The organisers of the Guildford Games Festival – Enterprise M3, Etch Play, Liquid Crimson and UKIE, in partnership with Guildford Borough Council, have announced the festival will take place on Friday 13th November and Saturday 14th November 2020, in an entirely digital capacity!
With two days of talks, panels, business matchmaking and career advice, the Digital Guildford Games Festival is designed to showcase, celebrate and strengthen the games-making expertise found within ‘The Hollywood of Games’. Building upon the success of 2019’s inaugural event, this year’s digital festival looks set to reach a record audience through online distribution, highlighting some of the UK’s most exciting creators, developers and publishers to the world!
The festival has been made possible by a cast of key sponsors including Liquid Crimson, Guildford Borough Council, Enterprise M3, EA, Supermassive Games, Charles Russell Speechlys, Glowmade, and Fortitude Games.
The engaging video content produced by the festival will be streamed on Steam in a first for the UK, via the new Guildford Games Steam Page. More than thirty games from twenty of Guildford’s game developers will be featured for sale there, with some offering discounted prices in celebration of the event.
The first day, Friday 13 November, will feature exclusive content for an industry audience, whilst the programming on Saturday 14 November will cater for gamers interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the games industry, featuring behind the scenes storytelling, careers advice and support.
Friday 13 November:
- Guildford Stories: (Steam/Twitch): Focused sessions with Guildford’s games industry talent, telling individual career stories from multiple disciplines and providing some deeper context around what it means to make games in Guildford.
- ‘The Hollywood of Games’ Documentary, Part 2 (Steam/Twitch): The first part of this documentary, released last year, highlighted the history and progression of the games industry in and around Guildford. This all-new release will bring the story up to date by showcasing the current and future shape of the industry from a variety of developers.
- Business Matchmaking: connecting game developers, service providers, investors and more via a sophisticated networking tool, enabling attendees to make valuable business connections within the games industry.
- Renowned Gamer Conversations: Discussion with voices outside of the games industry, including comedians and the European Space Agency scientists, focusing on why video games, and Guildford games, are so important to our culture.
Saturday 14 November:
- Career Talks: to inspire the next generation towards a career in games, Saturday’s schedule will feature a wide variety of talks from industry experts sharing their valuable knowledge of the different roles available in games and details of their own personal experience.
- Interactive Workshops: Digital Schoolhouse will host a programme of interactive workshops for anyone, of any skill level, looking to develop their game making skills and hone their digital literacy.
Both Days:
- The GGF Hotline: industry experts will be available throughout the festival to give FREE first class business advice and guidance to companies within the games industry. Closer to the event, attendees will be able to review the list of experts and their services via the guildford.games website and then make contact using the given details.
- In addition all of the pre-produced content will be available to view on both days via Steam.
To find out how you can participate and be the first to hear about updates, visit guildford.games/festival, and head to the eventbrite page here to register your interest!
“Guildford has played a central role in the growth of the UK games industry and remains central to the success of the sector today, playing host to over 60 incredible games businesses and over 800 employees. The Guildford Games Festival is a great opportunity to celebrate the area’s ongoing importance, while bringing together – virtually – the community that has made it such a key part of our sector.”
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie
“The current pandemic has devastated the usually thriving Guildford games industry community events calendar. After the huge success of last year’s festival, it’s fantastic to be able to bring the community back together with a digital celebration of the unique talent and games businesses in the area.” Dan Thomas, Etch Play
“We are proud to be key supporters of Guildford Games Festival for a second year and excited to join everybody online to enjoy a fantastic two days. We are committed to helping the industry thrive in our borough, which is rightly known as the Hollywood of video games in the UK, and continue to give our full backing to this dynamic sector full of creative and talented people.”
Guildford Borough Council
“Enterprise M3 truly understands the significance of Guildford’s games industry and is excited to continue sharing that knowledge with the world through our renewed support of the Guildford Games Festival in 2020. Launching alongside the festival, the Guildford.Games website and Steam page will mark a new chapter in the history of our local industry and cement its reputation as the Hollywood of Games”
Sam Read, Games Sector Specialist, Enterprise M3
“We’re really excited to support the Guildford Games Festival again. Last year was a great celebration of the Guildford games industry and we’re really happy to be part of the Festival again in 2020”.
Greg Howson, Communications Director, Supermassive Games
“Liquid Crimson has always had its roots firmly embedded in the Guildford Game Development community, and the Guildford Games Festival is our way of supporting and repaying the town and the game developers that reside there. Through The Digital Guildford Game Festival 2020, we will shine the spotlight on Guilford developers – old and new – and tell the tale of some of the best story makers in the business, and set the scene for the future”
Lauran Carter, Head of Comms, Liquid Crimson
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