Atomhawk 2023: an exhilarating ride

Connections we made in 2022 have grown stronger and deeper in 2023, and we know those client relationships are set to continue.

We’re proud to work with the development teams who shipped titles such as Mortal Kombat 1, Age of Empires 4, Redfall, Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, Call of Duty Modern Warfare III, and more.

Different service lines and specialist teams have really stepped up, constantly raising the bar on that Atomhawk creative excellence, tailored project management, and commitment to true collaboration.

Congratulations to all our clients who announced and shipped games in 2023, and a huge thank you to each and every one of our team members. Watch this space – even bigger things are coming!

We welcomed an additional 38 fantastic members to the team across our Gateshead, Advance, and Canada studios this year.

Atomhawk is proud to boast a world-class dedication to Studio Engagement; creating an environment where every voice counts is central to who we are. The vibe is down-to-earth, and friendly. There’s a welcoming social scene for all our Hawks, and we’re all about nurturing talent, helping people uncover their best creative and professional selves.

From the day Atomhawk was founded 14 years ago, fostering a positive and encouraging studio culture has been a priority. As we grow, so do our needs, each studio blossoming with its own unique character. Collaboration and professional development are keystones. We know we’re always stronger, more resilient, and more ambitious together.

Sharing our expertise with professionals and with students remains an Atomhawk obsession! We attended GDC, XDS, Kind of Art, and the GameDev Awards this year, as well as giving talks at Sumo Developers Conference, Brighton: Develop, and Concept 101. We also visited schools and universities including Syn Studio, Darlington College, New3dge, Duke’s Academy, and many, many others, including the University of Teesside multiple times!

The seventh Atomhawk Art Competition took the theme of ‘Under Strange Suns.’ A fantastic 500 participants entered, and The Gnomon Workshop joined our line-up of incredible sponsors. We also opened 3D entries for the very first time. It was a defining year for the competition, and we congratulate Edward Tsang as our Grand Winner.

Setting our talented Art Competition participants up for success, we provided comprehensive submission guidelines and a series of resources including Art competitions: why they matter and how to win, and The Rising Star Mentorship: an invaluable encounter in your career.

A diversity of talent, experience, and skills are articulated through Atomhawk’s work in a multitude of unbelievable ways each and every day. In January, we polled all three studios on which holidays and causes they cared about, and we built our EDI calendar around it.

As an organisation we marked Lunar New Year, International Women’s Day, Stress Awareness Month, Earth Day, Mental Health Awareness Week, and Movember, with gorgeous, speciality sketches for each occasion.

Additionally, our Graphic Design team created designs for social media account takeovers and lanyards to celebrate Pride Month and Black History Month. We hosted drag bingo in June, and spoke with our Hawks in October to find out why Black representation is important in the games industry.

We really do grab every opportunity to get together and celebrate. Our summer party is the main event each year. For 2023 it was a tropical island getaway on the Gateshead Quayside! Colourful flower garlands were given out and we devoured beautiful street food, danced in togas, then limbo’ed and bingo’ed the night away!

This year also saw Hawks taking part in regular life drawing classes, Halloween dress-up, Easter egg painting, pumpkin carving, movie night in a castle and more! Honestly, if we list everything, we’ll be here all day!

This year, we also tried out departmental and discipline events. These create great opportunities for our specialist teams to bond with their peers outside of work. From Production to Graphic Design, to Animation and Technical Art, our discipline teams enjoyed dinners, go karting, arcades and more.

Reaching out via charitable work is integral to Atomhawk’s mission as a business, and to us Hawks as individuals too. Charities we have supported this year include:

• Continued partnerships with studio charity SpecialEffect, who visited us to give a presentation in March, while we participated in their events – One Big Game and One Special Day
• Continued partnerships with Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation, sending them care packages and raffle items and hosting a Gold Coin Week to buy art supplies
• Gateshead raised £425 with Sumo Newcastle for Games Aid Bake Off
• Advance raised over £150 for Save the Children, beating their target by £50
• Raising awareness and over £400 for Movember: Men’s Health Awareness Month
• Canada team’s Hawk of the Month initiative continues, with additional support sent to BC Children’s Hospital, Burnaby Safe House, North Shore Rescue, Pour 3 Points, BSPCA, CPAWS Society and Sea Sheperd Conservation Society
• Through our Festive Card initiative, Hawks chose Doctors without Borders, SpecialEffect and Mind as their chosen charities for this year

As 2023 ends, we’re already thinking about how to hit the ground running in 2024. Our biggest priority is to remain a strong, stable supplier of cutting-edge design and tech in art for games for our clients, and our employees.

To keep up to date with all things Atomhawk, follow us on our social media at ArtStation, Instagram and LinkedIn.

That’s all from us, see you in 2024!