£Excellent
Central London
Established in 1989 - Aardvark Swift has since evolved to become
Europe's leading specialist recruitment agency for the games, mobile
entertainment and toy industries.
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The story of Aardvark Swift is inevitably linked to that of the industry it has served for almost 20 years. Please see below how this is reflected in the brief histories of both:
Video Games were still a relatively new entrant into the consumer market – the early 1970s saw the release of Atari's Pong arcade game and later, Midway's Space Invaders in the USA. These were followed a year later by the launch of the first video game system for the home by Magnavox. A string of competing new and revamped systems then followed with Atari and Mattel, amongst others, also entering the fray. For a decade US companies dominated both the arcade and video game markets. The status quo changed in 1985 when Nintendo released its 8 bit Famicom console (renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System) and Sega released its 8 bit Sega Master System (1987).
With the games industry still at an early stage of development, Aardvark Swift became the first recruitment agency to spot the potential of this exciting industry. It dedicated its services exclusively to the growing UK video games industry. With the initial focus on finding roles for games programmers, a strong client base was quickly established amongst the highly successful development studios across the North of England.
Sega released its 16 bit Megadrive in 1989 and Nintendo followed this by releasing its 16 bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System ("SNES") in 1991. Lead by Sega and Nintendo, the games industry was growing rapidly.
As the global games industry continued to boom - new entrants in the console battle included 3DO (1993) and then Atari (1994) the UK industry also grew.
In early 1994 the market, reaching the end of its latest cycle, began to slump. Although a transition was anticipated, the speed with which the market deteriorated took many within the industry by surprise. The reasons for this were varied: significant anticipation of the next generation of 32 and 64 bit video games systems (still a year from launch), the increasing perception of 16 bit as being outdated, the failure of the intervening video games technology to stimulate the market and the high risk nature of the cartridge-based games business model all combined to create a video games market void that lasted until 1995/1996 when Sony and Sega launched next generation consoles.
The 1995 - 2001 cycle was one characterised by strong growth and considerable change. Although the video games market comprised Sega's 32 bit Saturn console (launched 1994) and Nintendo's N64 (launched 1997), the period was dominated by new entrant Sony's 32 bit PlayStation. Learning from the failures of others to break the Sega/Nintendo stranglehold, Sony garnered widespread developer and publisher support as well as generating notable consumer hype before launching its console in 1994 at an unprecedented price/performance level. Sega reacted by lowering the price of its console but the Playstation had built up too much momentum and, from an early stage, it was clear that Sega would struggle to match Sony. The Playstation quickly established a lead in the video games market outselling Sega and Nintendo's offerings by a vast margin. Sega re-entered the market with its 128 bit Dreamcast console but despite a strong launch in Japan in November 1998, publisher support lost momentum and Sega exited the hardware business in 2001.
The start of a new video games cycle. Hardware shipments for current generation (PS2, Xbox, GC) consoles are in rapid decline although the installed base continues to rise (having peaked in 2003/2004 - both years were saw broadly similar hardware shipments). Software sales peaked in some territories during 2005 although many territories, including the USA peaked in 2004.
Although placing a value on the games industry can often lead to highly misleading results, for the majority of companies within the industry, it is only software sales, which are of direct importance. The global games software industry was worth approximately $18bn in 2005.
The latest transition period comes to a close for the games industry with Xbox 360 taking an early lead in the console battle. Nintendo’s Wii has massive support.
Whoever wins, one thing is certain. The games industry is set for further growth, and Aardvark Swift will be working hard to provide the talent and skills required to drive this.
1989 - Aardvark Swift Consulting Ltd was established, becoming the UK’s first specialist games industry recruitment agency.
Video Games were still a relatively new entrant into the consumer market – the early 1970s saw the release of Atari's Pong arcade game and later, Midway's Space Invaders in the USA. These were followed a year later by the launch of the first video game system for the home by Magnavox. A string of competing new and revamped systems then followed with Atari and Mattel, amongst others, also entering the fray. For a decade US companies dominated both the arcade and video game markets. The status quo changed in 1985 when Nintendo released its 8 bit Famicom console (renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System) and Sega released its 8 bit Sega Master System (1987).
