Despite the current economic downturn, one Welsh computer games development company has gone from strength to strength since its inception last October.

A team of five Swansea Metropolitan University graduates have launched a new company called ChaosTrend, which is based within the city. They have already worked on a number of  commissions for local companies such as Telesgop Media and the Carmarthenshire Heritage Trust.

Computer Games Development graduates and founding members Darren Adams and Russell Drodge head the management team, while fellow graduates John Franklin, Nick Sinclair and Ian Malsbury utilise their expertise in coding, design and art work.

To date, ChaosTrend has created and released several free flash games and have produced a promotional web-based game centred on a recent international sheepdog competition, covered by Welsh television production company, Telesgop. The team have recently completed a game for the Carmarthenshire Heritage Trust, entitled ‘Llanelly House Hunt’, and have also finished two extra versions of the game in Welsh and Polish. All three versions of the game can be found at http://www.chrt.org.uk/english/home_e.shtml

ChaosTrend’s next big project, EverFall, is due for release in March. It is an addictive nature-themed pattern matching puzzle game for a family audience and has been developed using the ChaosTrendEngine, a multi-purpose 2D/3D engine which was created by the team.

ChaosTrend have utilised the entrepreneurship expertise at Swansea Metropolitan University, working with one of Europe’s only Entrepreneurship Fellows, Kathryn Penaluna. Through Swansea Met’s Commercial Services department, the company now have a business mentor and have liaised with Finance Wales, securing venture capital for the coming year.

The company’s success has been further enhanced with the announcement that their games will be distributed via leading games publisher playfirst.com, who have a portfolio of 500 sites.

Darren Adams said: “As a team we have clear goals as to where we want to be in a year’s time. The overall objective is to build up a portfolio of games that will become household favourites within the next 12 months, strengthening our reputation as a development company that can deliver quality products on time and which above all else are fun to play. Our long term vision is to become the most successful computer games development company in Wales, employing talent from many of the excellent local Universities.”