Tag Archives: London

Train2Game News Games Finance Market 2019

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Momentum is building behind the upcoming fourth annual Games Finance Market, part of London Games Festival, which has secured participation from a number of world-renowned investors and game funders.

60 different investors are expected to attend the event on 3 and 4 April in central London, running during the wider 2-14 April 2019 London Games Festival. The event has grown in popularity since its 2016 debut and continues to attract investor heavyweights looking to fund new games businesses and hear innovative pitches.

Recent research has shown that the global appetite for games investments is soaring, with $5.7bn spent on games companies in 2018 – double the amount in 2017.

New to the Market in 2019 are a range of established world-famous investors who haven’t visited before but have been attracted to London and the Games Festival by its unique mix of talent, culture and cost-effectiveness. These include Accel, Balderton Capital, BigBen Interactive, Chucklefish, DMM, ExWorks Capital, Finstock Capital, Gameforge, Kowloon Nights, Private Division, and Triple Dragon.

They join other previously-confirmed attendees including All 4 Games, Altered VC, Authentic Media Group, BFI, Curve Digital, Goldfinch Entertainment, Greenlight Games, Green Man Gaming Publishing, ID@Xbox, Microsoft, London Venture Partners, Marvelous Europe, Miniclip, Northern Ireland Screen, PlayStack and SEGA.

Developers can still apply to be part of the market and get a chance to meet these visiting investors – more information can be found at http://gfm.games.london, while the deadline to apply is midnight GMT on Monday, 18 February 2019.

The Games Finance Market is part of London Games Festival and is backed by the Mayor of London. It is delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency, and video games trade body Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment).

Find out more at www.games.london and follow @londongamesfest for more updates over the coming weeks and months.

Train2Game News Method Dominating WoW eSports

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Powerhouse esports organization Method have officially achieved their 11th World First victory live from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London, defeating all nine bosses in the newest WoW raid before any other guild.

The Race to World First for Battle of Dazar’alor began last Thursday (31/01/19) and Method defeated the final boss, Mythic Jaina Proudmore, live in front of fans on Twitch on Tuesday (05/02/19).

Method were the first guild to ever broadcast a Race to World First when they defeated Battle for Azeroth’s opening raid, Uldir, in record time from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in September last year.

Sco, Gingi, Narcolies, Chrispotter, Perfecto, Deepshades and Cayna, part of the 20 man Method raid guild, battled it out tirelessly to become the first guild in the world to take down Mythic Jaina. The Race to World First saw over 230k views across the Method Twitch channels, with Method’s official channel and guild master Scott “Sco” McMillan’s channel combined seeing 4.49M hours watched last week alone (28/01/19 – 03/02/19.)

“We’re incredibly proud to have achieved another World First. To see such amazing success in terms of viewership a second time around confirms that we’re onto something special by sharing our progress with the community,” said Scott ‘Sco’ McMillan, Co-Founder, Method. “The Red Bull Gaming Sphere has become the perfect base for us to attempt World Firsts. We’ve spent over 96 hours in the space during this raid alone, and having a comfortable environment that’s purpose built to support gaming definitely gave us a competitive edge. Not to mention the unlimited Red Bull to keep us alert and focused throughout.”

Method were the first organisation to recognise the viewership potential of a Race to World First in September when they live streamed their defeat of mythic G’huun, the final boss in Battle for Azeroth’s first raid from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere. Both of Method’s Race to World First streams have seen fantastic viewership and represent an exciting new direction for the esports scene, spearheaded by a world renowned esports organisation in Method.

Train2Game News Interactive Futures Event

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The UK’s newest games conference and festival, Interactive Futures, is delighted to announce full details of the Academic Conference taking place on the first day of the 3 day festival on Thursday 31 January 2019.

The sessions will also be hosted at Warwickshire College and feature a range of esteemed academic speakers.

The Academic Conference will allow academics and researchers, plus school, college and university students an opportunity to enjoy the insights available as part of Interactive Futures. The programme on Thursday 31 January covers a range of topics across 3 key areas; Contexts and Histories, Innovation and Application and Users and Impacts, with 12 individual sessions throughout the day.

Hosted by Warwickshire College, speakers on the programme will be representing University of Birmingham, Coventry University, Staffordshire University, Birmingham City University, Art Institute of Chicago, Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Totem Learning Ltd and, of course, Silicon Spa itself.

