Tag Archives: Games Industry Jobs

Train2Game News Soho Social

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SpaceApeLondon based games studio, Space Ape Games, are holding their second Soho Social event and this time they are sending out a challenge to other companies to come with their game face.

The event is being held at the Space Ape studios in Soho Square on Thursday 30th October from 6pm. If you come in fancy dress then you and your colleagues might be in the running for the “best dressed” crown, but you’ll have to beat the Space Ape team first! If dressing up isn’t your thing then just come and enjoy great food, great foosball and even better company @Soho_Social.

The previous Soho Social saw over 100 attendees with the likes of Apple, Google, King, Natural Motion and many more join together in a relaxed evening of World Cup football, food, drink and foosball. With an ever growing industry, Space Ape decided to create an event to bring like-minded local companies closer together in a laid back environment. Their aim is to grow the event to become a regular “go to” gathering for people in the tech and gaming industry.

Places are limited so get your name on the list now and enjoy Halloween early with a little help from those friendly fellows at Space Ape Games. For more information about Space Ape Games, as well as career opportunities at the studio, check out www.spaceapegames.com

Train2Game News Fishinabottle looking for Junior Web Developer

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fishinabottleLeamington Spa based Games Developer on the hunt for Junior team member.
Details of the position copied from the Developer’s website below.

Junior App/Web Developer – Leamington Spa
Position type: Permanent
We’re on the lookout for an enthusiastic and ambitious Junior Web Developer
to join us.

This is a role with involvement in the technical design, development and
delivery of app, websites and server applications. You will enjoy working
with an interesting range of technologies deployed over a wide variety of
innovative projects, from apps through to on demand application and social
media platforms, for our high profile clients including Disney, the BBC and
Channel 4.

Expected technical skills:

. HTML5/Javascript/CSS3
. Apache/PHP/MySQL
. Popular web and mobile frameworks
. Knowledge of iOS or Android app development is an advantage

The ideal applicant will be enthusiastic, efficient, highly organised and
motivated with a solid digital understanding. You will work simultaneously
across a range of projects, many of them fast paced, delivering world class
products.

As an individual you will be solutions-driven, with an eye for detail and
have a natural interest in the latest digital innovations.

We’re one of the UK’s original and most successful digital production
studios that is structured in a way that’s designed to bring out the very
best in the people who work here.

You’ll be working in a relaxed, creative studio environment (a converted
chapel!) with perks including flexible working hours, free drinks and plenty
of social events.

What else can we offer you?

. You can manage your own working hours with our flexitime system
. The Fridge of Dreams provides free drinks – currently Peroni,
various wines, Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi Max, Dr Pepper and fruit juices
. Free and unlimited posh coffee (Lavazza right now) as well as
speciality coffees and a range of fancy teas
. Personal Development Time and unlimited access to Lynda.com
. Membership to our cinema club in our own cinema with free popcorn
and drinks
. A range of funded social events – theme parks, go karting, superhero
days, bake offs and curry and beer nights etc
. Free fruit
. A cake on your Birthday

We offer a competitive package and a friendly, supportive working
environment.

To apply for this role please click APPLY to submit your CV and covering
letter. Please include links to live examples of your work, without these we
cannot progress your application.

This job is located at a Leamington Spa studio, please consider your ability
to commute or relocate when applying.

We are only able to process applications from candidates who are eligible to
work in the UK

For details of how to apply, visit:
http://www.fishinabottle.com/jobs/junior-appweb-developer

Train2Game News Steam Game Discoverability

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Valve logoValve has made some major changes to the way users discover games on its digital distribution platform Steam.

The new Discovery Update revamps the store’s home page and presents recommendations based on past purchases, recent gameplay and friend recommendations.

Also new is the curators list. Users can create their own list of games, based on a sci-fi theme for example, and recommend games based on their tastes for other players to see and subscribe to.

Steam will still retain some of its more traditional elements however, such as displaying popular new releases, recently updated games and top sellers. Users though will now be able to customise their homepage to display which of these categories they want to see.

Game searching has also been updated, and now allows users to discover titles by entering a tag or a basic description of a game they would be interested in playing.

Through a new traffic data analytics system, developers will be able to see where their game is appearing on the store, how many times it has been shown, and if those impressions have resulted in game page views.

The revamp is Valve’s response to the growing number of games being released on Steam. Since January, 1,300 new titles have been added to the marketplace, a significant increase on previous years and more than a third of the store’s total lifetime releases.. In total there are now more than 3,700 games on Steam.

Source: Develop

Train2Game News Student offering her artistic skills

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LUC52101Train2Game Student and three time game jam winner, Chloe Martin is offering her artistic skills and knowledge to those in need.

