Dlala Studios has secured British comedian Bob Mortimer as a voice performer in its upcoming game Murals, the developer revealed during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026. The casting marks a significant milestone for the Essex-based studio, which was founded in 2012 and has spent most of its existence working on licensed properties owned by other companies. Murals represents Dlala’s first wholly owned intellectual property and its first self-published title.

From Improbable Pitch to Confirmed Casting

Mortimer’s involvement began when Dlala founder Aj Grand-Scrutton and lead writer Kelsy Abbott created a character explicitly modelled on the comedian. Grand-Scrutton then decided to approach Mortimer’s representatives directly.

“One day I was sitting at my desk, and thought: ‘What’s the harm in just asking?’, ” Grand-Scrutton told GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom. “So I rung up Mark [Landers] at Side, and I just said, ‘Hey dude, is there any chance we could reach out to Bob Mortimer’s people?’ And he went, ‘Oh yeah, hold on Aj mate, I’ll get back to you’. And in a couple of hours he called me back, and he was like, we’ve found his agent and manager, they like the idea, they’re interested. Bob wants to see a script.”

At that stage the studio possessed only what Grand-Scrutton described as a bunch of gags. He and Abbott wrote a two-to-three-page script overnight and submitted it for Mortimer’s consideration.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my God, why did we think we could write Bob Mortimer-style comedy and show it to Bob Mortimer?'” he recalled. “Kelsy’s losing her mind as well, she’s like, ‘How arrogant are we? We’ve just tried to be Bob to Bob.’ And then they came back, and they were like: ‘He loves it. He’d love to be a part of this’.”

Grand-Scrutton later travelled to London for a recording session with Mortimer, as Dlala directs its voiceover work in-house. He said Mortimer required no direction.

“I’m not going to say we directed him, because he didn’t need it: Everything that came out of his mouth was perfect, ” Grand-Scrutton said. “Honestly, the Bob Mortimer you see on television, he’s even a hundred times nicer and funnier than that in person.”

Studio Background and Licensed Work

Dlala Studios was founded in 2012 by Grand-Scrutton and Craig Thomas, who met while working at Jagex. The company initially operated from Grand-Scrutton’s garage in Witham, Essex, and now employs 43 staff at an office near where he grew up.

The studio built its reputation on external intellectual property. It released Battletoads, based on the Rare franchise, in 2020, followed by Disney Illusion Island three years later.

“Obviously Battletoads and Illusion Island were these two great IPs, but we’ve never done a traditional license deal, ” Grand-Scrutton said. “We have always been directly contracted or recruited by the IP holders.”

The Battletoads agreement followed a period of work-for-hire, including contributions to Rare’s Sea of Thieves. Grand-Scrutton said the studio’s involvement in finishing that title helped establish trust with the IP holder.

“I met [former Rare studio head] Craig Duncan in the year we formed, 2012, and every year, I sent him multiple pitches for Battletoads, trying to wear him down, ” he said. “It wasn’t until 2016 that he said we should do this, and we still didn’t get it over the line until 2018.”

The Disney relationship followed a similar pattern of persistence. An earlier Disney project was cancelled in 2016, and Grand-Scrutton said he believed the studio would never work with the company again. After Battletoads shipped, Dlala approached Disney once more.

“It was kind of like high school boyfriend and girlfriend meeting up after 20 years: this is how I’ve changed, this is how you’ve changed, ” he said.

Moving to Original Intellectual Property

Murals marks a strategic shift toward original intellectual property. Grand-Scrutton said the studio funded roughly half of development from its own reserves, with additional investment from a family office in Canada.

“We kind of just said, why don’t we take all these learnings, all this stuff we’ve done, all these tools we’ve made over the last decade, and do something that Dlala owns?” he said. “We can’t blame anyone for the failure if we’re perfectly in charge.”

Design director Grant Allen described Murals as a combat game that is easy to learn but offers depth, with item progression inspired by rogue-likes. Because the game is linear, collected items persist, allowing players to build a catalogue of objects called Eeries that can be switched in and out. Allen compared the system to a chemistry set, with different Eeries applying different attributes to weapons. Mortimer voices the character Magic Dave, who operates the Vending Machine of Delights.

Grand-Scrutton acknowledged that original intellectual property carries substantial risk. He said the studio does not project royalty income in its financial planning and has secured the team independently of the game’s commercial performance.

“We have bet the house on this original, but we’ve secured the team outside of it, so there’s no risk to the team if this game doesn’t do well, except for we’d all be devastated, ” he said. “We have sunk every penny into making this game the best it could possibly be.”

Dlala has hired Marcus Purvis as head of publishing to oversee the self-published release. Purvis previously met Grand-Scrutton when Dlala participated in Microsoft’s Lift London incubator programme.

“The beauty of doing it ourselves is that we can make decisions very quickly, and we love to do that, ” Purvis said.

One example of that autonomy is a limited-edition comic book tied to Murals, which Grand-Scrutton said was conceived, written, and illustrated within roughly nine weeks. He noted that such a project would be difficult under an external publisher’s budget oversight because it offers no direct return on investment.

Grand-Scrutton said the studio’s identity rests on combining hand-drawn art and combat with humour, a quality he acknowledged is subjective and difficult to execute in games. He said Mortimer’s participation provides a considerable advantage. Further details on Murals, including its release date and platforms, have yet to be confirmed.