We’re delighted to share that Lab42 was awarded a win at the 2022 GI.Biz Best Places to Word Awards 

This is the third consecutive year that Lab42 has been awarded the prestigious award, which celebrates the best places to work in the UK games industry. 

“We’re thrilled to win this award again,” says Terry Goodwin, Technical Director at Lab42 Games. “Everything our studio has achieved over the years has been thanks to our incredible team, so this award really means a lot to us.”

The criteria for winning this award includes an assessment of employer commitments (such as salary, holiday, benefits, social activity etc.) in addition to an anonymous employee survey which covers numerous topics, including work/life balance, management, diversity, working environment and much more. 

“The employee survey is completely anonymous and makes up the majority of the score, so this awards process gives us valuable insight into our team really feel about working here,” continues Terry, “It’s a reflection of the company culture we’ve built together, and I’d like to thank everyone at Lab42 for making our studio such an amazing place to work!”

If you would like to join our award-winning team and enjoy our fantastic studio culture, check out our careers page for current opportunities.

Earlier this year, Lab42 Games made the pledge to #RaiseTheGame. 

#RaiseTheGame is an industry-wide initiative facilitated and managed by Ukie, aimed at driving change and meaningful improvement through equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work within the games industry. 

“We didn’t pledge to boast about the things we’re already doing, we joined the pledge because we want to be continuously improving.” says Kirsty K, Studio Engagement Manager, “and part of that is looking at our people, our studio, our culture and asking; ‘what can we do better?’” 

For Lab42, the 2022 games industry census was an eye-opener, with 10% of people within our industry reporting having ADHD and 4% of people reporting having autism – this is higher than the national average of 4% and 1-2% respectively.  People who reported that they are autistic also had the least positive overall attitudes towards the games industry in general, and the lowest opinion of how inappropriate behaviour is handled. 

While the UK Games Industry Census is an important source of information, Ukie EDI Coordinator Dom Shaw encourages everyone to aim beyond what the data shows. He believes that there is more neurodiversity within the industry than the current data shows, largely due to barriers in understanding and acknowledgement on a wider level. Simply put; building neurodiversity-friendly practices into your workplace culture could benefit people who may not even know they are neurodiverse. 

“This was important to us because it’s less visible,” says Kirsty, “we have a lot of focus on inclusivity when it comes to gender and race, which we’re proud of and it’s still very necessary – but you can’t look at a team picture and know if the studio supports their neurodiverse talent. I think that’s why a lot of games studios see neurodiversity as a less important facet of their EDI goals. It gets forgotten about. But it’s incredibly important, and especially relevant in our industry.” 

Handbooks and policies are all very well and good, but how do we make sure we’re really supporting everyone in their day-to-day role? 

The first step for Lab42 was partnering with SIC, who are experts when it comes to helping businesses improve their practices to become more inclusive.  

“Training on the topic of neurodiversity within your organisation –to develop confidence on every side and best practice- is important in creating an inclusive working environment,” says Rachael Mole, Founder and Managing Director of SIC, “Knowing how to manage, lead, inspire and ultimately retain great talent is vital, even more so in the gaming industry, which hires proportionally more neurodiverse staff.”  SIC helped us to deliver a Neurodiversity in the Workplace workshop to all our line managers and producers. The aims were to ensure that everyone in a leadership position would better understand the spectrum of neurodiversity, and learn what processes they could implement to better support their team. We explored case studies, as well as building a list of actionable changes we could make to our processes. 

“One of the things that really stuck with me was that some people can be neurodiverse and not even know it themselves,” says Technical Director, Terry G, “so we need to build inclusive, neurodiversity-friendly practices into our everyday work and apply it to our interactions with every person we work with.” 

“The important thing to remember is that it’s a journey,” says Kirsty, “you can’t just host one workshop and call it a day. We feel that with the help of SIC our understanding is increased, but we’re going to keep on working and make sure Lab42 is a place where everyone can feel comfortable, safe and supported.” 

As a Sumo Digital studio, we’ve joined the pledge to make
positive changes to our environmental impact so we can all become carbon net zero by 2030. This is a huge challenge, and in addition to the bigger projects
taken on by our leadership teams, we also all need to pitch in by making small,
manageable changes to our workplace habits.

One of the ways we make sure we do this is with the help of
a passionate group of volunteers known as Climate Champions. Holly, our Office
Administrator and resident Climate Champion for Lab42, tells us all about why
she volunteered, what it means to her, and how she helps us in our goals to
build a greener work culture.

