Industry experts to lead popular games expo at Wrexham Glyndwr University

Creative leaders who have worked for Channel 4 and S4C top the list of keynote speakers for the 2017 edition of the biggest games industry insider event in North Wales.

Colin Macdonald, Head of Games Commissioning at Channel 4 (All 4 Games) and Huw Marshall, former head of digital development at S4C and now Chair of Games Wales, are among the experts at this year’s InitGame (2017) at Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Supported by Welsh Government, Games Wales (North) and the British Computing Society (BCS), the event tomorrow (Saturday 21 October) is aimed at giving new studio start-ups, recent graduates, current students and members of the public some expert insight into the various elements of the games industry.

Areas including audio design for games, the mechanics of gameplay, publishing & marketing are all covered, along with advice on how to get a job in the industry.

The full line-up of speakers features:

· Colin Macdonald, Head of Games Commissioning at Channel 4 (All 4 Games)
· Huw Marshall, Chair of Games Wales
· Rebecca Parnell, Director at Magic Brew
· Chris Payne, Director at Quantum Soup
· Paul Osbaldeston, Senior Business Development Manager in Digital Media at Welsh Government
· Dean Noakes, Indie Game Evangelist & Big Indie Pitch Judge
· Jack Penny, Dafydd John & Philippe Valensa, of Static Shell Games
· Ricky Barnett, Manuel Tsaggos, Nathan Lamont & Michael Walls, of Round Squares Studios
· Sam Brimlow, Josh Riley & Matt Key, of Ethereal Games
·Judith Alexander of the Wrexham Glyndwr University Enterprise Lounge, Zone & Careers Centre

Organiser Rich Hebblewhite, computer game development programme leader at Wrexham Glyndwr University, said: “InitGame is intended to be inspirational and informative, and is an excellent opportunity to meet and interact with people working in the industry.

“We’ve been working incredibly hard to develop and support our local games industry, so events like InitGame play an important part in the sharing of information and best practise.

“Our annual conference has built up a good reputation and is great for people looking to get into the games industry as it provides a great chance to network and experience high quality masterclasses that cover a range of cutting edge topics, technologies and processes.

“Our industry panel Q&A session has been extremely popular since we first introduced it, giving attendees a chance to ask questions about their CVs, portfolios and general career advice.

“After a busy summer of game development and several major expos such as Celtic Games Show and EGX, our in-house studios are looking forward to sharing their experiences so that others may learn from the process and follow in their footsteps.”

Doors open at 10am, with the morning conference session starting at 11am. The afternoon session starts at 13.45, with an after show party taking place over in the Centre for the Creative Industries from 5pm – 9pm. This will feature guest studios making their games available to beta test alongside a selection of popular current and retro games (free pizza included!)

InitGame is free to attend and open to all. Tickets are required for entry and can be obtained here.

For more details about the event, including the detailed schedule, visit the official InitGame site here.