2023 marked the beginning of one of the greatest periods of uncertainty in the games industry, which has so far resulted in unprecedented economic pressures, widespread layoffs, and considerable uncertainty affecting studios across the UK and beyond.

During the reporting period, Splash Damage adapted to these pressures by shifting to a four-day working week that is fully office-based. While I believe that these changes were essential for our studio, I have to acknowledge that they disproportionately affected the women in our studio. This means that this year’s report is a disappointing step backwards.

I believe it is important to be transparent about this and to acknowledge that genuine progress in diversity and equality can be fragile – especially in an industry still maturing and historically dominated by men.

While this year is a setback, Splash Damage remains committed to closing the gender pay gap. I draw particular inspiration from progressive leaders like Sarah Bond at Xbox, whose advocacy for inclusive representation drives meaningful change across our industry. We know that building a truly diverse studio requires intentional action, resilience, and a genuine commitment to learning from both successes and setbacks.

Our mission, therefore, remains unchanged: to ensure Splash Damage is an environment where talented people from all backgrounds can feel like they belong, thrive, and lead.

Richard Jolly, Co-Founder & CEO

What is the Gender Pay Gap Report? 

Enacted in 2017, the UK Government’s Gender Pay Gap (GPG) reporting legislation is an amendment to the Equality Act 2010 and requires employers of over 250 people to report: 

• The proportion of men and women in each pay quartile 
• The Mean and Median gender pay gap in hourly pay 
• The Mean and Median bonus gender pay gap, and the proportion of men and women receiving a bonus payment 

This is different from the wider terms of the Equality Act which ensures parity in pay for men and women in the same role. 

The data in this report is based on a snapshot from 5 April 2024 and any bonus pay received in the 12 months before this date. 

It’s important to note that gender pay gap reporting requires us to compare salaries of employees who identify as men and women. Across our teams there are people of all genders – 2.9% of our team identify as non-binary, gender fluid or agender and because of the boundaries of this report they are not included in this data.  

Our Results 

You can take a look at our previous reports here:   

• Gender Pay Gap Report 2023
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2022 
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2021 
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2020  
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2019
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2018

For this reporting period, Splash Damage’s gender pay gap breaks down as follows:

• Our median gender pay gap is 22.95%, which has increased by 4.63% since the last reporting period of 2023. For every £1 a man earns, women earn 77p (77.05 rounded).
• Our mean gender pay gap is 28.74%, which is 8.84% higher than 2023. For every £1 a man earns, women earn 71p (71.26 rounded).

To be clear, Splash Damage does not have a disparity between men and women performing the same job role. Men and women at Splash Damage are being paid equally for equivalent roles. The larger proportion of men in the upper quartiles is the main cause of this pay gap. 

For this reporting period, our gender representation in the reportable data is 82.41% men, and 17.59% women.

Quartiles 

Quartiles are calculated by first listing the rates of pay for each employee across the business from lowest to highest, and then splitting that list into four equal-sized groups, then calculating the percentage of men and women in each of these groups. 

During this reporting period, the studio introduced a 4-day working week coupled with a return to office for those four days. This is because we believe that for the types of games our studio builds and the level of effective collaboration this requires, being on-site is critical part of the development process.

The studio experienced a higher amount of attrition in this reporting period as a result of these changes, and we have to recognise that they affected women more than they did men.

Splash Damage is pleased to report that its efforts to minimise bias in processes related to progression, including promotions and salary reviews, continue to pay off. In 2023, roughly the same proportion of all men (12.9%) and all women (13.1%) were promoted. Pay rises across all our quartiles were slightly in favour of women, with 82.7% of all men and 85.9% of all women receiving an increase during the reporting period.

Bonus Data 

The mean bonus data has increased in favour of men at 76.6%. This is due to three factors:

• During this reporting period, most employees did not receive a bonus.
• In 2022, Splash Damage’s parent company deployed a long-term incentive (LTI) scheme to retain senior leadership and a small number of business-critical employees. This scheme started maturing during the reporting period and is not tied to individual or company performance. We expect this scheme to continue to affect our reporting for the coming years.
• The studio on occasion pays signing bonuses for critical roles. These are typically for senior leadership roles which in the games industry are disproportionately male.

These factors all favoured our upper pay quartiles which are currently mostly made up of men.

We stand by our intention to continue to increase female representation in our senior levels long-term by recruiting, developing and retaining women into senior leadership roles and our upper quartile.

Declaration  

I confirm that the data contained within this report is accurate and meets the requirements of the Gender Pay Gap reporting regulations.  

Richard Jolly, Co-Founder & CEO 

What is the Gender Pay Gap Report? 

