MyLahore restaurant in Bradford was the perfect vibrant setting for the annual Game Republic Speakers Dinner that has become a staple of the Yorkshire Games Festival. Games companies joined speakers and organisers of the festival beforehand for a reception at the National Science and Media Museum where Jamie Sefton thanked the Museum for hosting the festival that puts the spotlight on Yorkshire, the North and the wider UK games industry.
Addressing the crowd at the Museum, MD of Game Republic, Jamie Sefton, thanked the many supporters for helping Game Republic reach its 20th Anniversary: “I’d personally like to thank all our members for their incredible support through 20 years of the network – especially in 2011 when we lost public funding but were backed privately and so enthusiastically by the games companies, and in 2020-2021 during those difficult pandemic years.”
The Yorkshire Games Festival began eight years ago and has grown in popularity with an extensive programme of talks and activities for all ages. On 9th February 2023, the festival will celebrate the heritage of Yorkshire’s games industry in a BAFTA panel featuring Game Republic members Andrew Crawshaw (Thunkd) and Abbie Willett (Sumo).
Game Republic was instrumental in the establishing of the Yorkshire Games Festival and this year it has formed part of the 20th Anniversary celebrations of the network. At the reception, Jamie thanked the Official Partners supporting Game Republic in this important milestone year.
“Having Red Kite Games, Escape Technology and Barclays as Official Partners in 2023 means such a lot,” said Sefton. “Each one of our Official Partners are making a massive impact on the games industry in the region and far beyond. Thanks to Red Kite Games for employing graduates and creating and supporting incredible games development, Barclays for providing support, finance and insights to our industry and Escape Technology who provide invaluable help to our companies to source the technology they need to bring incredible games for us all to play.”
To find more information about the programme of events for the Yorkshire Games Festival visit the website. To join the Game Republic network click here.
Featured Banner Image Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Director of National Science and Media Museum, Kathryn Penny, Leeds Trinity College and Conor Clarke, Boneloaf
The event also raised funds for SpecialEffect as part of the continued fundraising campaign for Game Republic’s 20th Anniversary. To donate to this fantastic cause that gives more people, especially children, access to videogames, please visit our Game Republic fundraising page.
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