“We’ve also got a conference day on April 4th,
called The Next Level, that’s looking at the future trends, some of the obvious stuff and some of the non obvious stuff – so yes, things like the Metaverse. But also the four day work week, AR… all sorts of things that you can think of.”
“As with every year, there’s a whole host of events taking place over the nine day festival, with highlights such as the Games Finance Market, the BAFTA Games Awards as well as the brand new consumer event, W.A.S.D.”
GAMES FINANCE MARKET And of course, it wouldn’t be the London Games Festival without the Games Finance Market, one the festival’s leading events that helps developers find investment, running from the 5th to the 8th of April for both in person and online meetings. “Another big event of ours is the Games Finance
market, which we’ve run since the festival started in 2016. That’s where we match up studios with investors, which has been massively successful for us. It’s part of the reason why we’re primarily funded by the Mayor of London. So our plan is to make London the games capital of the world. To do that, businesses here need investment and support. We get really good attendance from VCs, publishers, angel investors, all kinds of people who want to put money into games, businesses and games projects.” The return to an in-person Finance Market is
certainly a welcome one, having been forced to take place online in recent years.
However, that’s not to say that the move to
online during the pandemic was unsuccessful – the digital festival alone last year created over £20m in business. But with 97,000 people turning up to the last physical event in 2019, it can only serve to broaden the opportunities. It’s foot traffic like that which has helped Games
London to create a business pipeline of nearly £90m for participants.
BACK TO THE DOCKS While all events are created equal, I have to admit that W.A.S.D. already holds a special place in my heart. The event’s tagline, “A new video game event made for you,” might as well have been hyper- specifically written for me. And it’s perhaps not for the reason you’d
immediately think. Sure, I want to aimlessly wander around a consumer game show, talk to developers and play games. Absolutely. But there’s more to it than that – with W.A.S.D. marking a return to a well-loved venue. You see, W.A.S.D. will be taking place from the 7th to the 9th of April at Tobacco Dock, the former venue of ReedPop’s sadly departed EGX sister event, Rezzed. The announcement that Rezzed was to be
replaced by EGX Birmingham caused a howl of grief among certain industry types. Rezzed may not have been the big-ticket item next to its bigger sister EGX, but Tobacco Docks has long been beloved – and not just because of the McDonald’s nearby (though it helps). In fact, the announcement that W.A.S.D. had secured the venue was a remarkably well timed one – attracting an influx of excitement to the new event. For David Lilley, founder of W.A.S.D. producer Roucan, the decision to take place at the Docks was an easy one. “There needs to be a large-scale consumer
activation for the London games industry,” says Lilley. “There is a need to do a strong event at Tobacco Dock. It’s good timing. It’s never going to be a massive blockbuster event, although it could host massive blockbuster content, because that’s part of the gaming market.
From top:
Michael French, Head of Games, Games London David Lilley, founder of W.A.S.D.
producer Roucan
March 2022 MCV/DEVELOP | 27
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