Enacted in 2017, the UK Government’s Gender Pay Gap (GPG) reporting legislation is an amendment to the Equality Act 2010 and requires employers of over 250 people to report: 

• The proportion of men and women in each pay quartile 
• The Mean and Median gender pay gap in hourly pay 

• The Mean and Median bonus gender pay gap, and the proportion of men and women receiving a bonus payment 

This is different from the wider terms of the Equality Act which ensures parity in pay for men and women in the same role. 

The data in this report is based on a snapshot from 5 April 2023 and any bonus pay received in the 12 months before this date. 

It’s important to note that gender pay gap reporting requires us to compare salaries of employees who identify as men and women. Across our teams there are people of all genders – 3.5% of our team identify as non-binary, gender fluid or agender and because of the boundaries of this report they are not included in this data. 

Our Results 

You can take a look at our previous reports here:   

• Gender Pay Gap Report 2022 
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2021 
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2020  
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2019 
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2018  

Our median gender pay gap is 18.32%, which has unfortunately increased by 0.26% since the last reporting period of 2022 – it is, however, still an improvement on 2021.  

Our mean gender pay gap is 19.90%, which is a 3.73% improvement from 2022. 

Our gender representation in the reportable data is 81.43% men, and 18.66% women.  

Pay Quartiles 

Quartiles are calculated by first listing the rates of pay for each employee across the business from lowest to highest, and then splitting that list into four equal-sized groups, then calculating the percentage of men and women in each of these groups. 

This is our 6^th year reporting this data. Looking back at our previous reports, we can see a trend of improvement in our quartiles.  

In our 2020 report 31% of our Lower Quartile were people who identified as women. In this year’s report we can see those people have moved up the ladder and built their careers at Splash.  

Since 2020 we’ve seen a 4% improvement in female representation in our Upper Quartile, and a 10% improvement in both our Upper Middle Quartiles and Lower Middle Quartiles.  

Mean & Median Pay Gap  

The median hourly rate is calculated by ranking all employees from the highest paid to the lowest paid, and taking the hourly wage of the person in the middle. The median gender pay gap is the difference between women’s median hourly wage (the middle-paid woman) and men’s median hourly wage (the middle-paid man). 

The mean pay gap compares the average pay for women with the average pay for men.  

Median 

• Our median gender pay gap is 18.32%.  
• When comparing median hourly rates, women earn 82p for every £1 men earn. 

Mean 

• Our mean gender pay gap is 19.90%. 
• When comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 80p for every £1 men earn. 

To be clear, Splash Damage does not have a disparity between men and women performing the same job role. Men and women at Splash Damage are being paid equally for equivalent roles. The larger proportion of men in the upper quartiles is the main cause of this pay gap. 

Bonuses  

We’re seeing that for this reporting period a higher percentage of women received a bonus compared to men.  

• 97% of women received a bonus compared to 92% last report. 
• 86% of men received a bonus compared to 94% last report. 

In terms of the amount paid out in bonuses – in this reporting period we delayed paying our c-suite bonuses to prioritise bonuses for the wider team. This means that our c-suite bonuses landed outside of our normal cadence and has led to our mean and median bonus data in this report skewing towards men. 

For this reporting period the data is showing our mean bonus is increased in favour of men at 32.09%. Our median bonus is 7.77% in favour of men. We expect for this to improve in the next report with our bonus scheme landing back into normal cadence.  

Declaration  

I confirm that the data contained within this report is accurate and meets the requirements of the Gender Pay Gap reporting regulations.  

Richard Jolly, Co-Founder & CEO 

Just as we did in 2022 and 2021, we asked our Splashers to tell us all about the game that stood head and shoulders above the rest.

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks collecting this year’s entries and, boy, did they deliver! As well as the big-hitters you’d expect, there are some surprises in store.

Without further ado, let’s jump straight in…

Egas, Lead UI Programmer – Age of Wonders 4

This year was great for games; a bunch of really high-quality RPGs came out. I love the genre and, even though most might not agree, the game that impacted me the most this year was Age of Wonders 4. There’s something about creating your own races and pantheon of gods that really spoke to me.

Sarah, Community & Social Media Manager – Baldur’s Gate 3

I only vaguely followed Baldur’s Gate 3 throughout its Early Access period, but soon after its full PC launch, I realised that I had to play it when it launched on PS5 a month later.

I was instantly taken over and proceeded to put almost 100 hours into a single playthrough. Even then, I realise that I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer and I can’t wait to get stuck into a Dark Urge run over the Christmas break.

It’s an absolute masterpiece of a game; Larian deserves every single one of the many, many awards being heaped on them.

Galen, Associate Audio Programmer – Beyond All Reason

I’m so glad that I found this gem during its massive popularity spike earlier in the year. RTS has always been one of my favourite genres, but few of them have managed to properly grip me. The sheer scale of BAR creates some incredible visual moments, making it my most memorable game this year!

