It was a full house with 101 game developers gathered at Manchester Metropolitan University‘s Dalton Building – home to it’s computer science and games courses on Jan 28th for Game Republic’s first in-person event of the year. Enjoy a gallery of pics and posts at the end of the feature plus links to more info.
Over seventy companies attended the event from across The North and beyond including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Warrington, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Sheffield, York, Scotland, Birmingham, Germany and London and were treated to insights on trends to watch in 2026 for games, what to watch for in AI and Games, changes to be aware of on employee rights, tips to improve discoverability in 2026, and insights on the landscape in 2026 for investment, publishing, consoles, platforms, new markets, consumers and work for hire. Some of the insights from the presentations will be shared next week. The event formed part of Game Republic’s events and activities for 2026 supported by Official Partners Red Kite Games, Xsolla and Double Eleven.
In addition to the presentations shared by the speakers and panelists Chris Dring (The Game Business), Rebecca Attard-Phillips (Boost Communications), Tommy Thompson (AI and Games), Sarah Brewster (Fresh Seed), Callum Underwood (Uwu biz), Stuart Dinsey (Curve Games), Des Gayle (Day Off Interactive), Jamie Sefton (Game Republic), attendees were also treated to specially created limited edition fortune cookies to help them navigate the year ahead that were a little less scientific, and demos from student teams studying at Manchester Metropolitan University.
MD of Game Republic Jamie Sefton said “We were blown away by the response to this event, feedback so far has been excellent and the high level insights will be so helpful to game studios and those supporting the games industry. It was great to see the room buzzing with people networking before, during and after the event too. A great start to our 2026 events programme across The North.”
A selection of some great social posts and photos courtesy of Arminas Lietuvnikas – games design student at Manchester Metropolitan University
To find out about events on the Great Northern Games Discord, GaMaYo and Game Republic and webinars visit the events page.
If you are interested in becoming a Game Republic member you can apply to join Game Republic here.
If you are developing or supporting games in The North, you can join the Great Northern Games Discord here.
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