What The Multiplayer Group does

The Multiplayer Group (MPG) is a private video game co-development and full-development studio founded in March 2018 in Nottingham, UK, that builds and embeds multi-disciplinary teams (Engineering, Art, Design, Production, QA, Analytics) into partner game publishers' workflows. MPG serves AAA studios on complex multiplayer and single-player projects, with documented work on titles including Starfield, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, Sea of Thieves, The Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76, Grounded, Redfall, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, MultiVersus, Gotham Knights, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Dying Light 2: Stay Human. The company operates across 30 countries with ~360 staff, of which 125+ are engineers, and remains engine-agnostic — working on Unreal Engine 4/5, Unity C#, Bethesda's Creation Engine 2, and other proprietary C++ engines. MPG's technical stack includes AWS cloud infrastructure (the firm is an official AWS Partner) and backend services built on Golang, Java, C#, Docker, and Kubernetes for anti-cheat, matchmaking, voice chat, network optimisation, and telemetry at millions-of-concurrent-players scale.

The company generates revenue exclusively through B2B professional services, structured as project-based, often multi-year contracts covering either embedded co-development teams on specific features or full project delivery. Average deal sizes scale with team size, contract duration, and discipline mix; pricing is bespoke and not publicly disclosed. Customer acquisition is driven by direct enterprise sales via the CEO and Business Development team, plus ecosystem-led referrals from the Keywords Studios network (since the December 2023 acquisition) and visibility through the AWS Partner Directory. MPG does not publish or own consumer-facing products — all output is delivered as contract services to publisher clients. The company was acquired by Improbable in September 2019 and then acquired by Keywords Studios Group in December 2023, becoming a subsidiary within a publicly listed (LSE: KWS) global services platform while retaining day-to-day operational autonomy.

Operationally, MPG has expanded beyond co-development into Full-Development project delivery and a dedicated Game Analytics practice (added in 2022). Leadership comprises CEO Andy Norman alongside co-founders Rik Alexander, Steve Bennett, and Rocco Loscalzo, with Phil Rogers heading Engineering. The firm's customer base is concentrated in AAA game publishing — Bethesda, Activision, EA/Respawn, 2K, Warner Bros. Games, Xbox Game Studios entities, Epic/Mediatonic, Blizzard, Techland — plus a non-gaming engagement with the Premier League. Total headcount has roughly doubled within ~12-18 months to ~360 across 30 countries, and the firm supports 20+ concurrent AAA projects at any given time.

Name

The Multiplayer Group

Legal name

The Multiplayer Group Limited

Website

https://themultiplayergroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Multiplayer Group is a Nottingham-headquartered co-development and full-development studio serving AAA game publishers, with 360+ specialists across 30 countries specializing in multiplayer engineering, proprietary C++ engine work, and AWS-hosted backend services as part of Keywords Studios.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Game Development Services

NAICS

Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (339930)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Co-Development, Porting & Remaster Studios (MPAFAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Outsourcing Studios (Art/Animation/Audio/Engineering Support) (MPAFAAAN), AAA & Premium Game Studios (PC/Console) (MPAFAAAA)

Keywords

• Game co-development services
• Multiplayer game development
• Game backend engineering
• Game analytics services
• AAA game studio outsourcing

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Co-Development Services: MPG provides skilled development teams (engineering, art, design, production, QA) to supplement partner studios' own teams. Teams embed within the partner's process and work on specific features, disciplines, or phases of game development. Revenue is generated through project-based service contracts, typically multi-year engagements.
2. Full-Development Services: MPG takes full responsibility for content delivery and delivers complete game projects from start to finish using multi-disciplinary teams of producers, artists, designers, QA and engineers. This represents the full end of the co-dev to full-dev spectrum.
3. Game Analytics & Data Science Services: Bespoke analytical and data science services provided to game studios at every stage of the development cycle, including competitor insights, telemetry analysis, sentiment reports, market analysis, and sales forecasting.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Multiplayer Group provides co-development and full-development services for AAA video games, embedding multi-disciplinary teams (engineering, art, design, production, QA, analytics) into partner studios. The company delivers gameplay engineering, backend and cloud infrastructure for multiplayer titles, game art, design, production, QA, and data science/analytics services to global game publishers and developers.

Product overview

The Multiplayer Group (MPG) is a game development studio offering co-development and full-development services to global game studios and publishers. Its service portfolio spans six core disciplines — Engineering (125+ engineers), Game Art, Game Design, Game Production, Game QA, and Game Analytics — supported by a 360-person global team across 30 countries. The company works exclusively as a trusted development partner, embedding within client studios rather than publishing its own branded products. MPG joined the Keywords Studios Group in December 2023. Notable game projects include Fall Guys, Starfield, Sea of Thieves, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Overwatch 2, Apex Legends, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and many other AAA titles. The company is AWS-accredited and technology-agnostic, working with Unreal Engine 4 & 5, Unity C#, and proprietary C++ engines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Co-Development Services B2B co-development offering in which MPG provides skilled multi-disciplinary development teams that embed within partner game studios to deliver specific features, game systems, or phases of AAA game development projects.
• Full-Development Services End-to-end game development service in which MPG assumes full responsibility for delivering complete game projects from concept to launch using integrated teams of producers, artists, designers, QA, and engineers.
• Game Analytics Services Bespoke data science and analytics services for game studios covering competitor insights, telemetry analysis, sentiment reports, market analysis, sales forecasting, and performance tracking using statistical modeling and machine learning.
• Game Engineering Contracted engineering services spanning backend, gameplay, rendering, and AI engineering using Unreal Engine 4 and 5, proprietary C++ engines including Bethesda's Creation Engine 2, and Unity C#, supporting rendering pipelines, physics, AI, tools, UI, and backend services for AAA titles.
• Game Art Contracted game art services including environments, props, vehicles, weapons, characters, creatures, UI/UX design, technical art, and animation delivered by a team of 20+ artists for AAA game projects.
• Game Design Contracted game design services including technical design using Unreal Blueprinting and Gameplay Ability System, AI design, level and narrative design, and gameplay and systems design from vision to validation.
• Game Production Contracted strategic project management and operational delivery services for game development including milestone definition, scheduling, budget tracking, process and tooling design using Jira and Confluence, and client partnership management.
• Game QA Contracted quality assurance services for games including functional QA and regression testing, platform compliance and certification support for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, technical and stress testing, and test strategy and automation.
• Backend Engineering / Game Backend Services AWS-accredited backend engineering for multiplayer games, supporting online services, matchmaking, anti-cheat, voice chat, network optimisation, and telemetry using Golang, Java, C#, Docker, and Kubernetes on AWS cloud infrastructure.