It’s still technically in a pre-release state, but that doesn’t detract from how well-polished the core game is. It even introduces some features that I think should be the baseline across all RTS in the future. This all leads to a fantastic online experience with its loyal (and generally helpful) player base. This will be my go-to RTS for a while!

Phil, Senior Talent Partner – Chants of Senaar

This is a wonderfully charming and unique puzzle point-and-click game, inspired by the tower of Babel. The world’s inhabitants speak various ancient languages, and it’s up to you to decipher texts and conversations based on context clues. The satisfaction comes in floods as you learn what these glyphs mean and progress through the engaging narrative. It also looks like an absolute picture. A must-play for fans of Return of the Obra Dinn and Case of the Golden Idol!

Tom, Production Tester – Final Fantasy XIV

A complete return to form for single-player-focused Final Fantasy! The world-building is some of the best I have seen in the series, with a darker tone than usual. The cast and voice acting are phenomenal and, as always for Final Fantasy, the score utterly knocks it out of the park.

The epic kaiju-like set-piece boss battles were highlights and showcased what the Playstation 5 is capable of. However, this doesn’t take away from the equally fantastic combat that borrows from Devil May Cry’s book. By using the ‘eikons’, there’s great depth which encourages you to use your head and find the best combos for maximum damage. Bring on the DLC and I hope it gets its own sequel spin-off like X and XIII!

Mato, Senior UI Engineer & Spencer, Associate Video Editor – Hi-Fi Rush

Mato – My game of the year is Hi-Fi Rush: it’s a gem from start to finish and I was smiling the whole way through.
The way that everything is combined with the beat of the amazing soundtrack is fantastic. That’s the animations, the environment, the platforming and, most importantly, the hack-and-slash combat. I also love the visual style and characters in the game; I enjoyed the morning cartoon style and humour that reminded me of the first Ratchet & Clank games.

Spencer – Hi-Fi Rush might be a bit under-represented for lists like this, as it came out so early in the year. But the buzz about it is absolutely the real deal. It’s got charming and stylish visuals in both 3D and 2D, cute voice acting. Plus the gameplay loop is really enjoyable with great details that made even the non-combat moments fun. Plus, it featured a Fiona Apple track for one of its boss fights! Their taste is unparalleled!

Dominic, Lead Character Artist – Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy captured the ‘magic’ of exploring the Hogwarts grounds perfectly. I was looking through every corridor and every corner of the castle to unlock its secrets. The combat was fun as well, having a back-and-forth that was well-balanced between the early and later movies. For me, it was the standout game of the year. It was a unique story within beautifully crafted environments, and featuring characters that have depth and life to them.

Matt, Tech Artist – Jagged Alliance 3

There’s no other game that I fell in love with more this year than Jagged Alliance 3. It takes a high-difficulty approach to the tactics genre and mixes in RPG elements. The gameplay is fun and engaging and varies as you play through the game.

The game’s comedy/satire is great too, with references to basically every type of media out there. There are even some very unexpected references, like Courage the Cowardly Dog!

Kane, Associate Programmer, Jeffrey, Principal Technical Artist & Alex, QA Manager – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Kane – Nintendo perfected perfection with the sequel to Breath of the Wild. I’ve spent 200+ hours on the game so far, and I could easily spend another 200. With the addition of the Depths and the Sky Islands, it felt massive and there’s always something to do. The addition of the Zonai devices and new abilities made this game a true sandbox. As well as puzzles having multiple ways of solving them, they still kept that Zelda feeling.

Jeffrey – My AAA pick of this year takes the good stuff from BotW and improves on it. I always found BotW’s story quite lacking, and Ganon especially felt the least interesting he’s ever been. But, in TotK he’s Ganondorf again with all the evil you’d expect.

Alex – Even though it uses the same Hyrule as BotW, Tears of the Kingdom feels infinitely larger in scope. It massively expands the ‘Sky Islands’ concept from Skyward Sword. Plus there are countless caves to explore and a whole other world underneath. I regularly found myself exploring and forgetting about the main missions for hours. Then there is Ultrahand – a nod back to one of Nintendo’s toys from the 1960s that lets you go to town with your creativity. There was so much fun to be had and it saw the return of Ganondorf. I don’t know how Nintendo will top this one.

Giovane, Senior Audio Designer – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 builds upon the solid foundation of the first but introduces new mechanics and expands on existing ones. The traversal system is exhilarating; fast-travelling anywhere in the giant and vibrant New York City is very cool. The combat system offers more depth and variety with the introduction of symbiote powers and other skills. There are also some cool interactions like battling with Miles, and then Peter appearing “out of nowhere” to help. I also liked that the story delves deeper into the relationships between Peter, Miles, and the other characters around them. The introduction of Venom brings a compelling antagonist to the table – as well as a new way to play. The game’s visuals are absurdly stunning, and there’s endless replayability after completing the main story. I had a lot of fun with it! In fact, after completing everything on the map I still wanted more and had a feeling of “Oh no, what am I going to play now?”

