Play it forward
Yorkshire Games Festival and BAFTA team up to inspire the next generation of game developers
The Yorkshire Games Festival inspires a new generation of devs
Speaking to a rapt audience at The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, Rami Ismail briefly pauses his talk to ask a question: “Who here has shipped a videogame?” Only a few arms are raised. But a sea of hands greets his follow-up, when he asks who is studying or making their first game. Now in its third year, the Yorkshire Games Festival is a young event attracting a young crowd: we’re sitting among a new wave of game developers, all keen to learn from those who’ve already made it.
There can be few better people to inform and enlighten about the vagaries of independent game development than Ismail, and his entertaining A-Z is one of the highlights of the festival programme. Among the other speakers, IO Interactive’s Mette Andersen delivers an illuminating talk on how social anthropology inspired the world building of the studio’s recent Hitman reboots: food for thought for budding level designers. And as Image & Form’s Brjann Sigurgeirsson details his studio’s rise from a maker of children’s games to doing its own thing, attendees are treated to an unexpected scoop: the studio is working on its first non- SteamWorld game since 2011’s mobile strategy Anthill.
But the festival’s commitment to youth is most apparent in the Young Developers Conference, created in partnership with BAFTA’s Young Game Designers scheme. As the name suggests, it’s a programme of activities aimed at young people, and the first of its kind in the UK. For BAFTA’s Melissa Phillips, who’s responsible for all games initiatives related to learning and new talent, it’s a sign of how far the charity’s involvement in games has come in ten years. “It started off very basic, a bit like a Blue Peter competition, where you literally posted your entry in the mail,” she says. “In the last few years, we’ve seen a really strong interest from young game designers, but also from parents and teachers wanting to support young people. So how do we facilitate that?”
Its collaboration with the Yorkshire Games Festival offers a number of examples. Its main programme is aimed at 11-to-14-year-olds, helping to teach the basics of game design. The festival offers a parent/teacher workshop, alongside two autism-friendly workshops within a quieter, more relaxed environment, while a family-friendly weekend schedule includes interactive shows and practical activities. Yorkshire, Phillips says, offers an opportunity to host an event outside London, recognising that the capital gets more attention than the rest of the country. And, by happy coincidence, the most recent winner of the YGD Mentor award, Impact Gamers’ Adam Syrop, hails from Bradford. “When Yorkshire Games Festival asked would we like to come and do something for young developers, we said, ‘Yeah, that sounds fantastic.’ Because Adam had been a winner recently. And it stressed for us that there weren’t many opportunities for his code club in this area.”
Cooperative ventures like this can have ancillary benefits for BAFTA: this year’s Young Game Designers competition is still open, and it’s not hard to imagine a few applications arriving from the festival’s younger attendees. But, as Phillips explains, it’s not the primary focus. “The competition is great, but it skims off the best of the best, which we acknowledge. We have a 13-year-old that released an app last year and got 60,000 downloads in the first week. We’ve got 19- and 20-year-olds now releasing their games professionally with publishers they met through the competition. They’re incredibly talented, future BAFTA winners and nominees for sure. But we wouldn’t be a charity if we didn’t acknowledge that not everybody gets those chances. And when there’s a chance to level the playing field you have to take it.”
The festival’s programme is designed to raise awareness that the game industry supports a variety of skills; that youngsters needn’t be put off if they don’t have an interest or a background in coding. And it’s also helping to encourage potential designers to think about different kinds of games – specifically non-violent ones. As Phillips notes, indie games don’t necessarily reach younger players, and most simply want to remake the popular games they’re already playing. “I spend a lot of time in these workshops speaking to young people about what a game can be, and redefining those boundaries. I think there’s still a lot of entrenched beliefs out there. So a lot of our resources are aimed at moving them away to more original ideas.”
There’s certainly plenty of inspiration to draw on. And with a weekend careers bar, the Yorkshire Games Festival is as interested in those ready to make the next step in game development as those about to take their first. Through its keen focus on creativity and self-expression, the festival is doing its bit to stimulate the next generation of game developers. We leave Bradford in good cheer – if these five days are anything to go by, the future of the medium is in good hands.
The programme is designed to raise awareness that the game industry supports a variety of skills