Over 250 attendees from more than 150 companies attended Game Republic New Horizons on 16th October at Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough. The event, which was supported by Tees Valley Combined Authority, is a new annual flagship games industry event for the UK in The North. It began with a BAFTA-supported fireside chat with Axel Torvenius, the Creative Director of the worldwide smash hit Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The session included attendees receiving a free Doom: The Dark Ages Shield Saw spinning badge from Bethesda. Alongside the standing room only first session of the day, the conference ended with a packed session for comedian Maisie Adam being interviewed by Chris Dring, Editor-in-Chief of The Game Business.
Plans are already in place for GR New Horizons’ return in 2026 and 2027 with a super super early bird on sale until the end of October 2025.
The conference featured on GamesIndustry.biz, BBC TV news, BBC Radio 5 Live on an interview with Chris Dring and BBC Radio Tees (7.43)
The event formed part of Game Republic’s annual event programme supported by Official Partners Red Kite Games, Barclays Games and Creative and Xsolla. Alongside the event, Game Republic announced Double Eleven would be one of its three Official Partners for 2026.
Overwhelming response
Social media was flooded with posts about the event which was backed by main event sponsors Double Eleven, Behaviour Interactive, Red Kite Games, Xsolla, Kudos QA, Tees Valley Labs and Autodesk.
HaZ Dulull, Beyond The Pixels said “A huge shout out to the Game Republic team for their incredible work championing the creative talent of The North and giving the UK games industry the platform it deserves….Creativity and collaboration should not be confined by regions it should connect us all.”
Raine Reynolds-Osborne, Devroom Vantasia explained “I wasn’t aware of just how much opportunity there was up in the north for startups like my own until I’d visited – it’s something I’m very eager to look into!”
Viki Freeman, Airship commented “Kimberley Turner and Lasse Seppänen, your insights were brilliant, it was a real pleasure to sit alongside you both. No surprise that Double Eleven and Supercell are thriving with leadership like yours.”
Terry Haynes from Tanglewood said “An amazing two days in Middlesbrough for the Game Republic New Horizons event. The VIP event at Double Eleven was incredible.”
Double Eleven posted “You could have heard a pin drop as we were all transported into the World of Indiana Jones….an incredible flagship event with an even more incredible line up of guests. Until next year…”
Joe Appleford, Chillblast said “What a superb couple of days at Game Republic New Horizons. It started with an evening hosted by Double Eleven at their world-class office complex with insights from them and Lasse Seppänen from Supercell followed by a brilliant day at the MFC Riverside Stadium full of insightful talks from across the games industry.”
Calum Purdie, Johnston Carmichael commented “Back from a fantastic couple of days attending the first event New Horizons conference… congrats for delivering such a brilliant event and bringing together the community from across The North of England and beyond! Also for putting on probably the best after party I’ve been to unlimited arcade games and go-karting, what more could you ask for?”
Yasmina Fadel, Maximalist said “Wow wow wow! That is what I am left saying after GR New Horizons. Can’t wait for this again next year. This was genuinely the nicest conference I have ever attended. If you didn’t make it, sorry to say but you seriously missed out, so make a point of coming next year!”
David Lilley, Commercial Director, Kudos QA wrote “Game Republic Game Horizons first outing was a definite success on many levels. It worked for Kudos to meet and discuss requirements with both existing and new clients. It gave us the chance to meet and make new friends. The conference stream featured great speakers on a wide variety of topics, well curated and delivered. Great venue. Great team. We’re re-booking immediately.”
Chris Taylor, Eaton Smith Solicitors commented “What a fantastic day it has been! The carefully curated panels were absolutely on point and I especially enjoyed the international trading panel discussion….Maisie Adam was so interesting (and of course funny) although I am glad it is not just me who can’t play games and hold a conversation at the same time….And the name badge full of wild seeds is just the best idea, full marks to whoever found that as a thing!”
