London Games Festival launched by a blocky Boris Johnson
Minecraft MP sets out plans to give gaming the spotlight
Look out London – the government is about to get serious about gaming, with a £1.2m investment encouraging new talent to come to the capital.
Games London is a new partnership between Film London, UKIE (the UK’s games trade body) and the Mayor’s office, which will include 10 days jam-packed with events aimed at making London a go-to destination for dev teams.
Boris Johnson even got downloaded into MineCraft to make the announcement. In between revealing where the funding would be going, the MineCraft Mayor took in a tour of London built from blocks. No sign of a digital Downing Street though…
Running from the 1st to the 10th of April, the Games London schedule will include the BAFTA Games Awards, an exhibition at Somerset House, talks at the British Film Institute, and EGX Rezzed, one of the biggest public games shows in the UK.That’s a lot for gamers to get involved with, and businesses will have their own dedicated event to help lock down developers and publishers.
The UK is already home to some big names like Rockstar North, Creative Assembly, Lionhead and Rebellion. The new project aims to entice more developers and publishers, both home-grown and from overseas, to make London their base.
Over half of the UK games industry is located in London and the South East already, so any new arrivals would soon feel right at home. The Video Games Tax Relief scheme that launched two years ago will give tax breaks on top of the Games London investment, too.
Germany and France have Gamescom and Paris Games Week, but London hasn’t had anything on the same scale since 2012, when the month-long games festival finally closed its doors. Hopefully Games London will turn that around.
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Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
