Each month we share news from our members here. If you are a Ukie member and would like to share some news then please complete this form
London Games Festival Set for March 2021
London is one of the most diverse, vibrant, and creative cities on the planet. Its games and interactive entertainment sector is no different, representing a true convergence of talent, art, creativity, and culture.
Games London has one mission: to make London the games capital of the world.
The 2021 London Games Festival will showcase a range of unreleased titles from around the world, explore how games have aided players’ lives under COVID-19, and connect creators with global investors when it returns.
- London Games Festival 2021 runs from Friday 19 March to Sunday 28 March.
- The event will include LGF’s first official selection of exciting new games.
- Game creators get the chance to meet global investors.
- Outdoor programme sees video games at city venues including Ensemble outdoor exhibition and Now Play This in and around Somerset House
Check out all of the activities involved this year.
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LabelRadar crowned the 'Leading Online Platform for Music Discovery'
LabelRadar has beaten out stiff competition from Bandcamp, SoundStorming and 8tracks to be crowned the 'Leading Online Platform for Music Discovery' at the SME Business Elite Awards 2021.
'As a totally bootstrapped entity, we're extremely proud to be able to hold our own against the other excellent finalists. The LabelRadar team and I are delighted to have been able to collaborate with a wide range of awesome partners over the past 3 years, from game developers to household name artists and brands. We have helped connect the dots between incredible music and amazing projects, and to have those successes recognised is humbling indeed. We look forward to building from this success!' - Ed Brew, Co-CEO & Co-Founder
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The History of British Videogames Video
YRS TRULY's passion for gaming came in handy for this project for giffgaff where they created the very first documentary about the history of British video games and the gaming industry. This involved interviewing developers, studio founders, gamers, and new media experts for this two-part 20-minute documentary.
Check out the full video here.
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Develop:Brighton 2021 Moves to October
Tandem Events has taken the decision to postpone Develop:Brighton 2021 from July until October due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Develop:Brighton will now take place 26 - 28 October with the Develop:Star Awards taking place on 27 October. Both events will take place at the Brighton Hilton Metropole as usual.
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World Autism Awareness Week - Get Involved.
World Autism Awareness week runs from 29 March - 4 April. Autistica, the UK's autism research charity want games studios to get involved! This year's theme is managing anxiety. It’s a great opportunity for you to share resources with staff, create office fundraisers and help raise awareness of autism and mental health.
Autistica would love to hear your ideas and share their plans for the week. If your studio can get involved, contact: jake.mackey@autistica.org.uk.
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Payload Studios Launches Games Incubator for Underrepresented Developers
As part of PayLoad Studio's ongoing mission to drive positive change, they have launched a fully virtual incubator programme open to founders from underrepresented backgrounds in the UK*.
Ukie is a partner alongside Creative England's Creative Enterprise, Tonic Games Group, Green Man Gaming and the University of Greenwich.
Successful applicants will benefit from peer-to-peer learning, mentoring and tutoring from a diverse group of industry experts in five areas, across a four-month business support programme:
Soft skills sessions - confidence, public speaking, networking
Business planning; preparing your studio for the future
Production, design and development
Marketing and PR
Funding and finance
The programme is free, and entirely online - so pandemic proof from inception!
Applications are currently open and will close on February 24th, 2021.
The programme starts in March 2021 and ends in June 2021.
*These groups include, but are not limited to, POC, lower socioeconomic backgrounds, LGBTQ+, people from underrepresented genders (cis women, trans women, trans men, non-binary), disabilities and neurodiversity.
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The Chinese Room Releases New Feature-Length Episode For Little Orpheus: A Rush Of Onion To The Head
The Chinese Room, a Sumo Digital studio, has today released a brand-new episodic adventure for Apple Arcade platformer Little Orpheus. The game's ninth episode, A Rush of Onion to the Head, takes players on another incredible, mind-bending journey with calamitous cosmonaut Ivan Ivanovic.
Watch the new launch trailer: https://youtu.be/9LRD9tMmSU0
Little Orpheus is a technicolor narrative platformer inspired by a bygone era of adventure, from the BAFTA award-winning team behind Everybody's Gone To The Rapture and Dear Esther.
As he travels back from the centre of the Earth, Ivan finds himself in the city of Perun, which has been corrupted by pollution. Ivan must use the gusty winds of Perun to fly high and wide throughout the cityscape to reach his only hope of saving the city: a flying mechanical fish that shoots onions!
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Help SpecialEffect spread the word about GameBlast!
GameBlast is the UK's biggest annual charity gaming marathon weekend in aid of the gamer's charity SpecialEffect. Fundraisers get involved by organising their own sponsored live stream during GameBlast weekend, Friday 26th to Sunday 28th February 2021. One BIG way you can help is by spreading the word to your community and encouraging more sign-ups!
With so much uncertainty around lockdown at the moment, planning a GameBlast21 livestream gives fundraisers and their stream communities a lockdown-proof and COVID-19 safe event to look forward to. Now in its 8th year and having raised over £900,000 since 2014, we're aiming to smash past the £1Million total for 2021.
We'd love for you to tell your audience about GameBlast and help us make #GameBlast21 the best yet! If you would like to help, please email tom.donegan@specialeffect.org.uk for more info and media resources.
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Animal Crossing Diaries - Social History collection project now open
The National Videogame Museum (NVM), with support from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Museum Association, has recently launched an open call for its revolutionary Animal Crossing Diaries project. This project looks to collect histories of those who have been playing and living with Nintendo's hit game 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' during the lockdown period.
The Animal Crossing Diaries is an innovative and groundbreaking new project led by the NVM that will record the diverse ways that players interact with the game during the COVID-19 pandemic. From everyday accounts of calm routine, to lavish forms of virtual celebration, the project will archive and understand how players create their own unique memories and meaningful experiences through Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
This is a revolutionary new way of recording and showcasing the playable histories of videogames, that will result in an exhibition at the Museum in Sheffield later next year.
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The UK's Points-based immigration system: What you need to know
With the deadline for the UK leaving the EU fast approaching, it's important to know what this means for UK companies looking to hire from the EU. There's plenty of guidance online, and we thought we would compile an easy to understand summary.