Ant Workshop

Factsheet

Developer:
Ant Workshop
Based in Edinburgh, Scotland

Founding date:
January 12, 2015

Website:
ant-workshop.com

Press / Business contact:
press@ant-workshop.com

Social:
Ant Workshop's Twitter
Ant Workshop's Facebook
Tony's Twitter

Releases:
Binaries
Dead End Job
Run From The Sun
Taps Aff

Description

Ants - tiny, strong, focussed, good at working with others to achieve their goals and often with a nasty bite. Some of these characteristics (not so much the bitey ones) are also shared by Ant Workshop, a small independent game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

History

Ant Workshop is a Develop and TIGA Award nominated microstudio founded in January 2015 by Tony Gowland to focus on developing original IP full of character and with a quirky sense of humour.

The company's first title was Binaries, a BAFTA nominated controller-smashingly tough 2D puzzle platform game, followed by the Scottish Summertime Simulator Taps Aff, and most recently the Apple Arcade launch title Dead End Job - a 90's cartoon-style shooter where you bust ghosts as a Paranormal Pest Control worker.

As well as their own titles, Ant Workshop has also helped other indies bring over a dozen cool games (such as John Wick Hex, Yes Your Grace, and Thomas Was Alone) to current and next generation console platforms.

In January 2022 Ant Workshop received a seven figure equity investment from Chroma Ventures to enable the development of new titles including Dungeon Golf, in which minotaurs, goblins, and other mythical creatures compete with one another.

Tony has been a professional game developer for over twenty years. He has held senior and lead positions at Rockstar Games (working on hits such as the Grand Theft Auto: Stories series, GTA: Chinatown Wars, and 2010 Game of the Year Red Dead Redemption) and been Associate Creative Officer of Mobile at ActivisionBlizzard, bringing a brand new Call of Duty experience to mobile.

Chroma Ventures was created in 2021 by Paddy Burns and Chris van der Kuyl as a broad-spectrum investment arm. Based in Scotland, but with an international outlook, Chroma Ventures backs companies developing and deploying innovative technology and data-led businesses. Its investment approach will reflect the principals' commitment to investing in great people with great ideas and supporting their growth through long-term collaboration. Chroma Ventures' expanding portfolio include 4J Studios, Ace Aquatec, ADV Holdings, Blippar, Broker Insights, Parsley Box, Puny Astronaut, Stormcloud Games, Team 17, TVSquared, and the property development company Chroma Developments.

Ant Workshop was supported through its early development by Starter for 6. This prestigious enterprise training programme is run by Cultural Enterprise Office, Scotland's only specialist business support and development service for creative micro-businesses and cultural practitioners with investment from the Scottish Government via Creative Scotland’s Innovation Fund.

Projects

• Binaries
• Dead End Job
• Run From The Sun
• Taps Aff

Team

Tony Gowland
Founder

Ewan McKenzie
Production / QA

Martin Scott
Programmer

Samantha Davidson
Programmer

James Paton
Programmer

Paula Lucas
Art

Michael Cameron
Design

Contact

Inquiries
press@ant-workshop.com

Company Twitter
twitter.com/AntWorkshop

Facebook
facebook.com/AntWorkshop

Web
ant-workshop.com

Personal Twitter
twitter.com/Tony_Gowland