Game Republic kicked off its first careers conference with a “Future of Games” panel, hosted by Dr Jackie Mulligan. Speakers included Jamie Sefton MD of Game Republic, John O’Shea, co-CEO of National Videogame Museum, Luke Hebblethwaite BAFTA, Emma Cooper, Knowledge Transfer Manager, Innovate UK, and Ash Habib, Founder of Steel City Interactive.
The event formed part of the Game Republic programme of events for 2025 supported by Red Kite Games, Barclays Games and Creative and Xsolla.
Michela Vilinskis attended the event and highlights answers to the key questions on the day.
Can you give us one insight or prediction for the future of the videogames museum?
John O’Shea – The reason I got involved with the National Videogame Museum was due to working in contemporary art and immersive art, I’d seen galleries all over the world trying to create experiences that provided a richness for people. I realised that within video games themselves that we already have that richness, but one of the big challenges still faced for video games is “How do come together and how do we share these experiences with each other?” So, I think the future of the Videogame Museum is to help create spaces where can have these types of conversations, whether that’s one to one or as a community where we can share our perspectives on games and share why they matter.
What do you feel the industry can do regarding repetition and saturation in the market?
Luke Hebblethwaite – Change is happening, and games are starting to be seen as a cultural medium, but there’s a lot more we can do. I don’t believe games can continue to think of ourselves as the underdogs anymore. We need to come together as an industry to ensure our rightful place in the heart of culture, bringing the magic of games to new audiences and demographics, with new kinds of stories to tell new experiences to engage diverse types of people.
It’s vital that we continue to champion our art form. For example, not everyone has to be a lover of film to understand that it’s an art form, but if we ask the same of games, do we think people generally hold the same attitude? I don’t think we’re quite there yet. But that is what BAFTA’s work is all about, ensuring that games are championed and celebrated as highly creative, cultural works of art.
“collaborating and playing our parts in helping show the world how magical and moving games can be. After all, the future of the industry lies in the hands of the players, and the more players there are the brighter that future will be.”
How do you feel we should respond when the government promotes the creative industries but also wishes to invest in AI where the use our creative content could compromise our success?”
Emma Cooper- It’s a tough one, we’re currently in a situation involving lots of complexities, but something we have now that we didn’t 10/15 years ago is incredibly strong trade bodies. We are an industry that has the ability to imagine the future, and we’re starting to gain interest from other sectors surrounding how games can be used and beneficial because people love to be engaged and play games.
The government, as I understand is listening, so at this moment it’s a case of working with UKIE, TIGA and BAFTA to help our policy makers to set the path forward. I understand that a lot of policy makers don’t understand the nuances of developing and selling video games, nor do they understand the nuances of creative business.
“it’s our role to speak as loudly and as clearly as possible.”
Do you think the industry is prepared for the future? As someone new coming into this space, do you think we have the right skills and approach?
Ash Habib- It’s definitely something that was a slight shock. Coming from a corporate world as an employee, comes with questions like “why do we do these things” or “why are these processes in place.” Running a game studio, I’ve taken several of those same processes and implemented them.
One of the biggest shocks came when hiring, being asked strange questions I’d never come across. It showed a glimpse of how the industry had/is run. Especially the concept of crunch. We’ve never adopted that approach because it just feels so bizarre to me. Our focus is to build a studio that’s genuinely a fun place to work, and it still surprises me when people join after a few months say things like “This is the best studio I’ve ever worked at” but yes, there were definitely some practises and approaches in the games industry that caught me off guard.
Do you have any predictions for the future of the games industry and things we might see more or even less of?
Jamie Sefton- The games industry is quite cyclical, but I think we’re starting to come out of the downturn now. I attended GDC earlier this year and the mood felt more optimistic. Projects are picking up again, and I’m hopeful that things will continue to improve despite the economic turbulence we’ve seen.
It’s encouraging that politicians understand games more, we’re seeing a generation of politicians that grew up playing games and this is translating into more support like tax relief, coding in schools and even proposals for a GCSE in digital creativity.
I think we’ll see the games industry model change towards ones similar in tv and film i.e. freelancers and project-based collaborations. Subscriptions like Game Pass and Apple Arcade are here to stay and while physical games are still around, we are shifting to a digital only system.
“Overall, I’m really positive about the future of games in the UK. Events like the student showcase are a window into the amazing talent we can tap into, especially here in the North and I see that only continuing.”
The panel proved to be the perfect catalyst to kick start the event, creating enthusiasm and excitement to what was a vibrant, energetic and monumental day.
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