The gaming industry is often seen as notoriously competitive to break into – especially if you’re a young boy working on the market stalls in Bradford.
But Bobby Thandi has been able to turn what was once a “pipe dream” into success with his game development studio XR Games, in Leeds.
Since launching in 2017, XR Games has become an established player across the gaming scene.
It has collaborated with big brands from Sony Pictures to Rovio Entertainment to release titles such as Angry Birds The Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure and Zombieland: Headshot Fever, with a focus on immersive virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
Earlier this year, the VR games developer raised significant investment of £5.9m from existing investors act media ventures, Praetura Ventures and Maven, using a slice of the funds to move into a brand new studio, based at The Half Roundhouse, to support its expansion plans.
“It’s to help us grow and scale faster than we would have done without that funding,” XR Games founder and CEO Bobby Thandi told Prolific North
On a visit to Leeds, I met Thandi and was able to take a glimpse around the new headquarters, spread across two floors equipped with a gym, a dedicated bar area and games room for its 100 staff.
Although the glossy studio is almost complete – he’s already very familiar with the building. In fact, it was where he took his first steps into the gaming industry, working for globally renowned games studio Dubit and the same office where the idea to launch XR Games was born.
