MANCHESTER
GAMES NETWORK P
By Stephen Hey
utting Manchester back on the international games map, that’s what the Manchester Games Network is about. We launched back in May this year at an event kindly
hosted by Cloud Imperium Games, whose 600+ person ‘space station’ of a studio space stands as a tangible testament to the scale, expertise and sustainability of Manchester as a base for crafting world-class games. The network’s board members span a broad range of experience
and connections, including d3t’s Head of Studio, Louise Andrew, Lewis Silkin Partner, Laura Harper, CreativeUK and strategist Carl Jones, Creative Consultant, Caroline White, Lightspeed Studios’ Michael Pattison, and little old me, who’s been a part of the Manchester games scene for the past 33 years. But why are we shouting about Manchester? And why now? Manchester has always been a crucible of creativity, innovation
and subversion, and games are woven into this culture. From the invention of stored computer programs to Strachey and Turing’s experiments with draughts and chess, all the way to the ‘glory days’ of Ocean Software and Software Creations, there is a legacy of games carved in code. Today, the city and region boast an active and growing games
ecosystem. Bigger studios like TT Games, d3t, 10:10 Games and EA Playdemic stand alongside indies like Radical Forge, Forthstar, Huey Games and Nequinox. We have companies like Rezzil working at the
14 | MCV/DEVELOP July/August 2026
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