Latest news with #ChrisvanderKuyl
The Courier
2 days ago
- Business
- The Courier
Courier Business Awards 2025 finalists revealed
Ambition, innovation, resilience and determination – this year's entries to The Courier Business Awards had it all. Around 160 submissions were received to this year's awards, held in partnership with chartered accountants Henderson Loggie. The six-strong judging panel spent hours debating each category and whittling down the entries to create the shortlist. The black-tie event will be held for the 12th time on October 24 at the Apex City Quay Hotel in Dundee. Companies large and small and spanning a diverse range of sectors are featured on the shortlist. As well as businesses operating in Tayside and Fife, this year's awards also received several entries from companies from the Stirling area, reflecting The Courier's greater geographical coverage. This year's judging panel was chaired by The Courier editor David Clegg. He said: 'Seeing the full sweep of talent and ambition across every category was genuinely inspiring. 'What stood out most was how deeply rooted these businesses are in their communities – driven not just by commercial success, but by a real commitment to people and place. 'The awards are a celebration of that shared spirit. It's a privilege to help shine a light on the companies and individuals shaping the future of our region.' The other judges were 4J Studios chairman Chris van der Kuyl; Marie Macklin of The HALO Group; Angela Linton, the former chief executive of Hillcrest; The Courier business editor Rob McLaren; and David Smith, managing partner of Henderson Loggie. Mr Smith added: 'It was great to see a lot of new companies coming forward this year. 'One thing that struck me in this year's judging pack was that a lot of businesses have been successful through necessity of having to adapt their business. 'Others have seen an opportunity and gone for it. The entries highlighted a lot of brave decisions. 'I really enjoyed the debates in the room today. It is a very strong shortlist.' Each of the shortlisted businesses will be visited in person by senior members of staff from The Courier and Henderson Loggie in the coming weeks who will report back to the judging panel. After each of the category winners, an overall Business of the Year award will be presented. Last year's Business of the Year was Montrose Port Authority. This year's awards will be hosted by BBC Sport and BBC Radio 2 presenter Jason Mohammad. He said: 'I love hosting events with amazing Scottish audiences. Some of you may know I also do like to end the event with a bit of a sing song. See you all soon in Dundee.' *Finalists listed in alphabetical order.
Scotsman
13-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Minecraft firm 4J Studios opens in Edinburgh as work on major new game intensifies
'The pioneer programme is really taking off and it's fascinating to see how people are experiencing the game' – Paddy Burns Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A pioneering Scottish video games developer best known for its console editions of global phenomenon Minecraft has opened its first Edinburgh office as work on its next major release intensifies. Award-winning 4J Studios - founded in 2005 by Chris van der Kuyl and Paddy Burns - said its new studio on the capital's George Street will be home to staff focused on software and design roles. A recruitment drive is now underway to tap into the city's games sector talent pool. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Dundee-based firm, which employs more than 50 people, is best known for its work on the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo console editions of Minecraft. It is currently sharpening its focus on the development and delivery of a major new release, entitled Reforj. 4J Studios was founded in 2005 by Paddy Burns, left, and Chris van der Kuyl. The game is being developed in collaboration with the gaming community through 4J's 'Pioneer Program', whereby hundreds of players have been given access to the title while it is in production. Their feedback is being used to inform and improve the user experience and the games studio has recruited Joe Garrett - a popular figure in gaming circles whose YouTube channels and commentary on Minecraft have racked up billions of views - to support that process and work with the Reforj design team in collaboration with the gaming community. The new title is slated for release in 2026 and is built on the Elements Engine, a proprietary software platform developed by the 4J team specifically to facilitate development of its latest game. Burns, chief executive of 4J Studios, said: 'The development of Reforj has been gathering pace for several months now and 20 years on from Chris and I launching the studio, this is as exhilarating a time as we can remember for the firm. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The pioneer programme is really taking off and it's fascinating to see how people are experiencing the game and to hear their feedback and be able to incorporate it as we go. We hope we can capitalise on that momentum and sense of energy by opening our first office in Edinburgh, which will give us even better access to the diverse pool of software and design talent that exists in and around the city.' Recent Scottish Government figures highlighted the strength of the video games industry in Scotland. The number of companies operating in the sector rose more than seven-fold between 2010 and 2024, from 15 to 130 firms, with combined turnover growing in line with that increased activity, from £38.1 million to £340m over the same period. That sector strength has helped the country achieve a first in attracting the leading games industry event, Dice Europe, to Scotland this autumn. Van der Kuyl, chairman of 4J Studios, said: 'Dice Europe coming to Edinburgh and Dundee is a major moment of international recognition for our home-grown industry. It's vital that the sector and government use this as a catalyst for further cooperation and collaboration, creating the best possible conditions for the many brilliant individuals and studios we have within the sector in Scotland.
