Inaugural UK Festival Celebrating Guildford as the ‘Hollywood of Games’

Published on: 28 Mar, 2019
Updated on: 30 Mar, 2019

Guildford is a recognised epicentre for games development, games publishing, and technology in the UK and that is going to be celebrated in a weekend festival over June 27 to 20.

The region has a long and highly respected track record for delivering globally successful and industry-defining video games, earning its reputation of being the “Hollywood of Games”.

The festival aims to attract investment and skilled talent to the region to work with and in local games companies. It will also showcase to the public and wider sector, the cultural and economic output of the Guildford games community; a hotbed of creative talent with a huge amount of potential to expand and grow.

The festival, announced yesterday (March 27), is funded and run by members of the Guildford games community, supported by Guildford Borough Council, the UK games trade body Ukie, Surrey University and Enterprise M3 London Enterprise Panel.

The weekend-long festival is designed for the general public, media, and international games businesses to learn about the dynamic nature and importance of games companies in Guildford. Key highlights include an opening-night industry charity fundraiser, an industry and business day, a consumer expo, and the first Guildford Games Awards. More information will be coming soon on Guildford.Games/festival

Guildford Games Festival will highlight Guildford’s creative talent and contribution to a market that globally is worth around $81bn, and will celebrate its cultural recognition as the UK’s ‘Hollywood of Games’.

Chris Burchell, local economy manager at Guildford Borough Council said: “We are delighted to be supporting this exciting event. Guildford is a thriving centre for high-growth start-ups and our economy is now worth over £5 billion annually.

“We have seen the digital games sector continue to grow steadily over the past decade and it now employs more than 1,000 people locally. We recently adopted a new Innovation strategy and a central objective is to support the digital games sector as a priority. The Guildford Games Festival will be an excellent opportunity for businesses and residents to discover more about this dynamic and exciting sector.”

Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie said: “Ukie are delighted to be supporting the first Guildford.Games Festival. It is great to see the local council and games businesses working in tandem to showcase the incredible work of local games studios, publishers, and supporting organisations.

“It is particularly gratifying to see the engagement with local schools, colleges, and the University of Surrey to promote and encourage the next generation of games-makers to extend the historic legacy of game development in and around Guildford.”

Highlights of the festival programme at GLive and other town venues are:

Thursday June 27 Guildford Games Industry Night for GamesAid sponsored by Supermassive Games.

Greg Howson, Communications Director, Supermassive Games: “We’re really excited to run our annual Guildford Games Night for GamesAid as part of the Guildford Games Festival, and look forward to a night of multiplayer fun with many of our local studios”.

Friday June 28 Industry Day at GLive sponsored by The University of Surrey / G3, and Enterprise M3 LEP

Samuel Read, Games & Immersive Technology Partnerships Manager, University of Surrey / G3: “Guildford’s creative prestige is a story worth sharing. The festival marks the start of a new chapter, as its game development community comes together to celebrate the past and strengthen its future.”

Kathy Slack OBE, Executive Director of Enterprise M3 LEP: “Enterprise M3 LEP are delighted to continue their support of the region’s digital creative economy, through sponsorship of this important event for the highly renowned Guildford and its creative area hinterland games industry. Our area enjoys a digital, design and knowledge-based economy with a strong record for exports. The talent and innovation found within our games industry are an outstanding example of that, and Enterprise M3 will continue to support this high-value, high growth sector to continue to grow, diversify, and find new international markets.”

Saturday June 20 Consumer Day at GLive

Guildford Games Awards sponsored by Wargaming UK, and Liquid Crimson

Sean Decker, Product Director at Wargaming UK said: “We are delighted to be part of the biggest gaming hub in the UK, and the Guildford Games Awards are a great way of shining a light on some of the amazing talent of those who work here.”

Jason Lord, Founder of Liquid Crimson: “I am very proud to be a part of the Guildford games community and look forward to all the people and companies in the area being celebrated and recognised in this awards ceremony for all the hard work they do, and the fantastic games that they make which are loved worldwide.”

More details about Guildford Games Festival will be announced soon.