With the games industry still at an early stage of development, Aardvark Swift became the first recruitment agency to spot the potential of this exciting industry. It dedicated its services exclusively to the growing UK video games industry. With the initial focus on finding roles for games programmers, a strong client base was quickly established amongst the highly successful development studios across the North of England.
Sega released its 16 bit Megadrive in 1989 and Nintendo followed this by releasing its 16 bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System ("SNES") in 1991. Lead by Sega and Nintendo, the games industry was growing rapidly.
1992 – mid 1990’s - Aardvark Swift expanded steadily and began to handle career opportunities from across the UK. Recruitment of Games Artists, QA staff, Producers and Designers also began.
As the global games industry continued to boom - new entrants in the console battle included 3DO (1993) and then Atari (1994) the UK industry also grew.
In early 1994 the market, reaching the end of its latest cycle, began to slump. Although a transition was anticipated, the speed with which the market deteriorated took many within the industry by surprise. The reasons for this were varied: significant anticipation of the next generation of 32 and 64 bit video games systems (still a year from launch), the increasing perception of 16 bit as being outdated, the failure of the intervening video games technology to stimulate the market and the high risk nature of the cartridge-based games business model all combined to create a video games market void that lasted until 1995/1996 when Sony and Sega launched next generation consoles.
1995 – 2001 – More Consultants and a dedicated support team added to Aardvark Swift to enable us to offer the higher standard of service being demanded by our growing number of candidates and clients.
Launch of new “Games Publishing” desk - to handle Sales, Marketing and PR vacancies with games software and hardware companies.
The 1995 - 2001 cycle was one characterised by strong growth and considerable change. Although the video games market comprised Sega's 32 bit Saturn console (launched 1994) and Nintendo's N64 (launched 1997), the period was dominated by new entrant Sony's 32 bit PlayStation. Learning from the failures of others to break the Sega/Nintendo stranglehold, Sony garnered widespread developer and publisher support as well as generating notable consumer hype before launching its console in 1994 at an unprecedented price/performance level. Sega reacted by lowering the price of its console but the Playstation had built up too much momentum and, from an early stage, it was clear that Sega would struggle to match Sony. The Playstation quickly established a lead in the video games market outselling Sega and Nintendo's offerings by a vast margin. Sega re-entered the market with its 128 bit Dreamcast console but despite a strong launch in Japan in November 1998, publisher support lost momentum and Sega exited the hardware business in 2001.
2001 - “New Media” Desk established at Aardvark Swift. To meet the growing demands of Games industry and the other converging entertainment industries (mobile, iTV, online) as digital revolution began to gather speed.
The start of a new video games cycle. Hardware shipments for current generation (PS2, Xbox, GC) consoles are in rapid decline although the installed base continues to rise (having peaked in 2003/2004 - both years were saw broadly similar hardware shipments). Software sales peaked in some territories during 2005 although many territories, including the USA peaked in 2004.
Although placing a value on the games industry can often lead to highly misleading results, for the majority of companies within the industry, it is only software sales, which are of direct importance. The global games software industry was worth approximately $18bn in 2005.
2005 - Management Buyout of Aardvark Swift Consulting carried out by Senior Consultants Ian Goodall, Colin Walsh and Pete Aunins. Aardvark Swift Recruitment was born.
2006 - After a successful first year for Aardvark Swift Recruitment - investment and expansion sees the establishment of a dedicated Graduate recruitment desk.
2007- Further investment placed into the company brings a new website, a company re-brand and development of the bespoke database. Further expansion with the launch of a new Toy industry division
The latest transition period comes to a close for the games industry with Xbox 360 taking an early lead in the console battle. Nintendo’s Wii has massive support.
Whoever wins, one thing is certain. The games industry is set for further growth, and Aardvark Swift will be working hard to provide the talent and skills required to drive this.
