Jamie Sefton, MD of Game Republic has declared Yorkshire’s friendliness, location and social scene as a good reason for businesses to set up in Yorkshire and The North in a feature about Game Republic by Barclays.
The feature which is now live on Barclays’ Games Hub focused on the heritage and legacy of the network as well as what is lined up for the 20th Anniversary year which has been supported by Official Partners Barclays, Red Kite Games and Escape Technology.
Jamie outlines the forthcoming programme of events being supported by Official Partners Barclays, Red Kite Games and Escape Technology
When asked about the work of Game Republic “Events are just the tip of the iceberg,” Jamie explained to Elaine Dowman, Barclays Head of Games and Creative. He went on to explain how much of the support provided to Game Republic members is behind the scenes, introducing companies to publishers, platform-holders, Universities and colleges to industry speakers and helping all the companies to “listening and meeting companies to help them to get the support they need that will make a big difference to their business.”
Commenting about the support of Game Republic’s work, one of the companies that helped to establish Game Republic in 2003, Revolution Software’s Charles Cecil recently said “Revolution has gained so much from our membership whether it’s having the opportunity to meet and speak to key industry representatives (one deal led to many millions of pounds of business); learn of new services; share ideas and opportunities with like-minded colleagues; and so much more. Steering a perfect balance between business and social, we are blessed to have such a brilliant organisation to champion, advocate, and support developers in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. Raising a glass to the next 20.”
Jamie’s passion for the region and how supportive the industry is to each other shone through the interview as he explained how he had been helped by larger companies like Sumo in the early stages of making the network independent after he was made redundant.
“We are lucky to have companies like Team17 and Revolution who have helped keep wealth within the region.” He continued, stating that the power of the ecosystem is key to success in Yorkshire and The North. He highlighted events like the Student Showcase that enhance talent. With GaMaYo which is managed by Game Republic and events like Leeds Games Toast led by Andrew Crawshaw, he emphasised that the support and the friendliness in the region is a good reason to set up here and to join Game Republic. “Bigger companies, Affiliates and Universities supporting the smaller companies has always been at the heart of Game Republic.”
The next Game Republic business networking event is a pre-GDC special on pitching and securing business at events courtesy of Barclays Eagle Lab at AvenueHQ in Leeds
David Valjalo, Creative Director of Strategic Partnerships at Tencent will present opportunities for developers and have a Q&A session on pitching to investors. We’ll also have a Q&A with Rob Hewson, CEO & Creative Director at Huey Games, about how they pitch to publishers at GDC. Event produced as part of the 20th Anniversary supported by Official Partners Red Kite Games, Barclays and Escape Technology! Book here
If you would like access to this event and all Game Republic events for the year for FREE – please get in touch about joining.
David Valjalo, Creative Director of Strategic Partnerships at Tencent Games joined Game Republic members online to discuss their investing in games, when heavy snow meant that most of Yorkshire and The North could not travel to the event which was due to take place at Eagle Labs, Avenue HQ in Leeds. Thanks to Zoom, nearly 40 companies were able to attend the online event which provided insider insights into how to pitch to publishers and investors.