Chloe is on the art and animation course and was previously a member of Digital Mage, along with my self, who were featured at The Gadget Show Live in 2012 as part of the Make Something Unreal Live contest sponsored by Epic Games.

After her continued success through previous game jams Train2Game invited her to be a mentor at the last game jam in April which she did an excellent job as. Using her knowledge and talents to help new students.

She is now looking to update and improve her portfolio by offering to help other Train2Game students with their coursework or any projects they may be working on. Chloe is a highly talented artist and will be a huge asset to your work.

Chloe is primarily a 2D artist but also can do 3D work if need be, dependant on what you are looking for in your project or coursework. This will be something she will be doing in her own spare time as she does have a full time job and is continuing to study on her own course.

You can find samples of her work on the forum by following this link: http://www.forum.train2game.com/album.php?albumid=485

This is just a very small fraction of the work she can do and she will provide more examples on request.

If you are interested and want to contact Chloe you can email her at booya127@live.co.uk

Train2Game News GDC Next survey results

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GDC NextThe Game Developers Conference (GDC) Next 2014 has released the results of the first annual Game Discovery Survey, which has uncovered emerging trends and attitudes from a pool of game industry professionals on launching and popularizing games.

Among the many trends revealed in the survey is the finding that first party platform holders and YouTube personalities are seen as the most effective forms of publicity among participating developers.

The GDC Next 2014 Game Discovery Survey was created by UBM Tech Game Network, organizers of the Game Developers Conference, to better understand the contemporary game industry before the start of GDC Next 2014.

Platform gatekeepers and popular YouTubers are seen to be the most effective publicity for games. YouTube has long been viewed as a powerful tool in publicizing new releases, and the survey now reveals that developers view YouTube personalities, along with first party platform holders, as the most effective avenues for publicity.

Specifically, being featured on digital storefronts like Steam or PlayStation Network, coupled with extensive video playthroughs on YouTube were seen as most positively affecting product visibility. 36.6% of respondents seeing platform holders as the most effective publicity, with popular YouTube personalities capturing 24.8% of responses. By comparison, community engagement and being featured on a popular video game website received 15.6% and 14.5% of responses, respectively.

Elsewhere, the majority of participating developers (73.4%) agreed with the statement “platform holders aren’t doing enough to improve discoverability on digital storefronts.” These results suggest that platform holders can do more to meet the needs of game makers, potentially finding more personalized recommendation methods for consumers.

Developers are largely split between traditional press and YouTube personalities as most trustworthy however. Despite an increasing priority towards prominent YouTube video features, developers surveyed were found to be largely split when asked whose opinion on games they trusted the most, YouTubers or traditional press/media. YouTube personalities narrowly won out with 55.75% of votes versus the traditional press, which received 44.25% of responses.

Is it the game, the promotion, or both that makes a title shine commercially? 69.3% of developers agreed that good promotion and making a good game were equally important to success, with 23% responding that making a good game was more important to success than promoting it well. Only 7.7% of respondents felt that good promotion is more important than game quality when it comes to achieving commercial success.

The GDC Next 2014 Game Discovery Survey tabulates the responses and observations of more than 300 game industry professionals/

For more information on GDC Next, please visit http://www.gdcnext.com/

Train2Game News EGX 2014 Line Up

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EGX 2014Gamer Network, one of the world’s leading games media businesses, today announces exclusive details of the line-up available at the forthcoming EGX consumer show.

EGX, formerly known as the Eurogamer Expo, is the UK’s biggest video games show with over 80,000 gamers visiting London’s Earl’s Court over four days (25th-28th September 2014).

EGX is a celebration of all things gaming, from getting a career in the industry and getting invaluable insight into the development process from the experts, to coming dressed as your favourite games character or showcasing your skills in one of the competitive arenas.

At the heart of the show are the games themselves, and this year’s show will house more games than ever, with more opportunities for attendees to get their hands on this year’s hottest titles, weeks and even months before their actual release dates.

Microsoft once again supports the show with a full line-up including Sunset Overdrive, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Forza Horizon 2, Project Spark and Fable Legends while Sony will be presenting over 30 titles including The Last of Us Remastered, The Order 1886, Driveclub and Bloodborne.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and Assassin’s Creed Unity join the recently announced Mortal Kombat X along with the next in the much-loved Lego series from Warner, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. The CD Projekt development team will also be showcasing the highly anticipated The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Previously announced games available to play early include SEGA’s Alien Isolation, Deep Silver’s Dead Island 2 and Escape Dead Island, 2K’s award-winning Evolve, and EA’s Battlefield Hardline.

In addition to the blockbuster games on show, the event will also host EGX Rezzed, a space where developers of all sizes will be showcasing their new releases including the much talked about Gang Beasts by Boneloaf, Volume by Mike Bithell and Heat Signature by Tom Francis. This year’s event also includes the Leftfield Collection, a curated show of games from the newest and most promising indie developers of the future.

