Glitchers
Glitchers is an Edinburgh game studio using mobile and VR games—notably Sea Hero Quest—to generate behavioral datasets for Alzheimer's research, selling cognitive assessment tools via its CELEST platform to researchers, clinicians, and pharma. Founded 2013, 1-10 employees.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersEdinburgh, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Glitchers does
Glitchers Limited is an Edinburgh-based game studio founded in September 2013 by Maxwell Scott-Slade that has pivoted from commercial game development into a 'Games for Good' proposition — producing mobile and VR games that generate behavioral datasets for cognitive health research, particularly Alzheimer's dementia. The flagship product, Sea Hero Quest, is a spatial navigation game launched in 2016 in partnership with Deutsche Telekom that has been played in 195 countries and underpins 29+ peer-reviewed scientific publications. The company describes the resulting dataset as the world's largest and most diverse behavioral dataset in scientific history.
The product portfolio comprises the consumer-facing Sea Hero Quest (mobile and VR), the Sea Hero Quest Research Edition (co-developed with Alzheimer's Research UK for decentralized studies), and CELEST — an enterprise data platform that transforms gameplay telemetry into cognitive performance benchmarks for researchers, clinicians, and healthcare professionals. Adjacent offerings include ENHANCE (dementia risk-factor engagement tools built with UCL and NIHR for the 60–80 age cohort), Restore (an environmental decision-making game used in EU-funded ecosystem research with the University of Stirling), and earlier commercial titles such as Gumulon, Chippy, and KANO.
Glitchers operates a multi-stream revenue model spanning enterprise platform licensing via CELEST (quote-based pricing through a public enquiry form), pharmaceutical research partnerships (including AbbVie's 'Crush your fofo' project), historical commercial game projects, and an upcoming consumer subscription beta for Sea Hero Quest launching Q1 2026. The company holds three UK registered trademarks (GLITCHERS, SEA HERO QUEST, Game Thinking), has earned 75+ international awards including 9 Cannes Lions, a BAFTA nomination, a Webby, and 3 D&AD Pencils, and operates with a 1–10 person team out of Edinburgh with a London registered office.
Glitchers firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Glitchers
- Legal name
- Glitchers Limited
- Website
- https://glitchers.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Glitchers is an Edinburgh game studio using mobile and VR games—notably Sea Hero Quest—to generate behavioral datasets for Alzheimer's research, selling cognitive assessment tools via its CELEST platform to researchers, clinicians, and pharma. Founded 2013, 1-10 employees.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Glitchers industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Health Cognitive Assessment
- NAICS
- Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Amusement Arcades (713120)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Gaming Community, Chat & LFG Platforms (BPAMAKAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Game-Based Learning & Gamification Authoring (EDAFAHAF)
Keywords
Where Glitchers is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Edinburgh
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Glitchers business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Consumer Subscription (Sea Hero Quest Beta): Subscription beta launching Q1 2026 offering individual brain health tracking. Users receive trackable brain scores comparing their spatial skills to millions of others over time.
- Research Platform Licensing (CELEST): Data platform sold to researchers, clinicians, and healthcare professionals for cognitive assessment and longitudinal evaluation. Revenue from platform access and data workbench services.
- Pharmaceutical Research Partnerships: Collaborations with pharma companies (e.g., AbbVie) for research studies using game-generated data. Funding for specific research initiatives and data access.
- Commercial Game Projects: Original commercial game development for clients (e.g., Gumulon for Stride Gum, Chippy fish & chip shop simulator). Early revenue stream before strategic pivot to health focus.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Sea Hero Quest Core - Free for research contribution |
| Subscription | Monthly | Sea Hero Quest Subscription Beta - Enhanced brain tracking |
| Subscription | Annual | CELEST Research Platform - Enterprise licensing |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Glitchers product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Glitchers develops mobile games (anchored by Sea Hero Quest, a spatial navigation game) that capture behavioral data for cognitive health research and early detection of dementia. Its CELEST data platform converts gameplay telemetry into longitudinal cognitive performance benchmarks for researchers, clinicians, and pharmaceutical companies. The company also produces research/enterprise editions, VR versions, and adjacent games across environment and finance verticals.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Sea Hero Quest: Flagship mobile game for spatial navigation and cognitive assessment, used for early Alzheimer's detection research.
- Celest
- GLITCHERS Lab
Products and services
- Sea Hero Quest Mobile spatial navigation game that captures player behavior as cognitive research data, free to play and played in 195 countries. Generates the world's largest behavioral dataset for neuroscience research and early detection of Alzheimer's dementia.
- Sea Hero Quest VR Virtual Reality version of the Sea Hero Quest spatial navigation game, providing higher-fidelity behavioral data capture for cognitive research.
- Sea Hero Quest Research Edition Private version of Sea Hero Quest developed with Alzheimer's Research UK for researchers to run cohort studies, validate gameplay for flagging early cognitive changes, and facilitate decentralized research studies.
- CELEST Data Platform Advanced data platform that transforms gameplay data into cognitive performance insights against global benchmark data, built for researchers, clinicians, and healthcare professionals seeking precision remote monitoring and longitudinal cognitive evaluation. Sold as an enterprise subscription.
- ENHANCE Suite of tools built in collaboration with UCL and NIHR to engage people in their dementia risk factors, targeted at 60-80 year old audience.
- Sea Hero Quest Public Relaunch with Subscription Beta Subscription beta relaunch of Sea Hero Quest with trackable brain score, repeat Quest gameplay, and new level content for individual brain health tracking.