Global studio leads come to GR New Horizons
Attendees representing global studio heads, publishers, creative business leaders, investors, media partners MCV Develop, Games Industry.biz, The Game Business, Mobile Gamer.biz, Pocket Gamer and funding bodies from across the UK and overseas joined together for a range of panels and standing room only presentations from leaders in the game, TV and film sectors as well as an Expo including businesses, researchers, events and studios showing new unreleased games, networking powered by MeetToMatch which resulted in over 150 meetings being booked during the day. The event was supported by students from Middlesbrough College who provided excellent help and guidance for attendees throughout the day.
MD of Game Republic Jamie Sefton said “We are already planning next year’s event based on the response to this conference and expo! It was fantastic to see such a positive response from attendees and people travelling from far and wide to attend this new flagship games industry conference in the UK. We have been overwhelmed by the positive response. What we loved was the honesty on all the panels and the level of expertise generously shared”
Jackie Mulligan added “We are so appreciative of the support we have received from media partners, sponsors, our members, exhibitors and all attendees. We were also delighted to give students at Middlesbrough college an opportunity to work at the event, and they were fantastic! Thanks must also go to the outstanding events teams at Double Eleven and at the Riverside Stadium, Michela Vilinskis from GR and Sally Kevan at TVG events. And thanks so much to everyone who donated to SpecialEffect and bought a raffle ticket from Safe In Our World too.”
Highlights of the Game Republic New Horizons
- A BAFTA interview with Axel Torvenius, MachineGames’ Creative Director of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – with a limited edition Doom badge gift from Bethesda Games for attendees
- A very special The Game Business session with Chris Dring interviewing comedian and Taskmaster contestant Maisie Adam!
- A presentation and panel on the future of funding with Kickstarter’s Head of Games, Asher McClennahan, flying in from the USA, plus other investors including Emma Cooper – UKRI, Chris Filip – BFI and Gina Jackson OBE from Pitchify
- A GR New Horizons Expo showcasing new games, work, events and opportunities with Tees Valley Combined Authority, the Game Academy, IGGI, Huey Games, VOBJ Management, North Breeze Entertainment, Dink, Observer Interactive, Brickmouse and Otterweave Games Studio
- A leadership panel sponsored by Supercell hosted by Elaine Dowman with Viki Freeman – Airship, Kimberley Turner – Double Eleven and Lasse Seppänen – Supercell London
- A transmedia panel sponsored by NextGen Skills Academy looking at AI, tech, robotics, comedy, TV with panelists including HaZ Dulull – Beyond The Pixels, Harvey Hayman – Hat Trick Productions, Emma Torrens – VOBJ Management, Mark Sample – Portal One hosted by Marcia Deakin – NextGen Skills Academy
- A future markets panel with Tony Byus from Japanese indie publisher Rainy Frog – who flew in from Japan and a new markets panel with specialists on European markets, China and beyond including Stefan Lampinen – Game Advisor Ltd, Laura Harper – Lewis Silkin and Paul Sparks – Department of Business and Trade
- Other sessions included Xbox showing off Xbox Play Anywhere and bringing along the new ROG Ally X handheld Xbox (which launched on the same day), Autodesk with a tech deep dive on Flow Production Tracking and an amazing talk by Reflex Arc session by Richard England on working with robots!
Funds raised for charities
The event raised hundreds of pounds for SpecialEffect from the VIP reception at Double Eleven’s award-winning HQ on 15th October and a special lunchtime photo opportunity at the Player Tunnel to the Riverside Stadium with Roary the Lion, MFC’s Mascot. Safe In Our World presented a deep dive into their mental health programme, running a special Lo-Fi zone and also ran a raffle with a chance to win LEGO Bowser. The Prize winner drawn by Maisie Adam was David Cecil. Combined the event raised over £1000 for the partner charities.
After Party Gets Everyone Racing
Attendees were taken by coach to the After Party to enjoy two floors of arcade machines at the incredible Level X with dodgems, VR, karaoke, golf, go-karts at Level X with pizza and drinks until late to celebrate the event. Go-Karts proved most popular with attendees. Huge thanks to Andrew (pizza), Owen and Sharon for making the event so much fun.
Enjoy the gallery of photos and see you next year!!
Anyone interested in joining Game Republic contact gamerepublic.net/join-us and if you are developing or supporting the games industry in The North, join the Great Northern Games Discord
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