Meet the Sumo Warrington Advanced Technology team
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Since its inception, the Sumo Warrington Advanced Technology (SWAT) team has solved some of the toughest technical challenges in game development– but who is this elite group and what tasks are they faced with?
SWAT is led by Studio Director Scott Kirkland, who has over a quarter of a century of tech-biased games industry experience across indie and AAA game development. His journey with Sumo Digital began in 2017, when he joined Sumo Sheffield as a multi-project Development Director.
Over the years, he’s been heavily involved in building, supporting and leading world-class game technology teams – and SWAT is truly shaping up to be the pinnacle of his quest for technical excellence.
To find out more about this code-crafting studio, Scott will take us undercover and offer a peek into the expert team’s classified operations.
About SWAT:
SWAT is committed to delivering dependable technical excellence to our partners. The studio provides fantastic opportunities for programmers to immerse themselves in the latest and greatest games and technologies.
A small, friendly and supportive studio – we offer our people world-class learning, industry-leading benefits, and organisational support from the wider Sumo Group, whilst working alongside some of the world’s biggest and best external partners on the most interesting and rewarding AAA games and associated tech.
The deployment of SWAT:
Demand was the biggest driver for the creation of the Sumo Warrington Advanced Technology team. Clients of Sumo Digital were increasingly looking to augment their own engineering capacity as a means of achieving more in terms of scope and quality, filling specialist knowledge gaps and relieving pressure within their own organisations.
With established Sumo studios committed to their own great projects, they just didn’t have the bandwidth to support these smaller, more focused opportunities. In come the S.W.A.T team. With a talented and experienced group of technical specialists to call upon, we were able to take on these tough and rewarding challenges – building upon Sumo’s already amazing reputation for delivering excellence to clients.
The SWAT team:
Since our inception in 2019, we’ve brought together a formidably talented team, formed of the brightest graduates, rising stars, proven programmers, and a handful of industry veterans.
There’s a wealth of experience, perspective and passion which allows us to push the boundaries and deliver an elite engineering service to our partners.
We’re a very calm and pragmatic bunch, with the ability to objectively assess technically challenging situations and identify the most effective way forward.
Our missions:
Our work is understandably swathed in secrecy. Even so, I can reveal that we have four amazing active assignments at the moment with another eight high profile missions accomplished! These include our work with Sports Interactive to deliver the best possible Football Manager experience and supporting colleagues at Sumo Sheffield to boost performance and tackle some particularly troublesome bugs in the multi-award-winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure.
Fundamentally, SWAT are not just extra bodies to cover the work nobody else wants to do - we get to do the really interesting, challenging and rewarding stuff. We’ve raised the quality bar, eliminated technical debt, boosted performance and productivity and tackled the toughest problems in areas such as graphics, animation, physics, AI, build engineering, and content pipelines.
In summary, we help our partners solve their toughest challenges and make better games, more efficiently.
Now recruiting highly skilled agents!
We’re always on the lookout for talented and technically minded individuals to join the SWAT team. Here are our top tips for getting a piece of the action:
• Passion for technology and problem solving is a prerequisite. We really need to see that spark, whether you’re a graduate, or a games industry veteran.
• Aptitude for learning and an eagerness to experience everything. We often have to dive into the unknown.
• Pre-existing breadth and depth of game tech knowledge. The more in-depth, the better.
• Pragmatism and practicality. Although time is spent on research, these two traits are very much the order of the day.
• Excellent communication skills. We’re typically working in close collaboration with our partners, so the ability to communicate with a range of people is a must.
We offer a range of working options, with candidates able to choose remote, hybrid or in-studio to suit their personal circumstances. We do require all of our team members to be UK-based, but if applicants are from further afield, we’re able to provide support with visas and relocation.
If you’re interested in joining the SWAT team, make sure your CV and any portfolio materials showcase your passion for tech and detail any relevant experience.
Good luck - we await your correspondence…
The Sumo Warrington Advanced Technology team is looking for candidates to join – could it be you? More information on all current opportunities can be found here.