Kat, Growth Manager – Starfield

Starfield was my bestie and my queen this year. It has its faults and a lot of things frustrated me, but that’s okay! It let me go bouncing around random planets and feel like a proper explorer!

Alex, Gameplay Engineer – Street Fighter 6

For me it’s Street Fighter 6! I’ve enjoyed it so much, I haven’t had time for the many other blockbuster titles this year. I love the mechanics and the art style, and I’m excited for the future of the game too. It’s not without its flaws, sure, but I can’t put it down.

Ciaran, IT Support Associate – Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Redeemed

My pick is Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC: Future Redeemed. This expansion is a fan-service-filled climax to the series. It pays homage to Tetsuya Takahashi’s previous works and paves the way for the series’ future. It continues on the series’ incredible immersive worlds, stunning music, and dense, emotional, and definitely-not confusing-story. Without spoiling anything: it was like Christmas for fans of the series.

New for 2023, we’ve also got a quickfire bonus round!

• Jonny, Director of Live Operations – Counter Strike 2
• Alan, Product Manager – Dredge
• Katherine, Level Designer – Payday 3
• Darren, Senior Level Designer & Mustafa, Senior Systems Programmer – Alan Wake 2
• Doug, Principal Infrastructure Engineer – World of Warcraft: Dragonflight (even if it did come out in 2022!)
• Megan, Lead UI Artist – Talos Principle 2
• Alessandro, UI Engineer – Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Blasphemous 2 and Octopath Traveler 2

Those are our picks for the best games of 2023!

Did we get it right, or have we missed something? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok.

That’s all for 2023; we’ll see you in 2024!

Our studio is buzzing as we come back together again after so long.  

We celebrated with a festival of food vans and party games as Splashers shared what they got up to on their first non-working Monday. 

Across our industry work is being reinvented. The upheaval of the last few years has given us the opportunity to test out lots of different ways of working – from hybrid, to remote, to whole new approaches. 

Over the last few years we’ve learnt that to build the incredible multiplayer experiences we’re known for, our talented people being together is crucial. Being together helps us build the relationships needed for high-performing teams, it helps us innovate by bouncing ideas off each other, and it helps us learn from each other to become better at our craft – and ultimately create experiences for our players that we’re proud of. 

Our sister studio Bulkhead adopted the 4-day working week on site over 18 months ago, and experienced first-hand how it can radically improve wellbeing, engagement, and delivery. Armed with these results, we decided to adopt the 4-day working week for everybody at Splash Damage – bringing our teams together for a shorter, more focussed, week. 

This isn’t about compressing five days’ worth of hours into four, or expecting our teams to deliver the same work in the same way in less time. Instead, we are looking for ways we can move faster, calling out things that need changing, utilising our time together effectively – binning pointless meetings and testing new ways to deliver our upcoming games. 

Transformers: Reactivate and Project Astrid are our most ambitious projects yet. Having 4 days together and a non-working day for people to take care of their minds and improve themselves means we come to work more recharged, more creative, and more brilliantly ourselves. 

Steve Hessel, VP of People at Splash says:  

“We’re still at the start of our journey. We kicked off the 4-day week for 100 Splashers in August, and let them take the reins. We called them our Early Adopters. They tested out the 4-day week and let us know how it should work for the rest of the studio. 

In September we moved the whole studio to working a 4-day week. It’s still early days, and the hard work is yet to come. Now the challenge sits with every single one of us to find ways to work smarter and deliver our ambitious projects for our players.” 

We believe the 4-day work is the future of work for our studio, and has the potential to change our industry for the better. We’ll be sharing more about our experiences implementing the 4-day work week here at Splash over the coming months. 

If you want to be part of our journey and help us build our most ambitious multiplayer experiences yet, check out our Careers website. 

You can follow us across our social channels, too:

• LinkedIn
• X
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Newsletter

The Develop conference is a highlight of our calendar every year and we love getting to see old friends, make new ones, and learn from the myriad of talks. 

As you’d expect, we’re attending this year. But, to celebrate the most exciting era of Splash Damage yet, we’re going bigger! 

Visit us at the Develop Expo 

On Wednesday 12 July and Thursday 13 July, we’ll be exhibiting as part of the Develop Expo on stand D20/D22. We’re sharing the space with our friends and partners at Bulkhead, and we’ll be joined by a host of Splashers across disciplines. 

Throughout the expo, you’ll be able to swing by to chat with us about any of our open roles and find out about what life is like working at Splash Damage. 

