Having previously confirmed the legendary Jeff Minter of Llamasoft fame at the next event in February, the Yorkshire Games Festival is excited to announce yet more headline-grabbing keynote speakers, including Broken Sword supremo and industry stalwart Charles Cecil MBE and Media Molecule’s Gem Abdeen, amongst others.
All three will appear as part of the five day event, running from the National Science and Media Museum in the heart of Bradford from Wednesday 6th February through to Sunday 10th February, adding to a growing roster of industry luminaries bringing their expertise to the festival’s momentous third outing.
Also making the line-up is Brjann Sigurgeirsson of Swedish development powerhouse Image & Form, known for its beautiful 2D action-platformers Steamworld Dig and Steamworld Heist.
“I always love attending the Yorkshire Games Festival at the magnificent National Science and Media Museum,” says Charles Cecil, Founder & CEO of Revolution Software. “It is great to meet other game makers, many on the first steps to making games as a career, and those who simply love games and games culture. I am looking forward to talking about my 35 years of writing adventure games from the ZX81 – with its 1K of RAM – through to our most recent release, Broken Sword 5 – the Serpent’s Curse on Nintendo Switch.”
Brjann, Charles, Gem, and Jeff will all be taking to the stage to cast light on their experiences working within the games industry, passing over invaluable and oft sought after expertise to what should be a record number of attendees. Indeed, for those looking to make their way to the National Science and Media Museum next February, tickets for the main event are now on sale. Early Bird passes for YGF: Games Talks are available until 21 November – £65/ £60 (full pass) £35/£30 (day pass). From 22 November prices will be £80/£70 (full) £40/£35 (day).
The five-day event, designed to provide a content rich schedule celebrating games culture, design and production, will include:
- YGF: Game Talks, featuring a stellar line up of esteemed and knowledgeable speakers with more big names to be revealed in the coming months. Charles Cecil will cast light on his career and the next phase in Revolution’s quest to make groundbreaking adventure games, Brjann Sigurgeirsson will talk about his years working on the award-winning Steamworld series, and Gem Abdeen will give an invaluable insight into the imagination behind Media Molecule, and how the studio created LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, and its much anticipated forthcoming PS4 project Dreams
- Respected journalists, formerly of The Guardian, Jordan Erica Webber and Keith Stuart are set to make a very welcome return to introduce key speakers and compere question and answer sessions during the YGF: Game Talks
- Young Developers Conference (in partnership with BAFTA) focusing on 11-18 year olds, featuring free and accessible events for young game developers including expert advice from the team at BAFTA Game and the BAFTA Game Awards
- Let’s Play! – Family weekend offering workshops, game demos and live shows, promoting intergenerational gameplay. Events include The Incredible Playable Show – an interactive video game comedy show where the audience take to the stage, become human buttons, take on the Power Rangers, zap each other with barcode scanners, and play Pac-Man using inflatable toys. Alternatively they can sit back and watch their friends literally become cogs in a hilarious machine! Tickets on sale now
- A YGF pass also allows businesses and enterprises to attend Up Your Game, a two-day business matchmaking event organised by Enterprise Europe Network. Up Your Game facilitates collaboration, ideas, innovation and investment across business sectors, and will include themes on animation, games, motion graphics, special effects, as well as augmented reality and virtual reality
According to Festival Director, Kathryn Penny, the addition of prize new speakers cements the festival’s aim to build on last year’s extravaganza, which saw 9,000 attendees head for National Science and Media Museum – a 15 per cent jump on the inaugural year’s figures.
“One of the main aims of the Yorkshire Games Festival is to bring people together with some of the games industry’s most knowledgeable and influential figures,” offers Penny. “That’s a journey we set out on back in 2016, and with the speakers we’ve announced today, we think we’re going to do an amazing job of inspiring future game makers, not just here in Yorkshire, but across the UK. Watch this space for further speaker announcements before the end of the year which will bolster our aims even more.”
2019 will see the Yorkshire Games Festival build upon its remit to celebrate games culture and introduce a new generation to the science and art of games development. Look out for further details on confirmed speakers and additional tracks in the coming months.