A full list of games can be found at: www.egxlondon.net/whats-on/show-floor

A number of Competitive Gaming events will be held over the four days including the EGX Fight Zone featuring Capcom Pro Tour, a Nintendo Life Mario Kart 8 Tournament, EGX Dota 2 Challenge in association with Epic.LAN and a League of Legends Tournament to be streamed live on GFinity.

In addition to the games available to play, the event includes a careers fair for anyone looking to work in the industry along with number of Developer Sessions with talks from some of the world’s leading games makers. These include an exclusive announcement from OlliOlli developer Roll7; new details from Techland on the eagerly anticipated Dying Light and the latest on Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’s Lead Designer, Bob Roberts.

For the second year running a dedicated Cosplay stage will feature parades, workshops and competitions, and visitors are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite characters. The show even hosts a retro gaming section, including games from the past 30 years should attendees fancy a trip down memory lane.

Last year saw a number of politicians, celebrities and leading YouTubers attend EGX, an event that is gaining a reputation for one of the most cutting-edge and colourful consumer shows in the world.

Train2Game News UKIE outlines new manifesto for games industry

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UKIE LogoOn Tuesday, Ukie, in partnership with Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft, hosted its largest ever Westminster Political Reception to announce a range of policy recommendations and to celebrate the cultural and economic importance of the UK games sector.

The event, held at Millbank Tower, was attended by more than 200 members, MPs, Peers, policy makers and industry figures from a range of creative industry sectors.

The event saw the launch of the new Ukie Policy Manifesto for the next Parliament that outlines initial plans for how to further grow the UK games sector following the introduction of tax breaks earlier this year, and the introduction of the new Computing curriculum earlier this week.

Created with input from Ukie’s members, the Policy Manifesto calls for action on three headline areas of policy support:

· Support to help UK games companies grow across the UK – including regulatory stability, better infrastructure and a long term roadmap where games businesses can access public funding and support proportionate to the other screen industries

· Promotion of the UK games industry abroad – demonstrating that the UK is one of the leading videogame industries in the world, including a focus on funding, fully supporting and working with industry on trade and investment activity such as trade missions and helping UK businesses to reach overseas marketplaces

· Building a strong and diverse talent pipeline – including supporting the new Computing Curriculum, investing in careers guidance and extending and making permanent the Skills Investment Fund

The reception heard from Justin Tomlinson MP, PPS to Ed Vaizey, on the work that the coalition government has done to support the UK games sector.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: ““The UK games industry is going from strength to strength, recovering some of the ground lost to other countries over the last few years. This growth has been helped very much by the hard work put in by Ukie and the major policy initiatives introduced by this government, such as a new computing curriculum and the recent introduction of production tax relief. However, more can of course be done and in my new role working closely with Ed Vaizey I very much welcome Ukie’s new Policy Manifesto and look forward to discussing its recommendations with Jo and her team in more detail over the coming months.”

The guests also heard from Dr Jo Twist, CEO of Ukie, and Roy Stackhouse, General Manager for Activision Blizzard UK and Ireland, discussing Ukie’s manifesto proposals and the strength of the UK as a place to make games.

Ukie CEO, Dr Jo Twist said: “We were delighted by the introduction of games industry tax relief earlier this year but quickly realised that it is essential that we maximise the opportunities that the new scheme presents. We have therefore spent the last six months speaking to our members from across the breadth of our sector about the measures that they would like to see the UK government introduce to truly put the UK’s games industry on the global map. Our Policy Manifesto outlines our members priority asks and we will be following this up with more detailed papers and briefings to MPs to continue our push to make this the best country in the world to make and sell games.”

UK MD of Ubisoft, Rob Cooper commented on the importance of the Westminster Reception in maintaining a positive view of the UK games sector: “Events like these are vital in showing the significance of the UK games industry, both culturally and economically, to a high profile audience of policy makers and other VIPs. We are delighted to support this year’s event and Ukie’s work generally in giving a voice to UK games businesses of all sizes from multinationals like Ubisoft, to smaller developers, making and selling some of the most vibrantly creative interactive entertainment in the world.”

Guests at the reception had a chance to play some of Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard’s latest titles including Valiant Hearts: The Great War, Just Dance 2014, Diablo III and Skylanders: Trap Team. Charity Special Effect were also there demonstrating their latest innovations to help young people with different abilities enjoy games.