Quantifiable outcome

• Starfield reached 15 million+ players and won Golden Joystick Award Xbox Game of the Year 2023
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Keywords Studios GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2023In December 2023, The Multiplayer Group was acquired by Keywords Studios Group. MPG joined the Keywords Studios network, gaining access to cross-studio collaboration opportunities, Keywords' global marketing and business development resources, and referral pipelines. MPG's CEO Andy Norman stated the acquisition would allow MPG to continue leading multiplayer innovation and bring the MPG ethos to more customers and games.
• Nottingham Schools TrustminorOthers · 1 January 2020MPG donated 50 new laptops to support disadvantaged pupils during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Nottingham Schools Trust Laptop Appeal, helping provide remote learning access to families in need.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationMPG achieved official AWS Partner status, with engineers earning AWS certifications. MPG's backend services are heavily AWS-based, providing cloud infrastructure, cost optimisation, and scalable architectures for large-scale multiplayer game backend systems. The partnership is showcased in AWS's Partner Directory.
• Knowle Football ClubminorOthersMPG entered a community sponsorship partnership with Knowle Football Club, sponsoring the club's Under 18s Girls Team (the Raptors) with hoodies for the squad and covering coaching training for Kate Fleming and Natalie Gibson. This reflects MPG's commitment to supporting women and girls and local community initiatives.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Testronic: Testronic is a global game QA, localization, and co-development services provider (Keywords Studios subsidiary). It is a direct peer in the QA/co-dev services category and shares MPG's Keywords Studios parent, making it a frequently cross-compared services-line competitor.
• Sumo Digital: Sumo Digital is a UK-headquartered game co-development and full-development studio with 1,500+ staff, now owned by Tencent. As a UK-based, AAA-focused co-dev/full-dev peer, it competes with MPG for the same publisher RFPs and is one of the most direct regional comparables in co-development services.
• Virtuos: Virtuos is one of the largest global game co-development and art outsourcing studios, with 4,000+ employees across Asia, Europe, and North America. Like MPG, it provides co-dev, full-dev, and art services to AAA publishers (including Xbox, Take-Two, and Bandai Namco) and competes head-to-head in the same outsourcing/co-dev RFPs.
• People Can Fly: People Can Fly is a Polish AAA game development and co-development studio with 1,000+ staff, publicly listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It is a relevant peer given its mixed co-dev/full-dev model and its position as a competing European source of AAA multiplayer expertise.
• Room 8 Group: Room 8 Group is a global game co-development, art, and QA services provider with 1,500+ staff across Europe and the Americas. It is one of the largest direct competitors to MPG in AAA co-dev and full-dev, working with similar AAA publisher clients on art, engineering, and production support.
• Sperasoft: Sperasoft is a mid-to-large game co-development and full-development studio (a subsidiary of Keywords Studios since 2022) with 700+ developers across Eastern Europe and the US. It is MPG's closest corporate sibling and direct competitor for AAA co-dev RFPs, particularly in gameplay, engineering, and live-services work.
• Lemon Sky Studios: Lemon Sky Studios is a game co-development and art services studio with 600+ artists and engineers, primarily serving AAA console/PC publishers. It competes with MPG for AAA art, co-dev, and full-dev engagements and is a frequently compared peer for outsourced AAA production.

Others

• Improbable: Improbable was MPG's owner from September 2019 until divesting it to Keywords in December 2023. As a metaverse/multiplayer infrastructure provider (SpatialOS), Improbable is an adjacent rather than direct peer, but historically provided the operating context and capital that enabled MPG's growth into a multi-hundred-person studio.

Broad incumbents

• Keywords Studios: Keywords Studios is MPG's parent company and the largest pure-play game services group globally, providing localization, QA, art services, and co-development across 50+ studios. As MPG's corporate parent and broader portfolio peer, Keywords is the most directly comparable platform, with MPG functioning as its dedicated multiplayer/co-dev arm.
• Wargaming: Wargaming is a major AAA game developer/publisher (World of Tanks, World of Warships) and is listed as a former MPG client. As a large incumbent with significant in-house engineering capacity, Wargaming represents the kind of AAA publisher that both consumes MPG's services and competes for talent in the same multiplayer engineering market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/multiplayerdev
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@multiplayergroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/themultiplayergroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-multiplayer-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/multiplayergroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Multiplayer Group