Behind the scenes at Sumo Leamington: Art Team Learning Day

See all news • 15th December 2021 • Behind the Scenes Working at Sumo Leamington

Games careers with a difference

Here at Sumo Leamington, we do things a bit differently. We don’t believe in overworking our teams or squeezing the passion out of exhausted games developers. We believe that great teams make great games, and great teams are made up of happy, fulfilled individuals. This means taking time out of busy schedules to provide regular opportunities for professional growth, so we can build your career in games together.

What are learning days?

On the 3rd Friday of every month, every member of the Sumo Leamington studio takes a learning day. It’s an entire day where we down tools and take the opportunity to self-study and learn something new. Whether that be taking an advantage of the Udemy for business license provided to all permanent colleagues at Sumo Group, working on a skill, or diving into a series of educational videos on a subject you’ve always wished you understood better – anything that helps you in your chosen profession.

Skill building meets team building

Learning days don’t always have to be solo projects, they can be a chance to learn together and build our skills as a team, too. Earlier this year, Peter Barnard, our Studio Art Director, took the opportunity to bring people out from behind their screens. “We wanted to do something different with one of our learning days,” says Peter, “Get everyone away from their computers for a day, get them doing something fun and creative.”

2021 has been a tough year for everyone as we continue to live through a pandemic, but Sumo Leamington have continuing growing, and we have been very fortunate to be able to welcome new colleagues to the team. While we’ve developed effective remote working strategies, it’s still important to take opportunities like this to connect with our coworkers, and most importantly have fun.

Swapping styluses for pencils, our artists spent the day at Leamington Spa College, practicing some life drawing with WC GamesArt who run games art and design courses at further and higher education level. The day was arranged by course leader Mike Acosta, who did a fantastic job of making sure the day ran smoothly - and even joined in the modelling in full medieval costume! Our team spent the day flexing their artistic muscles, getting to know each other better, and speaking with some of the 3rd year Games Art students about pursuing a career in games.

“For many of us, this was the first time we’ve met in person,” says Peter, “It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other as a wider team.”

Wish you were here?

Our regular learning days and teambuilding activities are just some of the many ways in which we ensure that our studio is a positive and supportive place to work. If you want to be part of building a better games industry, check out our Sumo Leamington careers.

**Please note, this learning day took place while pandemic restrictions were relaxed.