A YORK digital developer is looking to make its mark on the virtual reality gaming world after receiving funding from Creative England.

New Moon Games, based at York Science Park, has received £18,000 match funding to develop its own new game One Man Tank.

The project is the first for the company, which until now has developed virtual reality games solely for end clients.

New Moon, which is one of ten companies within in the Leeds City Region enterprise partnership to receive the funding, was established in 2008 by managing director Andrew Nye as a virtual reality, augmented reality, mobile apps and game development specialist.

Creative England’s support has allowed the company to employ three new team members to support the development of the game, with a view to creating at least one long-term developer position.

Mr Nye said: “Our new One Man Tank game was inspired by work we carried out for the National Army Museum, on its new Churchill tank simulator experience.

“We are developing the game purely for virtual reality play to optimise the player experience and plan to launch it before November this year.

“We have taken early versions of the game to events in the region to get as much player feedback from both seasoned gamers and first time players.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive comments and excitement it has generated. I’m looking forward to trialling it with other residents at the science park, too, as the feedback is extremely important to us.

“The game development industry in Yorkshire is predominantly made up of independent developers operating from home offices. We were ready to make the next step for the business last year when we took office space at York Science Park - we wanted to be part of something bigger and we succeeded as we are now one of the largest game developers in York, employing a full-time team, from dedicated offices.””

New Moon received the financial support via the GamesLab Leeds initiative, which is a three-year programme dedicated to supporting studios and digital companies in the region, funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Tracey Smith, York Science Park chief executive, said: “New Moon Games is carving out a name for itself in the gaming industry nationally as well as in Yorkshire.

“I have no doubt this new venture will be the start of exciting things for the company.”