Insurgent Studios works as project managers and technical consultants. Clients bring us in when a piece of work needs someone who can both run it and understand it: plan and manage the delivery, judge whether the technical approach is sound, and stay accountable for the result.
We have done that since 2005, across video games, virtual worlds, museum installations, fintech, higher education and developer infrastructure. The project archive records the work itself; this page describes the kinds of engagement behind it. Much of our work is confidential, so the projects named here are examples of each service, not a full record of it.
Technical due diligence
An independent reading of a platform, a team and a plan, for the people who have to make a decision about them. Our founding engagement, in 2005, was a due diligence, and we have carried out many since, most of them in confidence.
Studio set-up and team hiring
We have been brought in twice to start a development studio from nothing, and both times we did it: recruitment, technical direction, the early production decisions, and somewhere to sit while the studio finds its feet.
Funding applications and funded R&D
We write funding applications and we win them, with Scottish Enterprise, Innovate UK, EIT Digital and Creative Informatics among the programmes. We can also deliver the research and development that follows.
Project and programme management
Planning and managing delivery, on individual projects and across programmes that run for years, with the technical judgement to know whether the approach is sound.
Games development
Project management and technical direction for a whole game, or a defined piece of technical work inside someone else’s: an AI system, a new platform, the build process.
Interactive installations and mixed reality
Touch and gesture installations for museums, and software for augmented, virtual and mixed reality headsets.
Software and app development
Mobile apps, cross-platform desktop tools and working prototypes, and the source control and build infrastructure that development teams depend on.
How engagements run
Engagements vary in length and in shape. Some are a defined question with an end date, answered in weeks or a few months. Some are a product managed through to release, or a studio set up and handed over to its own management. Others are a standing responsibility, such as infrastructure that has to be kept running for years.
We are equally comfortable with each. An engagement can also change shape: a short assessment has sometimes led to us managing the work it assessed.
If you have something in mind, tell us about it.