LGF kicks off Earls Court next month

Plans for the UK games industry’s fourth week-long celebration of video games are starting to shape up.

This year’s London Games Festival will kick off with a high-profile opening ceremony at Earls Court on September 30th, and for the next month take in a raft of industry events – culminating in the London Games Conference on November 4th.

The first wave of events for the capital-wide festival have been confirmed (see box on right), and more Festival partners are to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

This year organisers want to make a splash in the mainstream media and reach beyond the typical games industry. Westminster and charity events are planned along with the B2B and B2C elements of the festival.

We’ve had a fantastic response from the industry to London Games Festival and interest in participating has been excellent,” Kirsty Payne, director of the London Games Festival told MCV.

We really want London Games Festival to be a completely inclusive variety of events. It will promote the interactive entertainment industry in a positive light, with something for everyone including consumers, press, publishers and developers.

We want the festival to be talked about throughout the media. You don’t have to be fashionable to know when London Fashion Week is on and you don’t have to be a gamer to know about London Games Festival.”

Key dates announced for LGF so far include:

* Launch Event – Earls Court, September 30th
* GamesAid Party – October 1st
* Eurogamer Expo – Earls Court, October 1st-3rd
* Games Media Awards – Bloomsbury Ballroom, October 14th
* Golden Joystick Awards – Westminster Bridge Park Plaza, October 29th
* MCM Expo – Excel, October 29th-31st
* TIGA One Day Summit – October 27th
* London Games Conference – BAFTA, November 4th

Confirmed events still to be dated include: BAFTA’s Annual Fellowship Keynote, SpecialEffect Accessible Gaming Event and Great Ormond Street Hospital School Gaming Day.