Student event Brains Eden announces return for ninth year

The UK’s largest game festival for students, Brains Eden, is coming back to Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge for its ninth year, with the university’s Cambridge campus hosting a four day event from 30 June to 3 July 2017.

Brains Eden is an interesting mix that brings teams of student games creators from across Europe together for a 48-hour game jam that also includes mentoring opportunities with games professionals, talks from representatives from leading studios and career clinics. The primary aim is for students to showcase their skills directly to the industry and also create a clear path for those students to gain employment in the games sector.

Dr Andy Salmon, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, said: “Anglia Ruskin is already gearing up to deliver the best Brains Eden yet. The event is unique, as it provides students with an excellent opportunity to develop their skills outside the standard curriculum; it allows teams to work together in a pressured environment – closer to the reality of a workplace – developing their resilience, time management and teamwork capabilities. On top of this they receive direct feedback from some of the biggest games companies in the UK – there is nothing else quite like it!”

Brains Eden claims that since its inception it’s been directly responsible for creating 37 internships and eight full time positions at European studios, and the event itself is supported by some big names: PlayStation First, Unity, Jagex, Sumo Digital and Guerilla Cambridge, to name just a few of the partners involved.

Universities that are interested in taking part or companies keen to support the festival should email brainseden@anglia.ac.uk.