I might tut tut at the endless, rapacious pursuit of wealth for its own sake that defines our society, but at the end of the day, I still want to know who’s making the big bucks and imagine what I’d do with them, baby. Thankfully, The Sunday Times has just come out with its Rich List of the 30 wealthiest figures in the UK games industry.
At the top of the list are Igor and Dmitry Bukhman, whose names, games, and studio I had never heard of before beholding this very list. The brothers founded and own Playrix, a 4,000 person-strong developer of free-to-play mobile games, with their most notable releases being Township, Fishdom, Homescapes, and Gardenscapes. I guess I’m happy for them and their eye-watering £12.5 billion fortune.
Past a metaverse guy and the founder of Candy Crush developer King, now the oft-forgotten third pillar of Activision Blizzard King, you’ll run into some rich guys more PC gamers will recognize: Dan and Sam Houser, who lay claim to an estimated £350 million fortune. Co-founders of the niche indie developer, Rockstar Games, their fortune was built on revenue from Rockstar’s breakout hits: The Warriors in 2005 and Bully in 2006. Those games’ runaway success have allowed Rockstar to indulge in less lucrative passion projects like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.
The biggest surprise, at least for me, is #6 on the list: Garry’s Mod’s titular creator, Garry Newman. I guess it shouldn’t be a shocker. Garry’s Mod is a ubiquitous presence in PC gaming, and despite the name, it’s a $10 standalone game. Newman’s Facepunch Studios is also behind the highly successful Rust, and his deep pockets have me much less worried about Newman’s imminent Skibidi Toilet-related legal battles.
There’s a lot to dig into with the 30-person list: PewDiePie is still rich as hell, believe it or not, and I definitely felt my heart warm at the sight of Luca Galante, founder of poncle and creator of Vampire Survivors, at #26. It’s a bit of a bummer and not exactly surprising that there are only three women on the list, but I don’t know if “more women in the UK games industry 1%” should become our next rallying cry for gender equality in the hobby. One thing we can all agree on though: The people I really like and admire on the list like Galante and Newman are just cool guys with talent who also got lucky, and the rest of them should be paying more taxes.