Game Republic welcomed more than 300 students, course leaders and games companies to the annual Game Republic Careers Conference at the University of Salford on the 18th June, following another successful Game Republic Student showcase the day before.
The Game Republic Careers Conference was a packed day of talks, panels, roundtables, portfolio reviews, industry 1-1s, pitching sessions and an expo for Game Republic’s educational partners. The GR Careers Conference formed part of the Game Republic 2026 event programme supported by Strategic Partner Steel City Interactive and Official Partners Red Kite Games, Xsolla and Double Eleven. Game Republic MD, Jamie Sefton shared his thoughts on the day saying
“It’s inspiring to see students engaging so confidently with studios, sharing their work and building the connections that will shape the future of their careers and the UK games industry. Events like this are about creating opportunities, and it’s clear there’s an incredible generation of developers, artists and designers ready to make their mark.”
The day started with Future of Play Lightning Talks on the latest research from Game Republic educational partners Leeds Beckett University, University of Salford, Manchester Metropolitan University and Game Republic members Blaze Games to name a few. Topics ranged from modelling player emotions in multiplayer games, generative game design, ecological citizenship in youth work through Minecraft, procedural music on the gaming experience, play as a portal to better work, game engine use in creating immersive experiences, knowledge exchange and co creation and project based learning in Unreal Engine. Research presented included papers and work led by Callum Steele, Adam Hart, Alex Brooke, Anthea Nelson, Amit Pate, Daniel Maktabi, Neta Yodovich and Jack Murrell.
The University of Salford Media City campus lobby bustled with students, eager to meet studios as well as attend panels, portfolio reviews, career roundtables and even pitching sessions for their games. Companies attending the event included Team17, 10:10 Games, Wushu Studios, Silver Lining Interactive, Otterweave Games Studio, Cast Iron Games, Snappy Gurus, Sumo Digital, Ceratops Games, Lucid Games, Hardly Hyperbolic, University of Salford, Tanglewood Games, Infinity27, Krisp Games, Sophophobia, Canalside Studios, Tankmania, Lunafield Games and Dodgefathers.
Game Industry Careers
Panels took place throughout the day, starting with the “Early Careers and the Current Games Industry”, hosted by Jackie Mulligan, Game Republic. Panelists included Lauren Sears, Wushu Studios James Arnold, Senior Producer at Team17 Lauren Taylor, Snappy Gurus and Emily Brown, Void Interactive. Students were given valuable insights into early careers in the game industry and how transferrable skills can benefit career paths.
The “Understanding Freelancing and Contract Working”, hosted by Andy Coley, Leadership is a skill, discussed how to navigate freelancing and contracting options within the game industry. The panel saw Emma Nuttall, Creative writer Nathan Buckley, Founder / Indie Developer at Bad Tasty Tom Leighton, Atomhawk and Simon Smith, Ludo Game Labs join Andy to provide insights and understanding around the topic.
The afternoon then introduced a panel on “What are employers actually looking for from applicants?” hosted by Michela Vilinskis, Game Republic. Guests to the panel saw Lauren Sears, Wushu Studios, Warren Leigh, Cast Iron Games, Kyle Hatch, Associate Technical Director at Sumo Digital, Madison Riley, Lucid Games and Sam Myatt, Tanglewood Games. Panellists discussed the various skills studios look for and how to stand out from other applicants.
The final panel of the day, with returning host Jackie Mulligan who was joined by panellists Harún Ali, Bad Reaction Games, Lewis Rafter, Ceratops Games, Marco Ng, Otterweave Games, Stephen Hey, Hey Stephen Hey and Nathan, Bad Tasty. The panel centred around “Starting & Funding Your Own Business”, providing attendees with insights on funding options available when starting your own business and support available. Reflecting on the event, Game Republic Community and Events Officer Michela Vilinskis said
“It’s been great to see the enthusiasm shown by students. This event really help to next showcase the next generation of developers, artists, and designers build valuable industry connections and prepare for successful careers in the UK games sector. This event is a key part of our annual work to support students and graduates through the GR Student Club and more.”
Game Republic would like to thank the staff of the University of Salford for putting on such a great Careers Conference event, in particular Ric Michael, Tamsin Middleton, Roger McKinley, Nathan Bowman and Emma Nuttall.
We would also like to thank Dan Dudley, student runners Joseph Henderson, Georgia Smith and Emma Irwin. Our content creators Julian Sum, Charlie Hood, Oliver Clements, Ezara Duncan and Max Loffman, finally to all the game industry professionals that joined panels, held portfolio reviews, pitching sessions, career roundtables and stall holders: Lauren Taylor, Jordan Thorpe, Lauren Sears, James Jones, Warren Leigh, Nathan Buckley, Harún Ali, Lloyd James, Em Marshall, Jon Wingrove, James Battersby, Sam Lewis, Shirley Hoang, Madi Riley, Andy Coley, Sandra D Rivas, Marco Ng, Arthur Parsons, John Treece-Birch, Josh Riley, Danny Potter, Matt Slade, Tom Leighton, Kasia Slupecka, Szymon Stawicki and Sam Myatt.
Universities and colleges who would like to find out about becoming a Game Republic Educational Partner should contact us here
To find out about this and future Game Republic events and webinars as well as games industry events visit the events page.
If you would like to secure a free ticket and get access to other GR in-person events for free and business support and access to our webinar recordings of full sessions with other experts including Valve, Other Things, Eaton Smith, Lewis Silkin, Johnston Carmichael, Plus Accounting and more – you can apply to join Game Republic here
If you are developing or supporting games in The North, you can join GaMaYo, other Northern meet-ups and the Great Northern Games Discord for FREE here
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