LONDON GAMES FESTIVAL DECLARES ‘GAMES ARE GOOD FOR YOU’ AS 2020 PROGRAMME GOES LIVE
The London Games Festival has unveiled its GAMES ARE GOOD FOR YOU theme, supported with a city-wide and social media ad campaign, as its full programme goes live for 2020.
LGF 2020 takes place from 26 March to 6 April with 100,000 expected. Yearly tentpole events like Now Play This, EGX Rezzed and the festival’s own Trafalgar Square takeover will have a variety of experiences to offer games fans while the B2B strand for professionals grows to include more international attendance than ever before.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The London Games Festival is a great showcase of our booming games industry and the significant investment and jobs it brings to our capital. Across 12 days, it brings together professionals, businesses and games fans from across the world to celebrate this thriving sector and provide opportunities for our creative talent. I’m delighted that this year’s event will be delivering a positive message to the industry, as we show the world that London is open to business and innovation.”
50 speakers from around the world will talk about the art, craft and business of making games at festival programming including summits on Games Impact, Interactive Narratives, and Games Culture. Dedicated Global Games and Hollywood XP events will delve into international business and connections between films and games respectively. Tickets are now on sale via www.games.london.
Entirely free to attend is the LGF Business HUB, which will not only provide a meeting place plus roundtables and one-to-one mentoring sessions, but also provides the first official showcase for Ensemble, the festivals’s annual exhibition showcasing BAME video games developers and creatives, plus a range of exhibitors from international games studios.
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie, said:\u2028“Video games and interactive entertainment are a valuable part of the UK’s creative and digital industries. Games provide billions of people around the globe with entertainment, ways to connect with friends, and compelling stories, worlds, characters and themes. For 12 days across the city, the London Games Festival will showcase the creative excellence, the talent, the scaling innovative businesses and the positive impact games have in people’s lives.”
London Games Festival is backed by the Mayor of London with funding of £1.2m over three years and seeks to make London the games capital of the world. It is delivered by Games London,an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency, and video games trade body Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment).
Games London has become a key driver for global business in the capital’s games sector through its Festival plus trade missions – latest research proves that since 2016 it has created over 550 jobs for London through its work connecting games studios with funders and investors.
Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, said: “London’s games sector is a billion-pound industry, generating £1.4bn for the economy and directly employing over 5,100 roles. It is fantastic to see the London Games Festival expanding its reach and ambition, building on the success of last year’s festival and doubling our presence in Trafalgar Square, bringing games to life in the centre of London and celebrating work from around the world, drawing on the creative clusters outside of the capital and reflecting the terrific success of the UK industry.
“Creative industries are the big success story of the UK and London economies and the games industry is a key, cutting-edge component of this success. As well as celebrating this achievement with such a strong programme of events and activities embracing the culture and creativity of games, I’m delighted that the festival will once again enable major new business opportunities through initiatives such as the Games Finance Market, which draws in up to 60 major investors to the UK for pitch meetings with games businesses.”
The full list of highlights for London Games Festival 2020: Ensemble – Thursday, 26 March onwards
Various locations across the city
The acclaimed exhibition focusing on BAME games professionals can be seen across London
EGX Rezzed – Thursday, 26 March to Saturday, 28 March
Tobacco Dock
Europe’s biggest showcase of indie PC and console games
WIN – Friday, 27 March
Venue to be announced
Fifth edition of our event for women in games with added mentoring support for attendees
LGF Business HUB – Monday, 30 March & Tuesday, 31 March
Embankment Galleries, Somerset House
The B2B week of LGF starts with our all-in-one base of networking, conferences and learning
Global Games Summit – Monday, 30 March
Embankment Galleries, Somerset House
A new invite-only conference for our international guests to kickstart the B2B week
Games Impact Summit – Monday, 30 March
Embankment Galleries, Somerset House
Dedicated to examining how games positively influence lives
Interactive Narratives Summit – Tuesday, 31 March
Embankment Galleries, Somerset House
The second year for our afternoon examining how games are written and tell stories
Games Culture Summit – Tuesday, 31 March
Embankment Galleries, Somerset House
One of the longest running LGF events looks at the artistic practitioners shaping and reacting to games
Games Finance Market – Wednesday, 1 April & Thursday, 2 April
Games London’s signature event connecting games studios to investors and publishers
Games Finance Workshop- Wednesday, 1 April & Thursday, 2 April
Institute of Directors
A two-day course on learning the fundamentals of games financing and then how to perfect your pitch
Hollywood XP – Wednesday, 1 April
The Strand Palace Hotel
A brand new event examines the crossover and connections between video games and other screen industries
BAFTA Games Awards – Thursday, 2 April
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank
The world’s most iconic games ceremony honouring the past year of creative excellence
Now Play This – Friday, 3 April to Sunday, 5 April
Somerset House
A key part of LGF since it started, showcasing installations and interactive experiences
Trafalgar Square Games Festival – Friday, 3 April & Saturday, 4 April
A tentpole consumer moment in the festival bringing games to life in the centre of London
Cosplay Parade – Saturday, 4 April
The fourth year for this family event, and this time integrated into the Trafalgar Square Games Festival
Power UP – Saturday, 4 April to Sunday, 19 April
The Science Museum’s retro games showcase starts during the final weekend of the games festival
Plus: London Games Festival Fringe – 26 March onwards
A lively range of events for industry, players and more delivered by the community Sponsors and partners of the London Games Festival this year include Events DC, Coutts, Xbox, Sony Interactive Entertainment, British Council, and London & Partners. The Evening Standard is also supporting the festival as official media partner. To find out more about partnership opportunities at London Games Festival, contact [email protected].
