Grand Theft Auto veteran joins Johnston Carmichael’s tech advisory board

Johnston Carmichael’s tech advisory board has added leading Scots gaming figure and Grand Theft Auto veteran, Colin MacDonald to its ranks.  

The former producer of the multi-billion-dollar Grand Theft Auto franchise and previous Channel 4 games commissioner, joins the board alongside well-known members in the Scottish tech sector. He has also produced games such as Lemmings and Prince of Persia and overseen the development of the multi-million selling BAFTA-winning game Crackdown.  

It is hoped that the addition of MacDonald will benefit Johnston Carmichael’s increasing number of Scottish gaming clients, with a view to helping them expand globally. The board was set up in May last year to better communicate expert advice on achieving growth in the sector.  

MacDonald said: “I’m genuinely excited to be joining the Johnston Carmichael tech advisory board.

“The Scottish games industry has achieved so much, and we’ve got so much great talent here, but a lot of that has been done in isolation. Creatively and technically, we are second to none but it’s the entrepreneurial and commercial side that we can support.

“This tech advisory board will be key in reaching out to the games and wider tech industry to help join the dots, as our group know the value and scale of games, and how to work with these businesses as they continue to grow.

“We’ve already seen from the success of Grand Theft Auto that we can produce some of the best and most sought-after games and we want to help play our part in supporting the industry as it seeks to produce the next big hit game.”

Shaun Millican and Colin MacDonald at a meeting of Johnston Carmichael tech advisory board

Shaun Millican, partner and head of technology and life sciences at Johnston Carmichael, said: “We’re extremely proud Colin has joined our tech advisory board, and his huge experience in the gaming field will be a real boost to our clients across gaming and the wider tech sector.

“The challenges faced by the gaming industry are very similar to those faced by our other tech clients, so Colin’s deep knowledge will be incredibly valuable to growing our in-house team’s expertise and helping the companies we advise.

“Gaming founders are very passionate about creating stimulating and creative games but are likely to benefit from specialist advice when it comes to scaling up and commercialising their products.  

“Whether it is accessing tax reliefs, or securing investment, we want to ensure gaming creatives have access to the help required to develop their company, so that they can focus more on what they do best, and that’s create world class games.”