Steve Taylor, Dean of Higher Education at Warwickshire College, commented, “We are really pleased to be hosting the Interactive Futures Academic Conference which has an exciting and diverse line-up of speakers who will be presenting research and work which is at the forefront of developments in both leisure and serious gaming. Warwickshire College students are studying Foundation and full honours degrees in Games Art right in the heart of Silicon Spa, and this conference will also be a great opportunity for them to gain insights into the industry, careers and further research opportunities”

Specific sessions at the conference include Historical Perspectives on ‘Serious Gaming’, Exploring Video Games to Teach Digital Skills, The Politics of VR: Who Are We Developing For?, and Can Fantasy Games Impact Behaviour in the “Real World”? among others. The full session timetable can now be viewed at www.interactive-futures.com.

The Academic Conference will form day 1 of the 3 days of Interactive Futures, which will also be hosting sessions across Friday 1 and Saturday 2 February at the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa. Leamington Spa (known as Silicon Spa) is one of the UK’s largest games clusters outside of London, with a wealth of both AAA studios and indie developers at the heart of its success. The cluster employs over 2500 highly skilled individuals and equates to over 10% of the total UK games development workforce.

Other sessions throughout the 3 day event will focus on industry specific technical insight, accessibility in games, access to finance for game developers, the latest in influencer marketing, career opportunities and much more. Speakers include representatives from Playground Games, Playstation, UKIE, Space Ape Games and others. For the latest news please visit www.interactive-futures.com

As well as the conference programme visitors to Interactive Futures can immerse themselves in the Games Showcase, featuring a range of companies showcasing new releases and opportunities throughout the event, as well as a range of soon to be announced Fringe events around the town.

Interactive Futures will take place at the Royal Spa Centre on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 February and will be preceded by the academic conference for colleges and universities at Warwickshire College on Thursday 31st January.

Tickets for the Academic Conference are priced at £50 and are available now from www.interactive-futures.com.

Tickets are also available to purchase as a 2 day festival pass joint with a Friday ticket..

Train2Game News PC Connects London

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Everything you know about PC games development is wrong… or at least it soon will be.

In 2019, the PC games industry is going to change significantly and forever.

Steam’s dominant position is starting to wane with challenges from multiple directions, including renewed competition from the likes of Origin and GOG, newcomers including Discord and Tencent’s WeGame as well as publishing giants like Activision, Bethesda and CD Projekt deciding to go it alone.

Thought to be dead, the streaming market has received a new lease on life with big players like Microsoft, EA and Google adding their considerable weight to this sector, with speculation from top publishers including Ubisoft that this is the industry’s future.

Fellow tech giants Microsoft promise the advent of Netflix for games with new rental models. New cloud tech innovations such as Improbable’s SpatialOS will make it easier than ever to make bigger, more immersive games, whilst other technology such as blockchain will offer new ways to engage and involve users.

Investment and consolidation will continue so we’ll see more companies acquired like Jagex or floated like Team 17.

Meanwhile, the volume of games flooding the market will put ever more pressure on discovery, old-school premium games will be challenged by free-to-play and service-based projects that demand more player time, marketing is more of a challenge than ever and channels will continue to evolve, while the Asian markets’ rise to dominance continues unabated.

PC Connects London
On January 21st and 22nd, 2019, PC Connects London will shine a light on all of these trends and more. It will explain the realities of the current markets, and offer developers, publishers and the whole industry essential strategies to survive and thrive. Plus the continuation of IPOs, acquisitions and new splintered startups.

We’ll bring together representatives of key players from across the ecosystem – the marketplaces, both triple-A and indie publishers, the indie developers, the tool makers and the analysts. We’ll have representatives from the biggest and best companies from all around the world.

500 delegates will hear from 50 speakers from the world of PC gaming as they deliver five conference tracks covering everything from getting your game to market to 2019: The PC Revolution.
https://www.pgconnects.com/london/pc-connects/

Five conference tracks
Kicking things off is the returning State of Play, which will be taking the pulse of the market as it is right now, with our lineup of speakers and overall smart people sharing data to give an indication of what the current zeitgeist is.

Digital Discovery also makes a comeback, giving attendees insight into how to get games noticed in a saturated marketplace where consumers have more choice than ever.

Codeshop: Design and Development replaces last year’s PC Games University, providing technical talks that will take the audience behind the scenes on the biggest games to give them an edge over the competition.

Finishing off the first day is The Long Game which charts the shift from fire-and-forget retail releases and gives insight and advice into running a service-based project – both from a development standpoint and a community/marketing one.

And now the main event – The PC Revolution. This will be looking at the shifts happening in the market right now and looking at what impact they will have on the PC games space. We’ll be covering new tech, changes in the retail space, shifting business models and how to capitalise on emerging markets such as China.

