Father of the PlayStation is Malta envoy

Malta has been chosen over other countries by a multimedia online production business to develop an innovative digital game that should be launched in the US in two years’ time.

TRC Family Entertainment Ltd is investing $6 million in the island and relocating $18 million worth of intellectual property to its studio in the Domestica Complex in Valley Road, Birkirkara.

It plans to employ 100 workers over the next two years, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said at yesterday’s signing of the investment agreement between the company and Malta Enterprise, which has a shareholding of 15 per cent.

Malta Enterprise’s co-investment sent out the message to the global digital games company that the island was a good location for the development of the sector and showed the government’s resolve to attract players in the industry, he said.

Mr Fenech said the digital games industry had the potential to be a sustainable economic activity in Malta and would generate a higher rate of economic return per capita.

The establishment of TRC Family Entertainment Ltd consolidated the foundation of the digital gaming sector, which was new to the country and showing exponential market growth worldwide, he said.

Provisional analysis on the digital games strategy for Malta, which is about to be published, shows it has the raw talent, Mr Fenech said, adding that the company would create the right environment to develop these skills.

TRC Family Entertainment Ltd CEO Paul Taylor said Malta was chosen as a location for its studio over San Francisco, London and Canada thanks to the support of Malta Enterprise, the potential talent pool and technical infrastructure. He was confident local staff would fulfil the requirements and estimated that most of the 100 employees would be Maltese.

The company has already been in contact with the University of Malta, the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, and St Martin’s and was “amazed” at the talent available, he said.

TRC Family Entertainment Ltd, which is led by a world-class management team, already employs nine persons, including “industry heavyweights”, who have relocated to Malta.

Additional recruiting is being carried out to have a staff complement of over 20 by the end of the year. These would not just include programmers and game designers but also animators, artists and writers.

Its chairman, Chris Deering, a former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, known in the industry as the “father of PlayStation”, has been appointed Special Envoy for Digital Games by the government.

Mr Deering’s role is to promote Malta as an investment destination and work towards its growth on the digital entertainment stage.

Known as a Massively Multiplayer Online Game, he described the project as a “21st-century entertainment idea”. The concept of the game remains under wraps but it aims to unite children and families worldwide.

Mr Deering said the family product could not be developed in a “better place than Malta, which celebrates strong family values so passionately”.