Ukie headed up to Leamington Spa to host the penultimate leg of our “Developers Unite” Hub Crawl series. Developers from Leamington Spa and further afield flocked to Pixel Toys HQ to gather and embrace nearly 3 hours of riveting and informative talks, followed by some tasty pizza. Conversation lasted a lot longer than our 8pm finish time, but it just goes to show that Leamington remains a vital hub for the British games industry, and a key part of what makes our sector so successful.
First up we had Steve Stopps – games incubation lead from Falmouth Launchpad, present an interesting and detailed talk about how 15 years on the frontline of game development has taught him both strength and resilience. An extremely intriguing talk for industry professionals who are both experienced, or fairly new to the sector. Watch the full video here
Next up was our very own Sam Collins in conversation with Harinder Sangha of Maverick Games. The conversation moved from her career path, breaking stereotypes relating to women in the industry, all the way to recently helping to set up Maverick Games. Being a full-time mum, Harinder details her fight against the stigma of women in the industry, and would be fascinating to women already in the industry, or who may want to break into the sector sometime in the future. Watch the full video here.
Our final speaker was Alex Darby from Darbotron, who absolutely won the award for the best introduction of the night, plainly saying “I am Alex, and I make video games”. He presented a fascinating and detailed talk about self determination and the art of winging it. He demonstrated his career and how it evolved from studying computer science, to AI development, all the way to becoming both a stay-at-home dad and indie developer. A truly motivational talk for anybody of any age looking to achieve in the games industry. Watch the full video here.
Last but not least, our interim-CEO Sam Collins was joined by Hub Crawl Hero and CEO of Pixel Toys, Andrew Wafer. Sam and Andy sat down for an inquisitive 30-minute chat which included his inspiration for entering the sector, the impact of VR, and how supporting the mental health of employees fosters positivity in the industry. Watch the full video here.
A huge thank you to all of our speakers and attendees who made the journey, and of course to our amazing partner Barclays who complete the filming of these sessions. If you’d like to watch all the talks from our developers unite series, all can be found here on a dedicated playlist. Why don’t you grab a bite and watch a few?