Two founders of a Dundee-based video game company have been named on the Sunday Times Gaming Rich List for 2024.
Chris van der Kuyl and Paddy Burns founded 4J Games in 2005 after leaving Edinburgh’s VIS Entertainment.
The company has found success porting titles to other consoles, notably bringing Minecraft from PC to consoles and handheld platforms.
With an estimated wealth of £150m the pair sit joint 11th on the list, which is being published for the first time in 2024.
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Topping the list are the co-founders of Playrix, Russian-born brothers Igor and Dmitry Bukhman, with an estimated fortune of £12.5 billion. They also were placed 27th in The Sunday Times Rich List 2024.
More than a quarter of the gamers and developers on the list are under 35, with the average age of the entries 45.
Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Gaming Rich List said: “The UK gaming industry has become a Great British success story of recent years, creating thousands of jobs and contributing strongly to economic growth.
“Our first Gaming Rich List shows who is earning well from hits such as Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto and Candy Crush.
“Making a fortune while playing or creating video games may sound like living the dream to many young people. This Rich List tells the rags to riches stories of people who have done exactly that.
“Our gaming millionaires include a former Tesco shelf stacker, an ex-McDonalds burger flipper and someone expelled from school with no qualifications. There is plenty to inspire aspiring gaming tycoons here.”
Placing fourth on the list are Sam and Dave Houser, the English founders of Rockstar.
The studio’s most famous title is the Grand Theft Auto franchise, with the first game developed in Dundee by DMA Design.
The original members of the DMA Design team in 2011. From left to right: Russell Kay, Mike Dailly, Steve Hammond, Gary Timmons, David Jones (Image: Steve Hammond)
The Houser brothers were the publishers of the first game through BMG Interactive, which was acquired by Take Two Interactive in 1998.
DMA was also sold to the American company the following year, becoming Rockstar North after Rockstar had been founded as high-end imprint in January of the same year.
Rockstar North continues to operate in Edinburgh, while the company bought Ruffian Games in 2020 to create Rockstar Dundee.
The studio is known for producing some of the most successful video games in history.
The Grand Theft Auto series, the sixth edition of which will be released next year, has sold more than 425 million copies worldwide.
Rockstar has also produced Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, the Western games both viewed as among the finest video games ever produced.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was compared by the New York Times to groundbreaking works like The Sopranos and The Godfather.
Other critically-acclaimed titles released by the studio include L.A Noire and Bully.
Grand Theft Auto VI is due to be released in late 2025.