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2021-07-28.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article SockMonkey_Studios, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.