We’re also offering portfolio reviews so bring yours along! We’ll take a look and give you advice and guidance on where you could improve.  

And if you’re looking for more general career advice? Come on by and we’ll be happy to share some pointers and tips. 

Oh, and we might have some exclusive swag available too… 

Splash Damage Talks at Develop 

Our stand isn’t all that’s going on, though. You can hear from three of our Splashers at talks taking place as part of the Develop Conference: 

HOW TO END THE WORLD: A POST-MORTEM OF RUNESCAPE 3’S 2022 SEASON FINALE – Diana Flindt

Wednesday 12^th July, 11am – 11.45am, Room 3 

Before joining Splash Damage, Diana was lead developer and main writer on Runescape’s epic grandmaster quest Extinction. Head to her talk to find out “what went wrong, what went right, and the lessons learned from building an end-of-the-world story in a live game.” 

HOW SPLASH DAMAGE UTILISES EPIC’S HORDE BUILD SYSTEM – Regner Blok-Andersen

Thursday 13^th July, 2pm – 2.45pm, Room 2 

Senior Platform Engineer Regner’s talk will be covering Horde: the new build system developed by Epic for the Unreal Engine. He’ll be sharing what it is, why it’s great, and what was learnt when it was rolled out to the studio. 

TECH LEADERSHIP IN GAMES – Roundtable discussion with Ben Laws 

Thursday 13th July, 2pm – 2.45pm, Room 5 

This roundtable will discuss technical leadership in the games industry, and offer practical advice. Ben Laws, a Lead Systems Engineer here at Splash Damage, will be joining three other lead programmers and engineers. 

So that’s our plan for Develop: Brighton 2023; we hope to see you there! If you can’t make it, follow us on Twitter and Instagram where we’ll be posting throughout the event.

So, when we heard that Rare and Microsoft were putting together a football tournament to raise money for SpecialEffect, we jumped at the chance to participate.

That football tournament was One Big Game: A 24-hour marathon involving 24 teams from across the UK games industry, held at St George’s Park (the home of all 23 of England’s national football teams) and streamed live on Twitch.

As you can imagine, we were more than a little excited about the entire affair. So, we took along our video team to capture the day:

On the day

Our match kicked off at 10:45am, so we had to leave Splash Damage HQ at the bleary-eyed time of 6am. However, as the coach pulled into St George’s Park and we saw the Three Lions badge, any tiredness was replaced with sheer excitement.

Sunny put it best when he said “Arriving at St George’s Park was genuinely like a childhood dream come true, seeing the England badge and all of the pictures of the national team was surreal.”

Sam echoed this, saying “Knowing we were going to play on the same pitch where the England national team train was amazing”.

That said, the size was a bit of a shock! “It felt about 80 times bigger than the normal 5 or 7-aside pitches we play on” according to Rachael.

She said “I’m pretty sure everyone was knackered after 5 minutes of running (I know I was!) and I’m surprised we all made it to the end of the match intact… mostly!”

Our opponents were Playtonic, who greeted us with a resounding chorus of boos. Their plan to psych us out backfired though, and it actually got the whole team ready to go!

The end result

Pre-match banter aside, Playtonic were true sportsmen and women and an excellent team to play against. That didn’t stop us from smashing our way to a 10-1 victory, though! But, everyone was there for a good cause so we’ve promised them a rematch!

The teams, their supporters and the Twitch viewers raised a whopping £29,000 for Special Effect. We’re so glad that we got to be a part of it.

But to finish off our recap, we’ll leave you with Sunny’s post-match comments:

“Going into it there were some nerves on how well we’d play against Playtonic, not knowing their squad. But, we came together as a team and came out on top. It was a remarkable rollercoaster of emotions.”

Now that quote wouldn’t sound out of place on Match of the Day!

Want to join us on the pitch? We’re hiring!

“I’m encouraged by the progress we’ve made in reducing the gender pay gap, as our proactive efforts have resulted in more women taking on middle and upper-quartile roles over the last three years.

Although this report requires us to specifically focus on men and women, we firmly believe Splash Damage must go beyond this and be a welcoming environment for people of all gender identities and backgrounds.

We know there’s still work to do. We’ll keep recruiting and developing talented people of all gender identities and backgrounds, with a particular focus on technical and senior roles. This will help us build a more balanced workforce, and in turn, contribute to closing the gender pay gap and boosting representation in leadership at Splash, and throughout the industry.”

Richard Jolly, CEO 

What is the Gender Pay Gap Report? 

Enacted in 2017, the UK Government’s Gender Pay Gap (GPG) reporting legislation is an amendment to the Equality Act 2010 and requires employers of over 250 people to report:

• The proportion of men and women in each pay quartile
• The Mean and Median gender pay gap in hourly pay
• The Mean and Median bonus gender pay gap, and the proportion of men and women receiving a bonus payment

This is different from the wider terms of the Equality Act which ensures parity in pay for men and women in the same role.

