The EM3 backed Guildford Games Festival once again promoted the region’s global-leading games industry to a worldwide audience
The Festival returned for a third year in December 2021, and was streamed online worldwide via Twitch with games on sale via Steam – the world’s largest digital distribution platform for PC games with up to 21 million users at any one time.
Enterprise M3 sponsored the event again along with Media Molecule, Microsoft, Hello Games, EA Criterion, Supermassive, Nordisk Games Perpetual, BDO, the University of Surrey, and Guildford Borough Council.
Viewers were treated to insights from gaming industry experts, including EA Criterion, the team behind hugely popular gaming franchises like Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront, and Need for Speed, and Media Molecule, creators of Little Big Planet.
Guildford Council leader and EM3 board member Cllr Joss Bigmore said:
We are committed to supporting the gaming industry to thrive in our borough and sponsoring Guildford Games Festival is one way we’re doing this.
We have 70 video games companies based here, employing more than 1,800 people, which means that we make up over 10% of the UK game industry workforce. This is an incredible achievement for our town, especially as the video games industry is now worth over £150billion globally, with the UK videogames market reaching a record £7billion last year.
Sam Read, Sector Specialist at Enterprise M3, said:
2022 will mark 35 years of game development history in Guildford and the sector is growing faster than ever. We hope that the festival will inspire local residents towards a rewarding career in games, they live in the perfect place for it.
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie, said:
The Guildford video games cluster has played a major role in the development of one of the nation's most economically valuable and culturally significant national creative industries.
Lauran Carter, Head of Communications at Liquid Crimson, added:
The Guildford Games community has given players across the globe some of the most beautifully imagined universes and utterly unforgettable gaming experiences for decades.
Personally, the Guildford Dev scene has given me a career and the chance to work alongside passionate creatives -not to mention real life heroes of mine - daily. I couldn't be prouder to be a part of organising and hosting the Guildford Games Festival.
My colleagues at Liquid Crimson and I believe that shining a spotlight on the astonishingly talented creatives in our hometown is vital to raising awareness within the broader Guildford community, as well as helping to bring yet more talented developers to Guildford.
Besides fostering greater collaboration within the cluster, Enterprise M3 is helping to land foreign direct investment opportunities for the region in collaboration with the Department for International Trade. In 2020 Enterprise M3 presented the region as an area of High Potential Opportunity to trade and investment staff at UK embassies around the world.
From 1 April 2024, the responsibility for LEP functions across the Enterprise M3 LEP region has transferred to Hampshire County Council and Surrey County Council.
The Enterprise M3 Board met for the last time in March 2024 and Enterprise M3 LEP is no longer operating as an organisation.
For any enquiries relating to economic development across the counties of Hampshire and Surrey, please visit the Hampshire County Council website and Business Surrey respectively.
Please note that Enterprise M3 LEP staff have transferred to Hampshire County Council to continue to deliver services and activities in Hampshire, including the Growth Hub, the Careers Hub, work on key business sectors, and trade and investment.
They can be contacted at economic.development@hants.gov.uk.
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