Indies, mobile and blockchain too
As well as the vibrant indie showcase expo space, PC Connects London is also the setting for the first PC Indie Pitch of 2019, kicking off another hot year of competition around the world.

Your ticket will also give you full access to Pocket Gamer Connects with all the benefits of insight from the mobile development ecosystem, as well as our first iteration of Blockchain Gamer Connects on UK soil, shining a light on another disruptive technology.

Book Now!
Early Bird tickets are available now for a 20 per cent discount. Book your tickets at https://www.pgconnects.com/london/registration/

Train2Game News 16-BIT Sky Bar

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REZtron Ltd., invites you to a night at the 16-BIT Sky Bar, A 500ft high SEGA Mega Drive pop – up.

Legendary consoles require legendary settings. There is no greater setting than retro gaming high in the sky with a few drinks, music and a 360° panoramic city view skyline around you that will sure to keep your phone busy…

On ‘Mega Drive Monday’ you’ll be transporting you into the golden era of SEGA gaming with legendary titles on the King of 16-BIT gaming, all on top of UK’s highest DJ bar…(in fact, it’ll be the world’s highest 16-BIT gaming bar!)

The celebration of SEGA’s best-selling console, Mega Drive, which was released in Japan on October 29th 1988 will host 30 legendary games throughout the night on gorgeous CRT TVs and projector screen, including games such as Altered Beast, Moonwalker, Space Harrier II, Thunder Force III, OutRun, Super Thunder Blade, Golden Axe, Aladdin, Cool Spot, Streets Of Rage, Revenge of Shinobi, Shadow Dancer, Sonic 2 , Micro Machines 2, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, Virtua Racing and Gunstar Heroes to name a few..

There will also be music, karaoke and competition running through the evening for the fastest time on Sonic’s Green Hill Zone with prizes giveaways.

Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhzred9Q2qU

The 16-BIT RETROTAINMENT will take place on Level 48 of Capeesh Sky bar, Canary Wharf on Monday October 29th , 6pm til 12am. Tickets can be booked via Eventbrite here or on REZtron.co.uk

Train2Game News London Games Festival 2019 Return

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The London Games Festival will return in 2019 with an extended run and bigger events from 2 April to 14 April across the city.

London Games Festival, backed by the Mayor of London with funding of £1.2m over three years, seeks to make London the games capital of the world. It is delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency, and video games trade body Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment).

Over 65,000 people attended 40 different events across 20 different venues during the 2018 festival. LGF has more games on show than any other global games event with nearly 400 games to play across its events. The Festival has also established itself as a platform for global business in games, connecting attendees with investors to secure deals worth nearly £20m in potential business last April.

The 2019 event will see the return of tentpole activities for the public, including the headline-grabbing Games Character Cosplay Parade and an expanded Now Play This at Somerset House, which will reach more attendees than ever. Overall the festival will provide a wider programme of outdoor events and an even bigger offering for the games developer community – while some of its core programming will focus on the impact games are having on culture, health and the wider creative industries.

Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries, said: “The creative industries are key to our success as a global city and the games industry is a thriving sector bringing jobs and investment to the capital. With the Mayor’s support, the London Games Festival has established itself as a global showcase for London’s cutting-edge games industry and once again shows that the capital is open to innovation and business. I’m delighted that the festival will return bigger and better than ever in 2019.”

Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, said: “The rapidly expanding global games industry delivers vital growth into the UK and London economies as a key, cutting edge component of the phenomenally successful creative industries. Through Games London, we are committed to cementing London’s status as a games leader, working to attract over £40m of potential investment into games businesses over the next three years. The London Games Festival is a key moment in celebrating and showcasing this success, bringing together the brightest and best talent and enabling major new business opportunities.”

Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie and Mayor of London Cultural Board Ambassador, said: “Games and interactive entertainment are an increasingly important part of the creative and cultural offer of London, our capital city. Games London is a hugely valued programme which showcases the talent, innovation and creativity of the sector from across the UK, and demonstrates the impact of what we make on the economy and culture. There is something for everyone at this year’s London Games Festival, which pulls together 12 days of play, with events and hands on fun for families, for fans, all over the city, as well as opening up a critical business focus through the Games Finance Market.”

