If you read about a ‘Games Festival’ taking place in Guildford, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it might be people discussing the likes of Monopoly, chess or Guess Who?. In reality, however, it is a much more modern and up-to-date festival, which is aimed at computer game developers and includes the likes of talks and panels on the matter.
This is a great opportunity for anyone who creates games to network with some of the biggest names in the business, who will be heading to Guildford’s G Live on London Road on the 20th of February next year, taking place between 10am and 6pm.
What It’s all About
The game-dev community in Guildford has existed for decades, which eventually led to the creation of the Guildford.Games organisation. In 2015, members of the group organised G3 Futures, which was a conference that ran for four years and eventually led to the appointment of Sam Read as the Games Industry Partnership Manager at the University of Surrey. He himself was instrumental in the creation of the Guildford.Games Festival, which is, as the name suggests, a Festival that is organised by the grassroots movement and community initiative known as Guildford.Games.
In terms of what it’s about, it is an opportunity for game developers to meet the Guildford games industry, which includes the likes of Hello Games, Stellar Entertainment and Flaming Fowl Studios. They are sponsors of the Festival, as are other companies such as Liquid Crimson, Larian Studios and Two Point, to name just a few. The entire Festival is about giving game developers the chance to learn more about the profession that they’re looking to enter, as well as an opportunity to join discussions with the people that they are looking to emulate and work with in the future.
What You Can Expect
If you are either a game developer yourself or else someone who is interested in gaming in general, you might be interested to know what it is that you can expect from the Guildford.Games Festival. The first thing is that you will be able to meet the teams that are behind some much-loved games, whilst also being able to discover new studios that are based in the local area. On top of that, you will be given the chance to hear from some world-class developers as well as artists and storytellers, thanks to the fact that the Festival boasts a full schedule of talks, workshops and panels.
The fact of the matter is that this is a Festival aimed at anyone who likes games. There are playable demos on offer, for example, as well as live sessions and community meet-ups. It is a Festival that boasts its share of networking opportunities, bringing together fans of games and the people that created them in the same space. With Guildford known as the ‘Hollywood of Games’, this is a meeting of the minds that made the town such an important location in the development of games as a thing that contributes well to the local economy, which is why it’s such a popular event.
Where & When
If this sounds like something that you’d be particularly keen to get involved in, then the key information that you’ll want to know about is where it is taking place and when you’ll need to be there. The answer to the former question is that it is being hosted at G Live, which is the events space located on London Road in Guildford. It is an in-person Festival, so there aren’t any ways of getting involved online. You can make it to the venue by driving, riding your bicycle or getting a form of public transport, taking people under the age of 16 with you provided they’re accompanied by an adult.
In terms of when the Festival is taking place, it is on the 20th of February next year, getting underway at 10am before things reach their conclusion at 6pm. The celebration of the games industry taking place in the country’s biggest development hub is an incredibly popular thing to be part of, with the event making the headlines earlier this year when Lauren Carter, one of the co-organisers, talked of how there was a ‘real change’ in the games industry thanks to the increase in female participants. The first Guildford.Games Festival took place in 2019 and it has gone from strength to strength since then.