I guess I’m a bit of an eco-warrior and have been since I
was a kid; when conversations about climate change were 20 years in the future,
and everything was made from plastic. I grew up digging in the garden, playing
in the mud, fascinated by flowers and always hugging trees. I joke about being
a hedge-witch, but nature is my soul and my love for the environment influences
everything I do.

I had spoken to our Studio Director, Ed about being some sort of “eco rep” for Lab42, back before Climate Champions
were introduced, so it has been an interest since I first joined the company. I
was shocked when I realised the energy consumption and waste produced by even a
smaller studio like ours, and I was keen to make a difference. When the Climate
Champion initiative was announced, I volunteered right away!

All the Climate Champions are passionate about conserving
and protecting the environment, through new initiatives, education and
technology. I work together with other Sumo Climate Champions to generate new
ideas for improvement, we discuss how these ideas can work in our individual studios
and then roll out these initiatives across the company.

Changes made at Lab42 Games HQ

I’ve made quite a few changes at Lab42 Games so far. Hopefully
these small changes combined will have a positive impact and influence the
staff to think differently too! With that said, there is still a lot of room
for improvement.

Many of these changes are fairly simple, and anyone can implement them, both at home and the office.

• Installed bike racks to encourage cycling to work
• Swapped the kitchen bin for recycling bags, cutting down on bin liners
• Moved to using refillable hand soap
• Installed an EV charger for electric cars
• Changed to buying food in bulk, which cuts down on emissions from deliveries and packaging
• Buying predominantly vegan snacks for the office kitchen. This still needs work, but we’ve made a start. (And our vegan employees are appreciating it, too!)
• Installing a coffee machine, which is more energy efficient than boiling a kettle and produces less packaging waste
• Installed a water dispenser, to avoid buying plastic bottled water
• Recycling cables and peripheries
• Working closely with the cleaning team to ensure our hygiene practices are all eco-aware, such as using fewer bin liners, improving recycling, and waiting until the dishwasher is full before we turn it on

What plans are we making for the future?

We’ve made steps, but we’re far from finished. A few things I’m looking forward to:

• Create a green space outside where we can grow our own plants, including herbs and fruit, with seed and plant sharing
• Looking into getting a composting bin for kitchen and food waste 
• Reducing energy consumption
• Finding better ways to repurpose or recycle old tech
• Making better, more conscious choices for everything we buy. Everything from IT equipment to merchandise, to furniture and fittings.

This isn’t just important to me, or Lab42 Games, or Sumo
Digital, but is vital for all of us. We need better education, more awareness
and more action. We need our eco-warriors and our activists. The future is a
dark and scary place right now. The climate emergency will change life inexplicably,
and if we don’t act now, we are heading towards that dystopian future… and no
one is going to be making or playing games in that scenario!

Climate Champions is just one of the initiatives we’re embracing here at Lab42 Games. If you’re looking to bring your skills to a studio brimming with fresh ideas and a positive company culture, check out our careers page.

We’re passionate about bringing beloved games to new audiences, especially when it comes to creating great ports. We recently brought one of the most beloved grand strategy games of all time, Crusader Kings III, to console.

Since its release on the 29th of March, the positive reviews have been rolling in! See what industry experts have to say about our most royal port yet.

The Gamer (4.5/5)

Eurogamer

The Loadout (8/10)

PlayStation Universe (9/10)

If you’re looking for a team who can help you create a great port, get in touch.

Our Senior Artist has been shortlisted for a prestigious award celebrating the best female talent in the UK.

The shortlist for the 8th annual MCV/DEVELOP Women In Games Awards was announced last week and we’re incredibly proud to have Hannah, included in the shortlist.

Hannah is our Senior 2D Artist, and has been shortlisted for the Creative Impact award, following the success of her work on the Crusader Kings III console port.

We’re also pleased to share that our friends from other Sumo Digital studios have also been shortlisted for awards, with Jemma Harris of Sumo Newcastle and Ruth Anna Caulcott-Cooper of The Chinese Room both in the running for the ‘Development Impact’ award, while Sumo Leamington‘s Harinder Sangha is shortlisted as a ‘Career Mentor’ and France Quiquere is up for the ‘Technical Innovation’ award.

“We’re thrilled to have so many of our talented women nominated in these awards,” said Gary Dunn, Managing Director for Sumo Digital. “We always strive to recruit and retain the best in the industry, and we’re honoured that so many of the women working within our award-winning studios have been recognised by MCV/DEVELOP.

“We look forward to the winners being revealed and, regardless of the award results, celebrating the incredible talent that we have here.”

The winners of the MCV/DEVELOP Women In Games Awards 2022 will be revealed on 4th March during the live presentation at Altitude in London’s Millbank Tower.