Dlala Studios

A British games developer from Essex, founded in 2012, known for Battletoads and Disney Illusion Island.

About Dlala Studios

Dlala Studios is a British video game developer based in Witham, Essex. It makes its own games and works with other companies on theirs. Its credits include Battletoads (2020, with Rare and Xbox Game Studios), Overruled! (published by Team17) and Disney Illusion Island (2023, for Nintendo Switch).

The studio was founded in 2012 by Aj Grand-Scrutton and Craig Thomas. Aj had been a programmer at Jagex, the maker of RuneScape, and at Bossa Studios, and the studio famously began in the founders' parents' garage. We did not find a formal mission statement on the pages we read. Its own site calls it an independent games studio with over a decade of experience and says the team's heart lies in combining a trademark artistic approach with strong technical knowledge. Its motto is "Making games we love, with people we love, for people to love".

Its approach shows in its work: it creates its own ideas, supports other companies' ideas, and has also made training games for US government organisations. It has worked with Microsoft, Rare, Disney, Team17 and others. It has also taken on development work for other studios' games, including The Escapists, Lost Words: Beyond the Page and Sea of Thieves. Its latest own project, Murals, is an isometric action-adventure with hand-painted worlds where fairytales go wrong. The site also shows testimonials from Rare, Disney, Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios, and says Dlala has been recognised several times as a Best Place to Work.

Its leadership team includes Aj Grand-Scrutton as chief executive, Ben Waring as chief technology officer, Gemma Foster as chief operating officer and Mark Ragon as chief information officer. Aj's own story, moving from programmer to designer to running a company, is a good example of how people can grow inside a small studio. Clients quoted on the site say the team plays its games together to understand the player experience, find bugs and balance the gameplay.

A developer like Dlala employs programmers, artists, animators, designers, producers and operations staff. Making a game such as Battletoads involves all of them working together, so studios of this kind are a good place to see how different skills combine. Because the studio is outside London, it is also a reminder that games jobs exist across the UK.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Self-created games and its own ideas.', 'title': 'Original games'}
• {'desc': 'Making games with partners such as Rare and Disney.', 'title': 'Co-development'}
• {'desc': "Development support on other studios' games.", 'title': 'Work for hire'}

Key facts

• Founded June 2012 by Aj Grand-Scrutton and Craig Thomas
• Based in Witham, Essex
• Made Battletoads (2020) and Disney Illusion Island (2023)
• Worked with Microsoft, Rare, Disney and Team17

Website: dlalastudios.com