Chris Deering, Malta’s recently named special envoy for digital games, has pledged to be an evangelist for the island’s potential to be a base for game design firms on his travels, especially after his own firm’s initial expectations have been exceeded.

Malta does have a number of graduates in C++ programming and does not have to apologise for it

His appointment by Malta Enterprise follows his own endorsement of the island: TRC Family Media Entertainment, of which he is chairman, moved a team to Malta just before Christmas to work on an ambitious multi-player online game designed for family entertainment. The original $6 million investment is supported by intellectual property worth $18 million which has also been relocated to Malta.

Fourteen Maltese have been recruited to join the 34-strong team based at the Domestica complex in Msida’s Valley Road, where the company hopes to be able to take over additional floors in the medium-term to accommodate the team which could swell to 70-plus when the project moves into later stages.

“It’s about being ready to lobby and evangelise on behalf of Malta,” Mr Deering told The Times Business of his envoy role. “Part of it is about having Malta at the top of my mind wherever I travel. I work in many different companies and projects, some are pro bono, some are involved in simulation, and I am chairman of the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival.

“I am privy to information about what is coming up in the industry. Even if I did not have this official title, I would gladly encourage people to check out Malta, although the title helps to facilitate meeting arrangements and such like.

“There are other parts in the field of high tech entertainment that are not specifically about gambling games or video games. It could be about internet companies that are doing games for social networks, or IPTV. I bump into a lot of these people, so it’s essentially about keeping a wider radar sweep.”

He added his remit was primarily about helping companies decide if Malta suited them and their aspirations. He was also keen to help Maltese companies identify outposts for international projects. Mr Deering, chief executive for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe between 1995 and 2005, is a veteran of the games, technology and entertainment industry.

A graduate of Harvard Business School, he has a glittering three-decade career to his name.

His portfolio of illustrious key roles includes vice-president international for Atari game consoles and computers, and executive vice-president and chief operating officer for Columbia Pictures International Video. At Sony, he led the team which sold more than 80 million consoles and paved the way for the sale of more than one billion games, which led him to be known as the ‘Father of the PlayStation’.

For five years until 2010, he was chairman of the UK-based Codemasters, the independent game developer of the hugely successful F1 and Dirt games, and also served on the boards of Sony Ericsson and WayFinder Systems, which was later acquired by Vodafone.

An American happily based in London for more than 20 years, he prides himself on having found Malta for TRC, even if almost by chance.

He said he first visited the island some 10 years ago for a business conference at the invitation of Tancred Tabone, the managing director of Forestals, the local agent for Sony.

It was not until several months ago, at a conference in Stuttgart, that he was reminded about the island. At an event for mini clusters, a speaker representing an Italian regional development group told Mr Deering – there to represent a West Midlands group – he had been impressed with the inroads Malta was making in technology and games on a recent trip.

At the time TRC was examining the possibility of moving a team to northeastern Canada to work on the multi-player online game, but decided to give Mr Tabone at Forestals a call.

“Tancred encouraged me to visit and I came over with TRC chief executive officer Paul Taylor last year,” Mr Deering explained. “Tancred set up a meeting with Malta Enterprise to discuss what was on offer for us to base the development of the game in Malta. We went to see the university and MCAST. Paul loved it.”

Besides the prospect of a Mediterranean lifestyle, accessibility to and from Malta was a major factor that swayed the final decision.

Mr Deering said things have worked out better than expected and he is keen to share this business location secret.

TRC, he stressed, would not be in Malta if the team did not think it was a high quality location to work from, to base people or to create.

And the more game companies that are based here, the better the talent pool. Game design can take anything between a few months to a couple of years with people added to projects as the process progresses.

Once projects near completion, staffing levels cannot be maintained but if there are more projects in the region, then the labour force will move around the circuit, seeking freelance or contract posts in programming, music or post-production.

Mr Deering admits the local talent pool needs crafting although that is true for most locations. Education programmes in most countries endow students with basic, general knowledge and skills. Even in the UK, graduates mostly possessed general skills sets.

“Everyone wants to be a manager but the creative process involves programming skills,” Mr Deering explained. “The international industry is working with a number of universities. Malta does have a number of graduates in C++ programming and does not have to apologise for it. The fact that there are online gaming companies here means there is a headstart of sorts. When it comes to the basics, the ‘plumbing’ is the same.”

Malta could emulate Iceland, the larger island nation with a smaller population, which is home to six industry-leading game companies, including CCP Games. TRC’s chief technology officer joined from CCP Games.

Mr Deering said he was impressed how many people in the wider technology industry had heard of Malta at some time or other, especially Europeans. He conceded that outside of Europe, Malta required a proper business introduction.

“It has been better than I expected,” he said of his experience of Malta so far. “I’m a fan of Malta and I love Valletta. I am optimistic – I do not know how far we can take Malta in games but the fundamentals are fairly good. I hope it produces a solid base of economic development.”

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