Guildford Games Festival will showcase why Guildford is the ‘Hollywood of Games’

Members of the Guildford games community have united to establish Guildford Games Festival, a “major new consumer, cultural, and business event” slated for June 2019

The weekend long festival – which has been supported by Guildford Borough Council, the UK games trade body Ukie, The University of Surrey, and Enterprise M3 LEP – is designed for the public, media, and businesses “to learn about the dynamic nature and importance of games companies located in Guildford, UK”. It will include a charity fundraiser, an industry and business day, a consumer expo, and the inaugural Guildford Games Awards.

“Guildford is a recognised epicentre for games development, games publishing, and technology in the UK,” said the press release. “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 shine a light on Guildford’s creative talent, and its contribution to the $81bn global games industry.  

“Ukie are delighted to be supporting the first ever Guildford Games Festival this June. 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,” said Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie. “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.”

“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 £5billion annually,” added Chris Burchell, local economy manager at Guildford Borough Council. “We have seen the digital games sector continue to grow steadily over the last decade and it now employs over 1000 people locally. We recently adopted a new Innovation Strategy and a central objective in that document is to support the digital games sector as a priority going forward. The Guildford Games Festival will be an excellent opportunity for businesses and residents to discover more about this dynamic and exciting sector.”