The data in this report is based on a snapshot from 5 April 2022 and any bonus pay received in the 12 months before this date.

It’s important to note that the gender pay gap report requires us to report on binary data, meaning that 3.8% of our employees, who do not identify as either men or women, are not reported on here.

Our Results

You can take a look at our previous reports here:  

• Gender Pay Gap Report 2021
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2020 
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2019
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2018 

Our median gender pay gap is now 18.06%, which is lower than the previous reporting period. Our mean gender pay gap is 23.63%, which is higher than last year.

Our gender representation in the reportable data is 82.7% men, and 17.3% women, which is consistent with last year’s report.

Pay Quartiles

Quartiles are calculated by first listing the rates of pay for each employee across the business from lowest to highest, and then splitting that list into four equal-sized groups, then calculating the percentage of men and women in each of these groups.

Mean & Median Pay Gap 

The mean pay gap compares the average pay for women with the average pay for men. The median hourly rate is calculated by ranking all employees from the highest paid to the lowest paid, and taking the hourly wage of the person in the middle. The median gender pay gap is the difference between women’s median hourly wage (the middle-paid woman) and men’s median hourly wage (the middle-paid man).

Our median gender pay gap is 18.06%. Our mean gender pay gap is 23.63%.

When comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 76.37p for every £1 men earn.

When comparing median hourly rates, women earn 81.94p for every £1 men earn.

To be clear, Splash Damage does not have a disparity between men and women performing the same job role. Men and women at Splash Damage are being paid equally for equivalent roles. The large proportion of men in the upper quartiles is the main cause of this pay gap.

Bonuses 

93.81% of men received bonus pay during this reporting period, compared to 91.8% of women. In terms of the amount paid in bonuses, our median bonus gap is 1.36% in favour of women, and as for the mean bonus gap, it is 26.44%. 

Learnings 

We’ve seen progress this year – across our higher quartiles we now have more women. 

However, this year also shows we need to continue focusing on closing the gap. Seeing one gap get smaller and the other lengthen shows that we need to prioritise hiring and developing people who identify as women. 

Our intersectional approach to diversity and inclusion means we will always look to improve equity across the board – it’s what the brilliant people in our studio deserve. 

Leadership is a key area where we know we must improve. Representation at the top really matters and can send powerful signals to the rest of the organisation. 

This year we’re hiring a talent development manager who will look at progressing our top talent into leadership. They’ll be looking at how we recruit people of marginalised backgrounds and women, and how we make sure they are set up for success at Splash. Critically, we will also investigate how we can help supercharge their progression to help us achieve our strategic goal of diverse representation at all levels of the organisation. 

We continue to support our Employee Resource Groups to champion identities across the business. Our Women at Splash Damage group specifically are focusing on “asking the tough questions” this year.  

In the longer term, we’re working with local schools to show children that they can have a career in games. The more girls we can encourage to make their hobby into a career, makes for more women who will be the leaders of games companies in the future.  

Declaration 

I confirm that the data contained within this report is accurate and meets the requirements of the Gender Pay Gap reporting regulations. 

Richard Jolly, Co-Founder & CEO

Announcing Project Astrid: a AAA open-world survival game, developed in partnership with leading creators Sacriel and shroud. 

Sacriel and shroud bring with them a unique perspective to the development process; sharing their experience as players, streamers, subject matter experts, and community builders and leaders. 

Mike ‘shroud’ Grzesiek, said: “This project means everything to me. Chris and I have refined a vision for what’s next in the survival genre and with Splash Damage we’re setting out to build it. We want to build the best survival game ever, and with Sacriel’s brain and Splash Damage’s team, I know we can do it.” 

Chris ‘Sacriel’ Ball said “This is a dream come true. Mike and I have been envisioning a world where we help build the game that streamers and gamers love playing. To be able to execute with a team as esteemed and experienced as Splash Damage is a privilege. In our work together to date, it is clear to us that we are truly part of the team and that we are well positioned to help bring this dream to reality.”   

Sacriel and shroud have been involved with Project Astrid from the very start. This allows us to leverage their experience and knowledge to create a game worthy of the genre and its fans. 

“Sacriel and shroud are core members of our development team,” said Lance Winter, Creative Director on Project Astrid. “They bring with them a unique and fresh perspective. Not only that, but they’re providing us brand new insights into what fans and creators actually want from their gaming experiences. No one knows this genre better than they do.” 

From left to right: Mike ‘shroud’ Grzesiek, Lance Winter, Chris ‘Sacriel’ Ball.

