From award wins to game announcements, we started our second decade with a bang.
Here’s a handful of highlights covering Ripstone’s 2022…Buckle up – it’s been a big one!
We Announced The Queen’s Gambit Chess At Geeked Week!
June marked the big announcement of our upcoming title, The Queen’s Gambit Chess, which was revealed by Geoff Keighley at Netflix’s Geeked Week.
Coming soon to iOS and Android, The Queen’s Gambit game will provide a fun and friendly chess experience for beginners while also offering a captivating challenge for seasoned veterans
It is being produced in association with Netflix by our new studio, Rockwater Games.
At the time of the announcement Phil Gaskell, Creative Director and Co-Founder at Ripstone, said “We’ve set out to create a ‘love letter to The Queen’s Gambit’ and a new benchmark for chess on mobile by channelling our own love of the show, our years of experience creating successful simulations, and the incredible creativity of our team. We’re making a game that I know fans of the limited series are going to love and that truly offers something for chess players of every level.”
We can’t wait for you all to start making your moves.
We Doubled In Size!
With exciting projects on the horizon, our team has grown significantly in the past year.
Despite that growth, we’ve hired carefully and made sure not to lose sight of that people-focused family feel that has led to us winning consecutive ‘Best Places to Work’ awards.
We can’t wait to welcome more incredible people to the team in 2023.
We Celebrated Another Award-Winning Year!
With both the business and our brilliant team taking home prestigious awards, we’ve had a lot to celebrate in 2022.
The first big win came in July, as Ripstone won GI.Biz’s ‘Best Places to Work Award 2022’. A second win in as many years, the award win is a testament to all of the brilliant people that work here and their continued efforts to make Ripstone such an incredible place to be.
To mark the occasion, all staff were given a special day off. The only catch was that each member of the team had to spend it on self-care and do something truly important to them.
From volunteering at local stables to spending quality time with family and staying in with games, we were amazed at the variety of things our team got up to!
Jake Parrott, Ripstone 3D Artist, continued our awards season. In October, he was recognised as named one of MCV/DEVELOP’s 30 Under 30 for 2022 – an award that puts the spotlight on some of the best young talents in games.
In addition to being a creative force and a lead mentor on the art team of The Queen’s Gambit Chess, Jake also gives so much energy to the people and causes he cares about in the wider games industry. We couldn’t be prouder of all he has achieved.
Then, in October, Amy Wall, Ripstone Finance Director, put the icing on the cake when she took home ‘Finance Director of The Year’ at the FDA Awards!
Amy’s work has been instrumental in a year in which Ripstone’s team has doubled in size, and her positive experience within the industry has led to her becoming a strong advocate for the incredible range of career pathways we have in our sector.
We Supported Our Partners
Supporting and engaging with incredible charities and initiatives is something we’re passionate about, both as individuals and as a business.
In addition to our year-round support, in 2022 we took part in a number of special events for our charity partners Special Effect and Safe In Our World.
In May, Ripstone FC made their debut at Special Effect’s Soccer Fives Tournament.
Football might not have come home, but we had tonnes of fun sponsoring the Liverpool event and competing against a bunch of incredible studios to raise money for an amazing cause!
Later in July, Ripstone ran a fundraising month for the video games mental health charity Safe In Our World, raising over £1100.
Team members took turns flying the flag at five different physical events throughout July. Sim McDermott, Ripstone Lead Designer, even took it to the very top of Ben Nevis!
We Provided Internships With The LFC Foundation
In 2022, our relationship with the LFC Foundation led to us being able to offer paid internships at our Liverpool studio.
The foundation is the charitable wing of Liverpool Football Club and it works to provide support and raise aspirations in disadvantaged communities across the Liverpool City Region. A part of this work includes organising paid internships for people who wouldn’t normally have access to such opportunities.
A few lucky Ripstone Reds were even treated to a tour of their training ground!