THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR YORKSHIRE’S GAMES INDUSTRY (17/04/2008)
The games industry in Yorkshire has a bright future according to representatives from the region's leading games companies who came together to judge the very first Game Republic Student Showcase in Bradford this week. Awards were made in categories for Technical Achievement, Game Art and Game Design at the event, which took place at The University of Bradford on Tuesday.
The judging panel was also an indication of the region's strength as an established global industry hotspot, featuring; Andy Gray (Zoo Digital Publishing), Ian Bowden (Rockstar), Martyn Brown (Team 17), Toby Allen (Sumo Digital), Tim Wharton (Four Door Lemon), Ian Bowden and Alastair Dukes (Rockstar Leeds) and George Bray (MumboJumbo).
The awards were made at a Game Republic event that evening, featuring a panel discussion on the hot topic of video games licensing. Nigel Little, MD of Distinctive Developments and Aaron Ludlow from Mastertronic were joined by legal expert Louise Handley from Lee & Priestley and Emma Cheshire from Screen Yorkshire to debate the issue. Elliot Gay, Game Republic's chair and MD of Gamerholix, James Long from Tuna Technology, Daniel Gallagher of Gamoolasoft, Roger Womack of Sports Director and Andrew McNally from Orange were also in attendance.
Craig Albeck, Project Manager, Game Republic, says:
"The day was a success from start to finish. We set out to put the region's young development talent in the spotlight and they all played up to the occasion. The industry judges were massively impressed with the talent on show, something that was reflected in their endearing tributes to the students during the award ceremony. Yorkshire is already home to 4 of the worlds top 100 performing games companies - if they recruit some of the talent on show, then I'm convinced we will have no problems in adding more Yorkshire companies to that list".
Game Republic Student Showcase Award Winners
GAME ART
1st) Mike Roberts Sheffield Hallam University
2nd) Alex Rabjohns Hull School of Art & Design
3rd) Ashley Mitchell and Tim Ovens Leeds Metropolitan University
GAME DESIGN
1st) Toby Everet Sheffield Hallam University
2nd) Dave McLure Leeds Metropolitan University
3rd) Alex Rabjohns Hull School of Art & Design
GAME TECHNOLOGY
1st) Orn Gunnarsson Sheffield University
2nd) Stanley Haryoto University of Hull
3rd) James Gordon University of Hull & Simon Hayles University of Bradford
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
1st) Leeds Metropolitan University
Jason Brook, Steve Kerrigan, Richard Hetherington, Joe Roe and Kevin Jorge.
2nd) Sheffield Hallam University
Jenny Rathbone, Mike Roberts and Toby Everest.
3rd) University of Bradford
Tim Ingham-Dempster, Laura Elmes, Erni Llenos, Neill McDougall and Charlie Shaw.
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Game Republic, Yorkshire's trade association for the games sector promotes and provides support to games companies based in Yorkshire and Humber. Last year, Game Republic, was fully integrated into Screen Yorkshire, who funded and launched the Game Republic Academy - the UK's first games academy, in Yorkshire. www.gamerepublic.org
