A former painter and decorator has been given a job making video games.

Scott Slater, 33, has secured a six-month contract to develop games for Unit 2 Games, which is owned by tech giant Meta - Facebook’s parent company.

The third-year BA (Hons) Graphic Communication student from Blackburn University Centre, will be developing games for Unit 2’s platform Crayta, which allows users to create their own multiplayer games across a variety of genres, which other online players can access.

Scott, from Mill Hill, Blackburn, was recognised by the company after playing the game for more than a year and making multiple successful games as well as mentoring other players.

He recently won an industry prize for Crayta, after competing in their Build-a-Base Build Jam competition which he entered as part of his university course.

His entry ‘Salterbburn-Neon City Hub/HQ’ won the prize for ‘Most Efficient’ building - meaning Scott took home $3,000 winnings.

Scott said: “I’d been working as a painter and decorator for a while and enjoyed the creative element of the job, however when I had my kids, I wanted to do something that would benefit me as a person and the future sustainability of my family.

“I’ve been interested in digital arts and in particular gaming arts, so decided to go down this path.

“I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved in the past three years and am excited about what will happen next.

“When I first thought about going to university, I thought it would be a bit daunting, and I presumed I’d be the eldest one there, but the staff are helpful, in particular my tutors Mark Thistlethwaite and Jenna Gardner who have helped to see my potential and pushed me to develop my skills.

“I’ve collaborated with people I’ve met on discord servers, where I have worked on the graphic art and game design, collaborating with other players who could do the programming and they have worked on the back end of the game.

“Winning the Build-a-Base Build Jam competition and getting a contract to be paid to make games with Unit2 is a dream come true.”

He hopes to work full-time in the industry and has set-up a company called Sovereign Games, which is a joint venture between Scott and developer Westley Lee.