Highlights of London Games Festival 2019 include:

  • The return of the LGF HUB (Tuesday 2 April and Wednesday 3 April) featuring showcases of start-ups and prototypes, workshops and summits on Games Impact, Games Culture, Convergence and Online Live Games
  • The return of Now Play This at Somerset House, a festival of playful work and experimental game design which is set to be expanded for 2019 after a popular event in 2018
  • The fourth Games Finance Market (Wednesday, 3 April and Thursday 4 April) the only event of its kind in the UK, connecting 60 games studios with 60 global games investors
  • A second phase of Ensemble, Games London’s exhibition profiling key UK-based BAME games talent
  • Games Character Parade (Saturday, 6 April) featuring a parade of cosplayers at key London locations alongside a day of family-oriented activities

Games London is also proud to have internationaly renowned global partners delivering further events during the festival including:

  • London’s largest games event EGX Rezzed (Thursday, 4 April to Saturday, 6 April), a showcase of PC and indie games at Tobacco Dock
  • The BAFTA Games Awards on the evening of Thursday, 4 April

Applications are now open for developers and industry professionals looking to take part in London Games Festival and the wider Games London programme – including the Games Finance Market and Pitch Bootcamp, the second phase of BAME exhibition Ensemble and an upcoming outbound mission to Slush in Helsinki, Finland in December.

Find out more at www.games.london and follow @londongamesfest for more updates over the coming weeks and months.

Train2Game News Retro Gaming Silent Disco on a Yacht

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REZtron Ltd., invites you to a night of SEGA RETROTAINMENT like no other…expect competition, drinks, magic, dancing, silent disco and much more…all on top of Europe’s most exotic Mega Yacht Hotel, Sunborn, moored in the Royal Victoria Dock….

Re-live the golden era of gaming with legendary titles on all four generation of SEGA consoles, Master System! Mega Drive! Saturn! Dreamcast!

  • Legendary games including Golden Axe, OutRun, Space Harrier, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, Altered Beast, Pac-Man, R-Type, Streets of Rage 2,Alien Storm, Sonic 2, Road Rash II, Thunderforce III, Super Monaco GP, California Games,V irtua Racing,Shadow Dancer,Italia ’90, 8 – player Micro Machines 2, Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter 2,SEGA Rally, Virtua Tennis ,Crazy Taxi, House of the Dead 2,Power Stones, Soul Calibur,Marvel Vs Capcom and many more will be there to keep you retrotained…
  • Retro games displayed on Retro CRT TVs and Huge Projector screens on walls and ceiling
  • SILENT DISCO – ( 3 – Channels) Switch between 80s, 90s and even a retro game music channel throughout the night with our amazing LED lit headphones
  • Dance , Sing and Play retro games in front of a stunning panoramic view of the city skyline that’ll sure to keep your phone busy
  • Sonic speed run Competition + Prizes Giveaway!
  • WIN AN ORIGINAL MEGA DRIVE + Sonic the Hedgehog game
  • Stay inside the sky bar or check out the top deck with a gorgeous view of London (one for all you sunset instagrammers!)
  • Photographer will be there capturing all the antics
  • Welcoming drink sponsored by Asahi

AND MORE….

8, 16, 32 and 128-BIT Yacht Retrotainment Awaits…

Video of last Yacht Retrotainment:

The Mega Yacht Retrotainment experience will take place on Friday August 31st, 6pm til 12am at Sunborn. Tickets are £20 and can be registered through Eventbrite.

Further details on REZtron’s upcoming events or for retro gaming private hire & corporate bookings please visit Reztron.co.uk or email events@reztron.co.uk
For up to date news on our retrogaming geekery please check us out on the following social media channels…

Twitter: @theREZtron
Facebook: facebook.com/theREZtron
Instagram: instagram.com/REZtron

Train2Game News Esports Academy Workshop

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EOB Esports Academy, the UK’s first esports academy for anyone between the ages of 7 to 30 looking to understand the business of esports, is proud to announce a partnership with Riot Games for their first tournament at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London.

EOB Esports Academy aims to help guide new talent by offering opportunities to learn everything from esports team creation, event management through to game design and 3D modelling.

The team have partnered with Riot Games for their first tournament which will see 13 budding esports professionals take part in this one-of-a-kind course, funded by the Prince’s Trust. Over the last four weeks League of Legends players have been developing the skills needed to manage a successful team, understand the challenges and the roles of an esports player, and most importantly, understand how to work as a team.

The students have been involved in a series of masterclasses and workshops with esports players and industry professionals and will now come face to face in the final day of their course where their plans are put into action with their first tournament at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London on 19th August.

EOB Esports Academy’s creator Steven Godwin says, “Riot Games have been a big inspiration for starting the EOB Esports Academy, I could see how young people could become stronger individuals by playing League of Legends. The guys at Riot Games have been very supportive and through a chance meeting with Mo Fadl head of esports, we started making this course a reality.”

