interface of games, broadcast, and sports, Piing with their crowd-play live-event games, and Roblox houses like Shakuri Studios. Add to this publishers like No More Robots and Silver Lining, as well as influencer agencies such as Disobey, animation studios Airship and Flipbook, and a host of others in marketing, finance, audio and more. Since Manchester University
established the country’s first Computer Science department in 1962, education in the city has expanded to include all levels of courses, training, and CPD. We have some of the best and most dedicated educators in the world, as well as globally admired research programmes. It’s all here. This is the place. And as an organisation, we know that now is the time to create a
catalyst that will help businesses thrive, build upon our world- class skills, and advocate for games in the city, the country and internationally. We spun out of the Gameopolis organisation that Simon Smith
started over a decade ago and forged a reputation for fantastic events in the city. But now, with the market where it is, it’s time to start shouting louder, collaborating more and being strategically positioned to put Manchester back on that map. The industry is truly international, and we know that Manchester
isn’t competing with Guildford, Liverpool or Dundee but with Montreal, Stockholm, San Francisco and Chengdu. Cooperating with other hubs, especially Liverpool’s Game Dev Network to the West and Yorkshire’s Game Republic to the East, is a priority. So, we launched, stated our aims, what next? While it’s still early
days, we have had an overwhelmingly positive response from the businesses, education and support services in the area. We are working with the Greater Manchester Local Authority on an initial project, and the momentum has been building steadily. But what we do next will be how we are judged. We will always be driven by industry needs, and part of our launch included a survey to determine what businesses wanted most. This has, and will continue to, inform our aims. Our strategy sees three broad tenets: growth, skills and advocacy.
In each area, we are forming subgroups to consult and deliver tangible support with short and long-term objectives. For everyone on the board of Manchester Games Network, putting
us back on that map is a personal and collective crusade. But it isn’t our network; it belongs to everyone in the city region, so please get in touch and let’s do this in the way that Manchester works best, together.
July/August 2026 MCV/DEVELOP | 15
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