Building the future of Splash Damage

The partnership is a bold step forward in this new era for Splash Damage. It follows the announcement of TRANSFORMERS: REACTIVATE and our acquisition of UK-based Bulkhead. In addition, we also formed our own in-house publishing team.

Project Astrid gives us the opportunity to build a new, original world, like Brink and Dirty Bomb. However, we now have the freedom to do it on a much more ambitious scale.

Richard Jolly, CEO of Splash Damage said, “Founding from friends who met in online PvP, Splash Damage has been passionate about crafting unforgettable multiplayer experiences for over 20 years. Project Astrid is the culmination of this passion, born out of a partnership with two close friends, who also happen to be incredibly well-respected experts in our industry. We’re excited to share something fresh with our fans as we take a bold step forward and craft a game that’s truly different from anything we’ve done before.”

“Working with Sacriel and shroud has given us a unique opportunity,” said Dave Miller, Head of Publishing. “This new era of Splash Damage is about doing things differently, but also owning the entire process; from concept to publishing. Bringing in the guys right at the start of the process allows us to use their knowledge and experience, collaborating with them to make something truly unique in the genre.”

Project Astrid is currently in pre-production, and we can’t wait to reveal more in the near future. You can sign up for updates here or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.

It’s not our only project, either. We’re still hard at work on TRANSFORMERS: REACTIVATE and we’re looking for brilliant people to help us bring both games to life. If you want to be a part of the team, you can see all open roles and apply here.   

We’ve been a part of the Bromley community for over 20 years, and it seemed only right that we support our local club. The Bromley Community Trust does amazing work in our borough; from providing free meals to school children, running collections for our local food banks, providing a platform for older generations to meet and support one another, running recreational football for women, and so much more.

Head of Community Matt Hall added; “Upon meeting with Splash Damage, it was abundantly clear that they share so much passion for Bromley FC. Their story is quite an incredible one, and it’s an honour to have an organisation of this calibre alongside us. They have shown a real interest in community involvement and engagement too, and it’s refreshing to see this. A number of the team at Splash Damage are Bromley supporters, and what their Club does in the local community really means something to them.

I’ve no doubt Splash Damage will open doors for us, and likewise, we will do so for them! We’ve already looked into what 2023 could hold for us and are excited to grow this relationship even further.”

This is just the first stage of our partnership, and we can’t wait to do more work with Bromley FC (and cross our fingers for a run in the playoffs) this coming year.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that we were all far too busy to play any video games. You’d be wrong!

Just like last year, we asked our Splashers to pick their game of the year for 2022. We had so many submissions across a huge variety of titles and genres, so without further ado…

Egas, Lead UI Programmer – Hardspace: Shipbreaker

I forgot that Hardspace: Shipbreaker was released this year!

It’s incredible that, after a day at work, I want to go home and pretend to do more work. Just in space. And badly paid.

But, the challenge of deconstructing a ship within a “shift” (and with a considerable debt to pay!) meant I’ve been doing it longer than should be acceptable!

Mato, Senior UI Programmer – God of War: Ragnarok.

Ragnarok expands on every aspect of its predecessor. It adds new combat mechanics, build options and enemy types, and unique levels with excellent side quests.

The story feels much bigger in scope but still personal, significantly helped by the incredible voice acting and dialogue.

And I’ve not even touched on the visual design, animations, accessibility options, or level of polish; everything in this game feels so well crafted.

Tom Oatley-Noons, Environment Artist – Chorus

Although Chorus came out in December 2021, I spent a lot of time with it this year.

I went in with no expectations, and was rewarded with a really fun space flight shooter with added psychic powers.

It took a while to get into, but I really enjoyed 90% of my time with the game. If you like space-drifting and teleporting psychopathic murder-ships, this might be up your street!

Luna, Technical Animator – Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Being a spin-off from the Borderlands series, I didn’t expect much. But Tiny Tina’s was a lot of fun, especially when playing with my girlfriend.

We really liked the character creation, since we weren’t constrained to pre-written characters with set classes. And, it let us play as… us! We loved the inclusion of a trans character too!

Jorge, Associate Graphics Programmer – Roadwarden

My game of the year is Roadwarden: a beautiful narrative game.

The somber, gritty medieval fantasy contrasts with characters full of humanity. Their intentions are steeped in the locations they inhabit and the religion and culture they’re a part of.

The process of discovery and exploration is brilliant, and culminates in a “bossfight” which tests everything you’ve learnt and acquired.

Jon, Lead Technical Artist – Power Wash Simulator

It’s such a simple premise, wrapped in a compelling gameplay loop. Throw in collaborative co-op and you get a game that dominated summer playtime.

Meanwhile, the challenges provide a framework to tackle each job differently. Plus, it almost turns into a platform puzzler getting those last bits of dirt.

