Art of the comeback

Sep 10 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

AN entrepreneur has emerged from the wreckage of a collapsed video games empire with a new business, which has already won major clients in Europe and the US.

The region’s video games sector was severely wounded in July this year when the Midway studio, in Gateshead, closed its doors with the loss of 74 jobs.

The liquidation was the unfortunate conclusion of a lengthy period of uncertainty, after its American owners fell into financial difficulty and filed for bankruptcy

As company bosses failed to find a buyer for the firm, its staff, who had been assured they would receive redundancy payments, were given just two hours to leave the premises without payment.

“They told us that if we didn’t find a buyer we would be given our full pay,” recalls Midway’s former studio art director Cumron Ashtiani.

“Then, a day before pay day, a load of insolvency guys came in and told us we were all fired and kicked us out of the building in two hours.

“The chances of getting some money back were really slim.”

Fortunately, Mr Ashtiani, who headed up a team of around 30 people at Midway, had already planned for the worst and has now launched his own company, Atomhawk Design, in Gateshead.

The firm also employs former Midway staff Pete Thompson, Corlen Krugerand and Steven Pick who, alongside Mr Ashtiani, combine more than 40 years of experience in the video games industry.

Atomhawk is a digital artwork and design company which has already won clients in Europe and the US and is even hopeful of seeing a Hollywood star join its ranks of customers.

While it may not be anything close to the scale of Midway’s Gateshead studio, Mr Ashtiani aims to build the firm into one which employs around 15 people, as well as freelance workers, within three years.

According to the video games veteran, there are only a handful of firms in the world that can offer the same standard of bespoke services.

He also said Atomhawk would help to showcase the talent of the North East on a global playing field.

He said: “We are working with a lot of really top-tier companies, although I thought we would have to start at the bottom and work our way back up.

“We can’t say who these companies are but we are bursting to tell people about them.

“They are global companies in the UK, Europe and the US.

“We have got plans to be a major player in this region in concept art and design and there are only a handful of firms that do what we do.”

Meanwhile, the company is hopeful of working on future projects involving Hollywood actor Vin Diesel, who starred in the Midway-made Wheelman game.

“He was one of our clients at Midway and we hope to work with him in the future,” Mr Ashtiani said.

Atomhawk offers a range of services including 2D/3D artwork, video production, story boards and web content, as well as consultancy services.