This profile forms part of a series of interviews produced as part of Game Republic’s 20th Anniversary celebrations supported by our Official Partners Barclays, Escape Technology and Red Kite Games.
Co-founder and Executive Producer of Revolution Games over the last three decades. Noirin Carmody is also instrumental in bringing the value of the industry to the fore, having chaired the UKie board for 10 years and working across Government departments, lobbying and advocating for the value of the games industry to be fully appreciated and seen positively by policymakers and politicians. We are seeing the fruits of her labour on this with the PM recently extolling the virtues of our industry. In addition to her national roles, Noirin takes an active interest in supporting Universities and colleges, in particular in York, where she is based. Noirin is also a huge advocate for the region and Game Republic. Unbelievably given her level of busy-ness she sits on York Museum Trust and The Glazier Trust and served for nearly 4 years on The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (IGGI) board too!
Back to the day job, Noirin started her career in games as a general manager with Activision to research emerging markets back in the eighties making critical links for them with distributors. She went on to develop Revolution in the 90s with her business and life partner Charles Cecil. Now her work is focused on looking after all operations in the company – a company that changes size significantly in line with the projects and games they are developing which have become global titles. Working closely on the finances and with international teams, she oversees the research, legal work, projects and talent with up to 50 people working with Revolution at peak times. Noirin is a human dynamo, and has made an incredible impact on our region and industry… And best of all, she still finds time to come along to Game Republic events too. As we celebrate 20 years of Game Republic, we celebrate the incredible impact Noirin Carmody has made to our industry.
What is great about working with the games industry?
It is such a creative and dynamic space. Everybody is so friendly and we all help each other. Whilst in some ways we are all competing for players, we have our own unique ways of achieving what we need, which makes it far more collaborative. We share our struggles and can see we are all not perfect, so we all help each other.
For those starting out my advice is, produce a demo, attend Game Republic and other events where you will meet other games creators and platform owners.
What words of advice do you have for people starting out in the games sector?
So much has changed since we started with different tech and so many publishers. Free to download games makes it a challenging space as it becomes difficult to get noticed. Some would argue it is easier as you can self-publish your game on any platform easily, but the market is crowded. For those starting out my advice is, produce a demo, attend Game Republic and other events where you will meet other games creators and platform owners.
Learn to code, even if your work is design, writing, programming is a core skill.
What work have you been doing in the region to support the games industry?
Revolution was one of the founding companies of Game Republic in 2003. It is a great thing to see how it has grown and yet stayed true to its roots. Outside the network and within it, we try to support smaller companies, we want to pass on what we have learned and engage young people. We started with little or no money so we all have to start somewhere.
What has been a highlight of your career / work so far for the industry?
The success of Broken Sword would be a highlight! And more recently Beyond a Steel Sky 2. We have worked with some amazing people. We work with people all over the world that bring so much talent.
it is important to give women visibility in the industry by supporting them to ensure they have extended careers in the industry as we have in the past seen too much talent simply disappear
What influence do you think your company is having on the sector and the region?
We try to share what we have learned as much as possible with smaller companies and our peers in the region and we have provided opportunities for people to learn from us within the company too. We have built a large network over the years with many of them close friends. I believe it is important to give women visibility in the industry by supporting them to ensure they have extended careers in the industry as we have in the past seen too much talent simply disappear.
What do you think of the role of Game Republic?
I am so proud of Game Republic; I feel like shouting from the rooftops about it. It keeps us together. Whilst we founded it with other companies and sadly one of those Gordon Hall is no longer with us, it continues to keep our close net group in Yorkshire together. It does so much to support start-ups giving them the opportunity to larger studio owners and companies who can support them. It gives us access to big players. Jamie’s incredible ability to bring UK and international guests to events including Sony, Microsoft, Apple and more provides members with a unique opportunity to introduce themselves and build relationships. Game Republic drives the power of our collective networks that supports our region.
Why is the region a good place to do business?
We have great cities, countryside and incredible companies working here. We also have great transport links to London, to international destinations through nearby airports and can travel easily across the North, though would be nice if HS3 could hurry up a bit!
What projects / events and initiatives are coming up?
We have projects under wraps right now but hopefully all will be revealed before the end of 2023 on that! It’s all very exciting!
