“It’s hard to see where the revenue is going to come
from,” admits Lilley, “but we’re not going to worry about that in the short term. We’re just going to make a brilliant event, and I’m sure it will catch on.”
SAVE THE DATE This November is becoming a busy month for games industry events. Shameless to mention it here, I know, but IRL is returning for a second year (featuring 30 Under 30), then there’ll be the TIGA Awards, the usual slew of releases that always precede Thanksgiving, and now WASD Careers. However, despite the congestion, Lilley thinks the timing is to the benefit of everyone who’s needing or looking to attend, especially those in education. “It’s a good time for final year projects coming
together. It’s just before Christmas, but not the end of term. We were conscious of doing it pre-summer or late spring, as there’s a hell of a lot of other stuff going on in games around that time, so with the lack of games at retail, November is a less sensitive period.” Shit. I’ve just realised my wife’s cousin in America
is getting married early in November. Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to avoid it. I’ve done it before. See you in Farnborough. I hope.
mainline event is the same for UK games, because when you showcase talent in the right light, with the right branding and design, it creates greater interest. ”Because if you bring students showing work, you will then bring trade. And if you bring trade then you’ll bring the hubbub of the video games business.”
FUTURE SKILL While there’s no definitive talk as to whether WASD Careers will be a regular annual event, the hope is that it will become one. For Lilley however, it’s not about capitalising on the WASD brand (although it surely won’t hurt it), but doing something to address that skills shortfall that is plaguing the UK industry. “Every developer I talk to has got a 10%, constant,
underperformance in terms of personnel. You’ve got someone like Sumo, who employs 750 people, and they’ve got 80 vacancies. Ongoing, constant, always 80 vacancies. There’s a massive problem in terms of those people coming into video games, meeting with those people who are making video games. So, we’re going to try and solve that problem by turning it on its head a little bit. We need educators to meet developers, and then we need government to meet educators. We need everybody who’s involved in games in the room talking about the skills problem
56 | MCV/DEVELOP August 2022
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