A YORK computer games company is hoping to raise York’s profile as a centre for games development with its first major release.

New Moon Games, based in Front Street, Acomb, was set up about four years ago by games developers who had previously worked with giants EA, Reflections Interactive and Hasbro and who left the mainstream market to run their own business.

The company, founded by brothers Alex and Andrew Nye, has worked behind the scenes on games and websites for some of the biggest UK and international brands as a sub-contractor, but with no recognition.

Now, to break the cycle, it is trying to raise money through crowd- funding to launch its own strategy game for PC, smartphone and tablet called Jaraph’s Table.

Alex, the game designer, who has worked on well-known games including Burnout Revenge, Black and Need for Speed, said: “We’re making Jaraph’s Table because it’s something we want to play ourselves, a game with a nod towards the old-school turn-based games of the past, but with a sizeable dollop of current-gen polish and some cool new ideas.”

He said they had been offered funding from investors, but had turned it down.

“We didn’t want to be beholden to a big investor. We have worked in the mainstream industry and we know what happens when somebody else provides the money.

‘‘We want creative control over our work. That’s why we chose crowd-funding.”

The business is hoping to raise $20,000 (about £12,500) in the next 40 days at indiegogo.com/jaraphstable by offering investors of different levels incentives, from early versions of the game up to having a unique version with a personally designed set of pieces.

He said: “We’re going to make it anyway, but with the help of crowd-funding we could make it sooner.

‘‘We want to become a decent-sized indie games studio and have got lots of projects planned.”