Mo Fadl, Head of Esports at Riot Games said: “Riot is committed to furthering the esports ecosystem and providing new talent with an opportunity to learn and grow. We are very excited to help the EOB Esports Academy with their first tournament. Having spoken to the students taking part I can already see myself working for them in the future!”

EOB Esports Academy runs a number of workshops and events throughout the year. If you would like to find out more information please visit: http://wuwomedia.com/

Train2Game News EGX Rezzed 2019

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Gamer Network, organisers of the UK’s premier games events, is delighted to announce that EGX Rezzed will return to London’s Tobacco Dock on the 4th-6th April 2019.

Now in its eighth year and powered by Virgin Media, EGX Rezzed is the world’s premier indie games event and an essential destination for both creators and consumers. Over 200 individual playable games are expected at 2019’s event, spread over 600 playing positions with PC and console formats represented.

A packed schedule of talks and panel sessions covering a range of topics including exclusive updates on major titles, deep dive insights into specific areas of game development and invaluable career advice from experienced professionals will take place in the event’s numerous theatre spaces.

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet their favourite video content creators with Outside Xbox, Eurogamer and Rock Paper Shotgun teams all expected to participate in the event.

The renowned Leftfield Collection will return for 2019 offering a platform to creators whose games sit outside the mainstream the chance to exhibit their projects for free to a passionate audience.

EGX Rezzed 2019 is set to be the biggest in the event’s history with additional space now available within Tobacco Dock, the beautiful listed building in the heart of London which has hosted the event since 2015.

EGX Rezzed is once again partnered with BAFTA with the independent charity set to have a presence on the event’s show floor. The BAFTA Games Awards will take place on Thursday 4th April at a venue set to be revealed later this year.

EGX Rezzed 2019 takes place from the 4th-6th April at Tobacco Dock in London. Tickets will go on sale in the autumn.

Train2Game News Nintendo Labo at KidZania

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Nintendo UK, the worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment and KidZania London, the indoor city run by kids, and, are excited to announce a new partnership and the launch of their Nintendo Labo workshop experience.

Nintendo Labo is a series of DIY kits crafted to work with the hugely popular Nintendo Switch console. By assembling sheets of cardboard into almost anything – a motorbike, a fishing rod, a 13-key piano or even a robot suit – and combining them with the Nintendo Switch console – kids will be able to bring their creations to life – from winning a race, catching a fish, to performing a song!

Together with the Nintendo Switch console, the Nintendo Labo kits provide the tools and technology to make fun interactive DIY creations, play with them using the Nintendo Switch and discover and learn how Nintendo Switch technology shapes ideas into reality.

Eddie Kemsley, CEO at KidZania comments: “We are hugely excited to have Nintendo UK on board as a new partner in the city. Nintendo Labo™ offers a unique take on video gaming and method of play, and its ability to encourage creativity and learning in children is something that we encourage through all of our activities in the city”.

Nintendo is one of the worldwide pioneers in the creation of interactive entertainment and the mastermind behind some of the best-known and top-selling videogame consoles and games.

The partnership aims to inspire future design engineers by exploring different ways to create and invent, and by taking part in the Nintendo Labo™ Workshop experience within the city, kids will take on a journey through the Make, Play and Discover pillars of Nintendo Labo.

Once kids have completed the activity, they will get to keep their RC Car which they create during the workshop as well as receive a Nintendo Labo Workshop completion certificate as a token of their achievement. They will also receive a salary of 8 KidZos – the KidZania currency that kids can spend on activities throughout the city.

Nicolas Wegnez, General Manager, Nintendo UK comments: “We are thrilled to be bringing a Nintendo Labo workshop experience for kids to enjoy. The Nintendo Labo Workshop is designed to inspire creative minds and playful hearts alike and we hope that each and every child that undertakes the workshop will leave with a smile on their face having enjoyed making, playing and discovering with Nintendo Labo”.

KidZania London offers 4-14-year old’s real-life activities, spanning across 75,000 square feet. Blending learning with reality and entertainment, each career at KidZania is developed to teach kids essential life skills including financial literacy, teamwork and independence.

Designed to empower and entertain kids, KidZania gives children the chance to challenge themselves and explore the world of opportunities. If your child has ever dreamt of becoming a pilot, a firefighter or the next award-winning actor, watch the excitement on their faces as they try out real life activities! The concept effectively gives them their first taste of independence and gets kids thinking about what they might want to be in the future.

To find out more visit http://www.kidzania.co.uk/