You can find Ukie’s Policy Manifesto for the New Parliament here: http://ukie.org.uk/news/2014/09/ukie-westminster-reception

Train2Game News Blizzard hire Hearthstone player

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HearthstoneA professional gamer has been hired by Blizzard to work on updates for the massively popular Hearthstone.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is the card game based on the MMO World of Warcraft. Announced at the Penny Arcade Expo in March 2013, the game entered open beta in January 2014, and was released in March 2014. Hearthstone is available on the Microsoft Windows and OS X operating systems and on iPad and Windows 8 Touch devices. iPhone and Android tablet platform releases are planned for the second half of 2014. As of March 2014, Hearthstone has more than 10 million player accounts registered worldwide.

One of those players, Ryan Materson, has now been employed by Blizzard as an associate designer and is expected to help with balancing the game for the new updates.

Materson, who is known as Realz, was the team leader of professional Hearthstone team, Mana Grind, before they disbanded. He is one of the most respected and talented professional players and this is what caught the eye of Blizzard.

On Reddit Materson said “This is a truly exciting opportunity for me, and (to rephrase from the words of someone I have long admired, who once entered a similar position) I hope my association with the continuing development of Hearthstone will serve to comfort fellow ladder grinders, competitors and players at large that ‘one of us’ is behind the scenes looking out for the interests of the play. I really can’t wait to get started”.

Train2Game News eSports at EGX

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EurogamerGamer Network is delighted to announce an agreement with Gfinity, the leaders in eSports, to provide an exciting competitive gaming feature at this year’s EGX London.

EGX London 2014 is set to become the UK’s largest ever dedicated gaming event with 80,000 attendees expected to fill two floors of London’s Earls Court.

The Gfinity stand will give EGX attendees a comprehensive eSports experience allowing them to meet pro-gamers, take part in mini tournaments with their friends and get tips on becoming a pro.

League of Legends fans are in for a treat and will be immersed in the full eSports experience across the four days as they get a chance to take part in mini competitions with plenty of great prizes up for grabs.

Also, with the release of FIFA 15 scheduled for the week of the event, Gfinity will stage a 4 person, FIFA 15 tournament featuring 4 of the UK’s biggest FIFA You-Tubers in a one-off exhibition match.

David Lilley, MD of Gamer Events, said: “We were impressed by the energy and enthusiasm that Gfinity bring to eSports. We’re excited by the prospect of working with them to provide a fantastic competitive gaming experience to our audience.”

Martin Wyatt, Head of Content & Partner Relations at Gfinity, said: ““We are going to provide some exciting and entertaining competition with the gaming community – everyone who visits EGX can come to our stand, game like a pro and talk to us about getting into eSports. We are excited to be a partner of this great event and look forward to helping others get involved.”

News from #Train2Game Sega advertising again

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Capture Sega Logo_59068Job Type:Permanent
Areas of Expertise:QA and Localisation
Region:UK
Company: SEGA Europe Ltd

Position Overview
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK IN THE COMPUTER VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY?
SEGA’s Development Services team is looking for bright and motivated people to join us as Functionality Testers (or Games Testers as they’re more commonly known).
Getting the chance to work on SEGA titles before they hit the shops, you’ll be responsible for testing our titles to ensure they play as the developers intended them to and that they’re free from any ‘bugs’.
These positions are an excellent opportunity for people wanting to start a career in an industry which is fast paced, dynamic and above all fun!
Based at our offices in West London, positions are currently available on our Early Shift (7.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday) and our Late Shift (3.00pm to 10.30pm, Monday to Friday).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
– Follow a test script in a thorough and consistent manner
– Use test scripts and testing skills to finds bugs and identify the severity and risk to the business
– Enter professional, clear, accurate and complete bug descriptions (e.g. using the correct naming conventions, what the bug is, steps to reproduce etc)
– Follows instructions accurately and in a timely manner
– Honestly and effectively communicate important issues and actively work with colleagues when needed
– Assist with coordination of group-based testing

Additional:
– If required, the job holder may be expected to work outside normal office hours, including weekends and/or bank holidays, when necessary. The job holder may also be required to work offsite if necessary.
– The job holder may be expected to execute any additional requests or instructions issued by senior staff or other members of the management team that are suitable to your job remit.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
– Experienced games player with the ability to familiarise with game-play elements rapidly
– High standards of work and willingness to meet and exceed expectations
– Adaptability and willingness to improve processes and own development
– Proactively help and assist colleagues and maintain a ‘can do’ attitude when under pressure
– Clear and concise communicator both written and verbally
– Technical proficiency with Microsoft Office applications
– Ability to work unsupervised and maintain focus and commitment
– Maintain an adaptable approach to testing
– Flexibility to work additional hours if necessary
– Passion and enthusiasm for the role and the company.

If you’re interested in this opportunity then apply now by sending your completed application form and CV across to gamestesters@sega.co.uk
To download an application form please follow this link:
http://www.sega.com/jobs/Games_Tester_Application_Form.doc
Please note, only applications with completed application forms and CV’s attached will be considered.