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
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Advance Masterclass Workshops in Partnership with Team17
Ukie and Creative England, with support from Wakefield Local Authority, have partnered with Team17 to create two Masterclass Workshops that give invaluable insights into how to improve your development processes and how to approach and work with publishers. These 2-hour Team17 Masterclass Workshops provide an opportunity for UK games business to get direct access to expert advice on key areas that will help them make better games and make their businesses to be successful.
The Team17 Masterclass Workshops have limited space for 20 people and are for SME games business in the UK looking to improve how they make games and learn more about working with publishers.
Team17 Masterclass Workshop dates and descriptions:
- Workshop 1, Tuesday 23 March, 10am -12.00 pm: Development Insights from Team17 – hear from Team17’s lead games designers and producers about how you can make better games, more efficiently. This includes design tips, project management and how to get the best from a team. Register here.
- Workshop 2, Tuesday 30th March, 2021, 10am-12.00 pm: Publisher insights from Team17. Expert advice from Team17’s commercial & publishing experts on what publishers can do for you, what they want to see in a developer, how contracts are negotiated & how to work best to approach and work with publishers. Register here.
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Pixel Mill’s RESTART programme Game Jam Submissions
Participants on The Pixel Mill’s RESTART programme recently completed a two-week game jam producing eight games, all of which are available to play now for free. Some of these participants only started learning game development in January!
A few of the games from the jam include Calambity; you play as a collie herding its sheep, Aftermath; navigate your way out of an eerie hospital and AppaRatus; a rat collects cheese and solves the maze in an attempt to escape from a lab! The games were individually created in 2D and 3D for PC.
RESTART is a training programme for people aged 19-30 years old in Northern Ireland who want to start a career in the video games industry. Participants do not need to have any prior experience or training to take part in the programme.
To check out the games visit https://itch.io/jam/pixel-mill-restart.
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nDreams $2 million fund available for VR developers
Award-winning VR developer & publisher nDreams has set aside $2m to co-fund & publish externally developed VR titles.
In addition to funding, nDreams can provide full publishing support, sharing their market knowledge, data insights, first-party relationships & game marketing & sales experience. The publishing team have over 20 years experience in VR & have worked for AAA publishers such as Ubisoft, Capcom, SEGA & WB Games.
We know how difficult it can be to get a VR game to market successfully said David Corless, VP of Publishing. We want to share our knowledge with other studios to help them make the best game they can & to give those titles every chance of becoming a huge success.
The studio is looking for games that embrace the immersive, high-agency potential of VR. It can also provide development support, including QA, localisation, production, & technical/design consultation.
For details contact: publishing@ndreams.com
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Grads In Games is now an independent not-for-profit company.
It's been hinted at a few times over the past couple of weeks and you may have noticed the news sneaking out into a few places, but we're incredibly pleased to officially announce that Grads In Games is now operating as an independent not-for-profit company!
This move has been in the works for quite some time and has long been considered as the next logical step in the evolution of GiG. The work that we've done over the past several years as a part of Aardvark Swift has been invaluable, and we're incredibly grateful to be retaining them as a partner going forward.
Becoming independent gives us the freedom and flexibility to expand the type of work we do and how we can do it, the first example of which is the upcoming national Games Careers Week that we are co-organizing.
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The 6th London Games Festival Announces 2021 Programme
A diverse range of 40 games from around the world have been chosen as part of LGF's first Official Selection
10 days of free talks and video programming will be available online
The new Now Play This programme features 25 games reflecting on the climate crisis
An added Safer Together Campaign with Safe In Our World looks to battle loneliness and open conversations about mental health
Other events from BAFTA, Museum of London and Games Jobs Live added to the schedule
Hundreds of games creators from around the world are set to participate in the sixth London Games Festival, which today unveils the full programme for its brand new entirely online event. The London Games Festival runs 19 March to 28 March and will be the most accessible version of the event yet, with content free online to anyone.
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Games Careers Week to inspire diverse young people, parents and teachers to discover careers in games
Games Careers Week is launching on 26 March 2021 with online events aimed at reaching millions of parents, learners, teachers and job-seekers. Existing events such as the Games Education Summit and Grads in Games Awards will be joined by many new online events such as Into Games Masterclasses, Microsoft's DigiGirlz day, careers talks and other events from studios like Sumo Digital, Fabrik Games and Playground Games, events at universities like Staffordshire and Bournemouth, a new online careers fair, as well as an exhibition and career talks at the National Videogame Museum.
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Creative Assembly announces UK scholarships for female, Black, ethnic minority and disadvantaged students
Creative Assembly and Teesside University have launched a brand-new scholarship which will help support under-represented groups to make their mark in the games industry.
The new Creative Assembly Legacy Scholarship provides financial support and expert mentorship throughout the successful students’ time at Teesside University. The scholarship is specifically open to underrepresented or disadvantaged individuals to address existing cultural and socio-economical barriers which may limit their chances of success.
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Virtual Trade Missions: China, USA & Japan
The UK games industry is a successful player on the global stage. Delivered by Ukie, the trade association for games in the UK, in partnership with Creative England, these events form part of the Ukie International Trade Programme, an award-winning series of events and activities that supports UK games business with export and investment opportunities.
Through Ukie's global trade and investment programme we have helped hundreds of British businesses make connections with international partners, leading to hundreds of millions of pounds of investment into the UK sector. Despite being unable to physically travel to these locations, Ukie and Creative England have set about to create a number of events surrounding international trade and trade missions.
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Kickstart - games industry advertising over 100 roles in job centres through the Government scheme
The UK games industry is set to offer over a hundred roles in games businesses through job centres across the country in the coming year.
Ukie and Into Games, working on behalf of the sector, has successfully become a gateway partner in the Government’s Kickstart Scheme which provides funding to companies taking on young people out of work as a result of the pandemic.
Forty-five games businesses – including EA, Nosebleed Interactive, Plan of Attack, Drumroll HQ and Futurlab - will be advertising 115 roles across their companies in job centres across the UK, offering six month placements to 18-24 year olds who are currently out of work in a range of disciplines.
Each paid placement will give a successful applicant a chance to take a step into the games industry, with support from Government to help cover the cost of employment, while also receiving wraparound training, support and mentorship from the Into Games team to help develop their career further.
For further details about Kickstart, please head here. And for more details on our scheme and how to apply to list roles through Kickstart, find out more here.
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