Develop: Brighton in a baking July is less of a conference and more of a multi-day endurance sport with more than games on offer.
Having navigated this particular marathon for around twenty years now, I arrived prepared. The survival toolkit this year was simple: a ludicrous amount of Factor 50, a variety of killer shirts (shout out to BLAKE MILL), and a solid pair of noise-cancelling headphones to survive the World Cup semi-final drama (commiserations to England, congratulations to Argentina).
It was hot, it was packed, and as always, the real energy of the week wasn’t on the weirdly quiet expo floor – it was in the incredible calendar of fringe events and dedicated meetings that now surround the event.
A genuine highlight for me was the UK Regional Hubs Meetup, organised by Stephen Hey. Hearing about the sheer scale of activity and success across different areas was incredibly inspiring. There is a powerful sense of momentum, creativity and purpose in local games right now, and the opportunity for genuine, grassroots collaboration and growth across our nations and regions is immense. When we learn from & support each other directly, we move the entire sector forward. More grassroots collaboration, please.
That collaborative spirit was perfectly matched by a genuinely useful and positive milestone: the release of the UK Game Intelligence Database. Having an open, accessible dataset for the whole of the UK provides an incredible tool for actual strategic planning and ecosystem mapping.
The value of such data became even clearer during the countless conversations I had with industry folks around education and skills. The volume of these discussions really emphasised that the need for a more coordinated, sector-wide approach to planning and strategy is very real. On that specific front, we have major news coming from Scotland in the near future – watch this space.
GamesIndustry.biz did a fantastic summary of the event as a whole, noting the sense of optimism and purpose across the week, as the sector really looks beyond the ongoing chaos and volatility and deals directly with the reality of the new market, rather than trying to ride it out – or wait for someone else to fix things. I also have to say a sincere thank you to the writer (the excellent Lewis Packwood) for mentioning my More Than Games session.
Beyond the regional networks, my focus for the week remained on the shifting dynamics of the global marketplace. I had some fantastic meetings with international networks, commercial studios, and teams like Creative Wales / Welsh Government who are looking ahead at how to truly leverage interactive media and build more strategic support for the games ecosystem as a whole.
The conversations reinforced two things for me:
- The sheer volume of organisations outside the traditional games industry who need an expert partner to help them understand, engage with, and harness games technology.
- The urgent need for a cohesive, long-term strategic vision to navigate where the global market is actually heading.
I’ll be posting a much deeper, analytical look at that global landscape and what it means for regional ecosystems early next week.
If you are a founder, brand, government, or public entity looking for a thinking partner to help you navigate the interactive ecosystem, my door is open for premium advisory sessions starting this week.
Drop me a message, and let’s talk.