Sumo Pune is delighted to announce its support on the development of Forza Horizon 5!

Part of the Sumo Digital family, Sumo Pune worked with Playground Games on the development of Xbox Game Studios’ critically acclaimed Forza Horizon series’ latest release.

Forza Horizon 5, which released globally on 9th November 2021, welcomes players to explore the ever-evolving, open-world landscapes of vibrant Mexico with limitless, fun driving action in hundreds of the world’s greatest cars.

Sumo Pune Studio Director, Stewart Neal, said: “Sumo India has seen rapid expansion over the last 12 months, and alongside this we’ve had the chance to work on fantastic projects such as Forza Horizon 5.

“As we move into 2022, we’re  looking forward to opening our new studio in Bangalore and to continue our exciting work on major projects.”

Sumo Digital’s presence in India continues to grow as it recently announced both an expansion to its Pune studio and the launch of Sumo Bangalore, set to open in 2022. Sumo Pune has previously worked on well-known titles including Hood: Outlaws & Legends and Sackboy: A Big Adventure.

Forza Horizon 5 is available now for Xbox
Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and xCloud.

Sumo India is looking for brilliant people to join its teams in Pune and Bangalore, with opportunities in a myriad of disciplines currently available.

Founded in 2007 Sumo Pune was the second studio opened by Sumo Digital and has co-developed multiple incredible titles, including Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Hood: Outlaws & Legends.

As Sumo Digital is set to expand and be joined by an exciting new game development studio in Bangalore, Studio Director Stewart Neal talks about the plans and his hopes for the future of game development in India.

Can you tell us more about Sumo Bangalore?

“Since Sumo Pune opened in 2007 it’s been a tremendous success, growing to a 150-person co-development team across Art, Programming, Design, QA and Production. Due to its ongoing success, the variety of world-glass games it co-develops and the global growth of its parent company – Sumo Group, the next step in the growth of Sumo in India is to open another studio.

“The new studio, based in Bangalore, will initially have a focus on specialist Engineering and Art, with other teams set to grow from this foundation.

“We’re so excited about this next phase for Sumo in India. Myself and my colleagues in operations and finance will be working with discipline heads across both studios to facilitate the growth and – most importantly – to ensure a seamless integration into both Sumo India and the Sumo Digital family, ensuring our working culture translates across both studios.”

Why did you choose Bangalore to open a second studio?

“Bangalore has been a well-established city for IT, software and gaming for many years, and has a wealth of game development, VFX and animation studios as well as respected Institutes developing world-class talent.

“There’s an existing pool of talent in Bangalore and I’m confident we’ll find good collaboration with municipal and academic players. The city has a commitment to digital development which is so important for Sumo and offers a good quality of life for those living there. All of this led to Bangalore coming out as top choice for the location of our next Indian studio.”

What sort of opportunities will be available at Sumo Bangalore?

“We’re initially growing the studio as specialists in Engineering and Art, and we’re already recruiting for a range of roles in these disciplines:

Engineering roles:
• Network Engineers
• Rendering Engineers
• Backend Engineers
• Physics Engineers
• UI/UX Engineers
• Systems Engineers
• Build Engineers

Art roles:
• Technical Animators
• Animators
• VFX Artists
• UI Artists
• Lighting Artists
• Character Artists
• Concept Artists

“We’re also looking to recruit for leadership in these areas, as well as roles in Production, HR and IT.”

When will the studio open?

“We’ll be working from home until at least the end of 2021 as the safety of our team is paramount to us. In the meantime, we are looking for an office space in Bangalore which we hope will be ready to move into early 2022, or as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

Along with the new Bangalore studio, plans have been laid out for Sumo Pune to expand. What can you tell us about it?

“We don’t shy away from a challenge! Whilst working from home over the last 18 months we have organically outgrown our current studio space due to the ongoing success of a range of projects we’ve been supporting. We’re also seeing further demand across all disciplines (including Art, Engineering, Design, QA and Production) as Sumo Group continues to grow.

“Sumo Pune has contributed significantly to console games, mobile/smart devices across all genres including first/third-person action/shooters, racing, adventure and sports games. Some of our titles include: Hood: Outlaws & Legends, Hotshot Racing, Forza Horizon Series, Crackdown 3, Snake Pass and Hitman 2.

“The incredible success of Sackboy: A Big Adventure – which saw major contributions from Sumo Pune – has also led to the expansion, as we want to continue to nurture the immense talent of our existing team in Pune.”

What does the expansion offer in terms of new opportunities for anyone looking to join Sumo Pune?

“The growth of Sumo Pune will further expand our commitment to console game development in the city and offer even more exciting opportunities to our people. We’re delighted to have secured additional office space in the existing Sumo Pune building, which will see us accommodating a further 90 people and allow us to grow across all disciplines.

“We cannot wait to share the design of the new space and will be releasing a look into the expansion on out social media channels. Watch this space!”

For anyone thinking about joining Sumo Digital in India, what sort of benefits and facilities can they expect?

“Sumo in India has always assured that its teams enjoy their work while maintaining their personal life. We’ve always prioritised employee wellness, satisfaction and job security. Here are all the benefits we’re so proud to be able to offer our people (and it’s a long list!):

• Flexible working hours
• Group Health Insurance Policy – Self, spouse and children covered up to 6 Lacs
• Term Insurance – 4 times of current CTC
• 21 days of paid holidays with four statutory days
• Five Learning days each year
• 4-weeks paternity leave, 6 Months Maternity leave
• Arrangements for bereavement, adoption and sabbaticals etc
• Monthly snacks amount top-up to your Sodexo card
• Competitive bonuses
• Relocation Assistance
• Industry-leading recruitment Referral Scheme
• Special Occasion Celebration & Celebration vouchers
• Timely care packages
• Regular socials including: Movie nights, Online watch parties, dinner parties, an invite to the much-loved ‘Sumo Big Day Out’ for you and your   family
• Employee Assistance program
• Gaming events and activities which include team lunch/ team dinner
• Recognition of service length awards

We’re delighted to announce that we are expanding Sumo in India with the opening of a new studio: Sumo Bangalore.

As our second studio location in India following the launch of Sumo Pune in 2007,  Sumo Bangalore will be led by Studio Director Stewart Neal.  With over 22 years of experience within the games industry, Stewart will oversee the launch of the studio whilst continuing to support the growth of Sumo Pune. Both studios are currently recruiting across all disciplines to support this exciting expansion.

The announcement of Sumo Bangalore accompanies the news of further expansion at Sumo Pune, the first studio opened by Sumo Digital in India. The studio has acquired additional space within its current office location to support the recruitment of 70+ new team members to work across upcoming projects. The Pune team has seen significant growth over the past 15 years and has supported development on multiple critically acclaimed titles including BAFTA Award-winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Hood: Outlaws & Legends.

Stewart Neal, Studio Director, Sumo Pune, shares, “We are excited to share the next step in our journey with the announcement of Sumo Bangalore and further expansion at Sumo Pune. This organic growth will allow us to continue delivering across some of the most exciting video game projects in the world, whilst welcoming new developers to join the Sumo Digital team.

“The continued growth of Sumo Digital’s presence in India is a reflection of the skills and expertise of our team and our reputation as a highly successful co-development studio. I look forward to growing a team that will continue to establish Sumo Digital as a leading provider of end-to-end creative development within India.”