Plus, that ding as you complete a section and the replay of your cleaning job is so satisfying!

Alex, Assistant Programmer – Citizen Sleeper

I saw this on Game Pass and gave it a try one Friday night.

I don’t usually enjoy narrative-based games as much nowadays, but the combination of the soundtrack and setting really grabbed me.

The result was that I only slept once over the whole weekend!

Galen, Assistant Programmer – Lost Ark

With the Western release finally happening this year, Lost Ark has taken the slot of my go-to MMO. It’s eaten up an absurd amount of my time!

Visually, the game is incredible and has some outstanding story set pieces. The combat is fluid with a fantastic take on end-game raids, from a top-down perspective.

It did have a rough launch which is why it probably won’t be on many game of the year lists. But the core game is so good that I’m looking forward to what’s still to come.

Jack, Gameplay Programmer – Persona 5 Royal

P5R isn’t technically a 2022 game, but it did finally release on something other than PlayStation.

It’s better than Persona 5 in every way and I love the new characters that were added. Plus it has the best original soundtrack of any game in the last decade at least!

I’m not even halfway through yet, despite putting in over 50 hours, but I’m already planning a NG+ playthrough!

Georgia, Facilities Manager – Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West carries on from the original game’s story brilliantly. It gives you a beautiful world to explore, with plenty of fun side quests.

The main storyline is fascinating and all of the characters feel fully realised. I was so invested in them and their stories!

Phil, Senior Talent Partner – Norco

This game sold me on the magical realism genre, which I usually don’t gel with! There’s also dystopian sci-fi undertones masterfully blended in, which I loved.

The environmental puzzles were solid, and I thought the narrative was incredible with good, honest, down-to-earth writing.

Tom, Associate Producer – World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

The latest expansion for World of Warcraft is genuinely a breath of fresh air.

A total revamp of Talents and Professions is very welcome, alongside all of the brand-new features. In particular, Dragonriding makes exploring the Dragon Isles (which in the lore haven’t been seen in over 10,000 years!) such a thrill.

As a long-time fan of the series, I couldn’t be happier at the moment!

Mart, Associate Technical Designer – Tunic

“Zelda but with souls-like combat” might seem like an accurate way to describe Tunic at first. But it couldn’t be further from the truth!

Tunic is a callback to games which had to be deciphered using a physical book but, instead, it’s lovingly crafted in-game and you uncover its secrets layer-by-layer… like a delicious mystery onion!

I had so many “Wait, what?!” moments during my playthrough; each filling me with more glee and my notebook with more mad scribbles. It was absolutely wonderful! 

Speaking of Souls-like combat, it’s not a surprise that we had multiple submissions for this next one!

Justin and Pauline – Elden Ring

Justin, Lead Narrative Designer

For years, the mantra of Soulsborne players was “Git Gud”. With Elden Ring, there’s another option: “Git Around”.

A gigantic open world, a spiritual steed and jumping let you ditch any boss or dungeon that’s casting Death on your patience. Then you can come back to it later, hopefully when you’re OP.

And of course, the lore, customization, secrets and spectacle of Elden Ring are all vintage From Software.

Pauline, Game Designer

The move to open world is as well-realised and terrifying as you’d expect.

From being chased by angry crows to running away from bosses, haunted snowy castles to complex underground cities; the ability to spot something at a distance and run for it has never felt so good.

You might just die in the process, though! You also cannot pet the dog (please don’t try).

We also had two honourable mentions. One was for Stray from Kai in IT, and one for Trombone Champ from Mirren, Senior Audio Programmer.

But there was one game which got more submissions than anything else…

Many, many people – Vampire Survivors

William, Tools Engineer

Of all the games that came out this year, I probably had the most fun with Vampire Survivors.

Sure, Elden Ring was an incredible experience and some people liked God Of War: Ragnarök. But I just kept coming back to this!

It’s been a long time since I’ve found a game as fun as VS, and the developers have constantly kept it updated. Plus, the fact there are now so many clones coming out shows the massive impact it’s had.

Sarah, Community Manager

I can’t quite explain why this game is so good, but I can tell you that I can’t stop playing it.

So much so, in fact, that even after having put 30+ hours into the PC version and unlocked almost everything, I downloaded the iOS version the second it was announced at The Game Awards.

And I started the whole game over from scratch.

Ryan, Head of Creative Services

My Steam Deck became my Vampire Survivors machine this year. In fact, at this point I’m not even sure if my partner knows that it plays other games…

Meanwhile, Jon told us that he’s played so much that “I have a permanent life-bar on my OLED monitor!”

There you have it; our picks for the best games of 2022!

Did we get it right, or have we made some glaring omissions? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook.

And that’s us finished for 2022; we’ll see you in 2023!