The Courier
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Dundee games boss Chris van der Kuyl investing millions in new technology
Chris van der Kuyl spent more than a decade helping Minecraft become a global phenomenon – but believes his new game could keep his Dundee company busy for the next 20 years. Chris has several surprises in store for his appearance at The Courier Business Conference next month. These include a demonstration of what a new 'world-class' Dundee virtual production studio is capable of. And Chris, who co-owns 4J Studios with Paddy Burns, will give a sneak peek of its new game which is the culmination of more than five years of work and millions of pounds of investment. The conference will take place at the new events space, The Real Deal, within the Water's Edge building he and Paddy own at the City Quay. The Courier Business Conference, held on June 24 in partnership with Henderson Loggie, has the theme of Powering Scotland's Creative Economy. 4J Studios will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. It started off as – in Chris' words – a 'scrappy, work-for-hire games developer' with dreams of building a game based on its own intellectual property. After a series of successful projects, the company was recommended to Swedish games developer Mojang as a good option for creating a console version of Minecraft – now the best-selling video game of all time. The 4J team spent a year creating Minecraft for Xbox 360, which was released in 2012. 'We always knew that the game was quite special but we had absolutely no idea what it was to become,' Chris said. 'By the time it was getting close to launch, you could feel there was a different kind of anticipation for it compared to anything else. 'I think we hit a break-even point in the first five minutes of launching it. 'Then it went on to become the biggest ever selling Xbox 360 title. 'Our console versions sold almost 70 million copies. It was an incredible period.' 4J created seven console editions of the game, the last being for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, and it continues to provide updates for its existing versions. For more than five years, 4J has developed its own games engine – software from which games can be developed. This multi-million-pound investment on its Elements engine has been the basis of 4J developing its own original game, Reforj, which has reached the testing phase. Chris continued: 'If you told me we'd have had even three or four years of involvement with Minecraft I would have gone, 'wow, that's such a long time, that's mad'. 'To still be involved 13 years later blows my mind. 'But there was definitely a point where 4J had a real desire to reach out and start to develop our own games. 'We released Manic Mechanics a couple of years ago. That was us just really exercising our creative muscles again. 'The Elements engine is about five years of work from our top technical team. 'It's the core technology that allows us to build out new game Reforj, which will be 100 times higher performance than Minecraft.' Like Minecraft, Reforj is a 'sandbox' game which allows players to create and modify the game's world. It has recently been released to a few hundred fans to test and give feedback. Its full launch will likely be next year. 'The worlds in the game are generated faster than anybody's ever seen before,' Chris said. 'You can traverse our worlds at the speed of a jet plane and nothing pops up. 'The reaction's been incredible. Within minutes people had spun up YouTube channels about Reforj. Within days somebody had written a fan-based soundtrack. It's amazing. 'One of the key features of Reforj, is it's beyond blocks. You can shape and sculpt the blocks so people are able to create amazing structures. 'It's been millions of pounds of investment, but we're only at the beginning. 'We wholly expect Reforj to be something we work on for the next 20 years. 'And it's all ours, so we're very excited about where we can take it.' The other major project Chris has been working on is the next stage of the Water's Edge office development. It has won numerous awards since opening in 2019 and houses several of the city's most entrepreneurial firms, including 4J. These include some of the local businesses that have received financial investment from Chris and Paddy – Broker Insights and Ace Aquatec. The final part of the development is a new events space, The Big Real, which contains one of Dundee's most exciting developments, a virtual production studio. Abertay University's CoSTAR Realtime Lab specialises in the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI), augmented reality, and motion capture to create immersive virtual film, game and performance sets. Its vast screen will be the backdrop for this year's Courier Business Conference. Partnership working was key to securing funding for this facility to come to Dundee. Chris explained: 'Professor Gregor White from Abertay approached me about the project. The funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council relied on partnerships with existing creative studios,' Chris said. 'Water's Edge is a perfect home for it – we believe it's the beginning of something very special. There's nothing else like it in Scotland. 'It's phenomenal that the first major event we're hosting is the Courier Business Conference, and it'll be a showcase for the potential for this technology in this space. 'I think once they see what it's capable of, people's imaginations will run riot. 'It's a world-class facility. It's perfect for film and television units to do music videos, advertising or small parts of much larger productions. 'It can act as a catalyst for businesses to come to Dundee and we want local companies to use it. 'At the Courier Business Conference I'll also talk about how the games industry's next chapter is going to stretch way beyond what people think of as games today.' This year's conference will feature a keynote speech from Geoff Ellis, the chief executive of DF Concerts, which is behind the T in the Park and TRNSMT music festivals. There will also be a panel discussion featuring local business success stories on the theme of monetising creativity. The conference will run from 8.15am to 1pm followed by lunch and networking. Tickets are available at