Quantifiable outcome
- 15 year advantage over gold standard memory clinic tests for early cognitive decline detection through individual-level navigation performance tracking
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Glitchers
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Glitchers technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Glitchers partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- University of StirlingcorePartnership for Restore environmental game research. Game data analyzed by University's Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences for ecosystem restoration research under RestoreID project (EU funded). Led by Dr Brad Duthie and Prof Nils Bunnefeld.
- UCL (University College London)coreCollaboration with UCL and NIHR to build ENHANCE - a suite of tools to engage people in their dementia risk factors, targeted at 60-80 year olds. Professor Hugo Spiers from UCL provides ongoing scientific guidance.
- Alzheimer's Research UKcoreJoint development of Sea Hero Quest Research Edition to facilitate easier data collection for decentralized research studies looking at spatial navigation and dementia.
- AbbViecoreCollaboration on 'Crush your fofo' project - understanding Fear of Finding Out in healthcare contexts. Research into why people avoid health checks.
- Deutsche TelekomcoreMajor strategic partnership initiating Sea Hero Quest. Deutsche Telekom powered the game launch in 2015, kickstarting the research revolution. This collaboration established Glitchers as leaders in game-based cognitive research.
- Wellcome Trust Sanger InstituteminorEarly collaboration exploring connections with neuroscientists through Wellcome Trust event at the Sanger Institute, helping shape the company's research direction.
- CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)minorDr. Antoine Courtrot from CNRS provides scientific guidance for Sea Hero Quest research and cognitive assessment validation.
- Scottish EnterprisecoreSupport through Scottish Enterprise Innovation Academy to sharpen pitch and vision. Selected for US MarketBooster programme to help enter and scale in US market with tailored assistance in investor readiness, regulatory compliance, and business development.
- Johnston CarmichaelminorBusiness advisory support including Ryan Milne who helped prepare plans for Scottish EDGE final. Accountancy and business advisory firm providing mentorship.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Glitchers competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lumosity: Consumer brain training platform offering game-based cognitive exercises to millions of subscribers. Direct competitor to Glitchers' planned Sea Hero Quest subscription product in the consumer brain health market.
- Altoida: Digital cognitive assessment platform using smartphone/AR-based tests to detect early signs of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's. Direct competitor to Glitchers' CELEST platform in digital biomarkers for dementia.
- Cambridge Cognition: B2B provider of digital cognitive assessment tools (CANTAB) used in clinical trials and research. Direct competitor to Glitchers' CELEST platform for enterprise/research cognitive assessment.
- Akili Interactive: Digital therapeutics company developing clinically validated game-based cognitive interventions (e.g., EndeavorRx for ADHD). Competes directly with Glitchers in game-based cognitive assessment and treatment.
- Linus Health: Digital health company using AI-powered cognitive assessments (including smartphone-based tools) for early detection of Alzheimer's and dementia. Direct B2B and clinical competitor to Glitchers' CELEST.
- Creyos (formerly Cambridge Brain Sciences): Online cognitive assessment platform for researchers, clinicians, and consumers with scientifically validated brain health tests. Comparable to Glitchers' CELEST in providing digital cognitive measurement for research and clinical use.
- Neurotrack: Digital cognitive health company offering assessment tools for early detection of cognitive decline and memory impairment. Comparable to Glitchers in targeting Alzheimer's detection through accessible digital tools.
- Peak (brain training): Consumer brain training app offering game-based cognitive exercises with a freemium subscription model. Direct competitor to Glitchers' planned Sea Hero Quest subscription beta in the consumer brain training market.
- Posit Science (BrainHQ): Brain training platform with clinically validated exercises for cognitive improvement, including in aging populations. Overlaps with Glitchers' consumer cognitive training and dementia focus.
Broad incumbents
- Apple (ResearchKit / Health): Apple's ResearchKit enables large-scale mobile health research studies and Health app aggregates cognitive and health data. A broad incumbent with overlapping mobile health research capabilities, though not specialized in cognitive assessment like Glitchers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Glitchers social profiles
Digital presenceGlitchers financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Glitchers leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Glitchers subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Glitchers funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Glitchers M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Glitchers
What does Glitchers do?
Glitchers develops mobile games (anchored by Sea Hero Quest, a spatial navigation game) that capture behavioral data for cognitive health research and early detection of dementia. Its CELEST data platform converts gameplay telemetry into longitudinal cognitive performance benchmarks for researchers, clinicians, and pharmaceutical companies. The company also produces research/enterprise editions, VR versions, and adjacent games across environment and finance verticals.
Is Glitchers a public or private company?
Glitchers is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Glitchers founded?
Glitchers was founded in 2013. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Glitchers based?
Glitchers is headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Glitchers make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Consumer Subscription (Sea Hero Quest Beta) is the primary driver. The others are research Platform Licensing (CELEST), pharmaceutical Research Partnerships and commercial Game Projects.
Who are Glitchers's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lumosity, Altoida, Cambridge Cognition, Akili Interactive, Linus Health, Creyos (formerly Cambridge Brain Sciences), Neurotrack, Peak (brain training) and Posit Science (BrainHQ). Apple (ResearchKit / Health) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Glitchers have an API?
No public API is recorded for Glitchers.
What industry is Glitchers in?
Glitchers's product category is Digital Health Cognitive Assessment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAKAK, Gaming Community, Chat & LFG Platforms, with a secondary code of EDAFAHAF, Game-Based Learning & Gamification Authoring. Its NAICS code is 71 and its SIC code is 7990.