Interview

Northern soul: How one conference is looking to recharge games dev in the UK's North West

Update's Andrew Bennison reveals all

Northern soul: How one conference is looking to recharge games dev in the UK's North West

It's a feeling that isn't limited to the games industry, but one that certainly has an impact upon it: There's London and the South East, and then there's the rest of the UK.

While the likes of Manchester and, until very recently, Liverpool, have previously served as bastions of British games development, their place on the current stage is definitely more muted.

It's not that the developers don't exist in either of these great cities, but rather they're smaller and more dispersed in nature.

Update, which recently hit Salford's buzzing Media City UK complex in Greater Manchester – home to the BBC, Coronation Street and scores of other creative businesses – is here to reunite developers operating in the North West, many of which previously earned their crust at the companies that once ruled the roost across Lancashire and Merseyside.

We caught up with event organiser Andrew Bennison after the Salford showcase for his take on how Update has progressed, the state of games development in the North West today, and what's next for his conference.

Pocket Gamer: Manchester and Liverpool both have such a rich heritage when it comes to games development. Why do you think events in the North West of England are so few and far between?

Andrew Bennison: I think it really comes down to the fact that organising events like these are time consuming. We all want them to happen, but just getting a group of people to turn up at a pub can take a lot of effort.

It's a second job, and for many developers making games is already that second job. So we're in this bad cycle of wanting to network but having very few events, but to set those up you need to network.

How easy was it to attract both the numbers and the industry luminaries up to Manchester?

It was a huge challenge at the beginning back in December because I really didn't know many developers. I was travelling all over the country to as many events as possible just to see if people were interested.

What happened in January was amazing. The small number of people who were interested, such as HyperSloth - creator of Dream - started spreading the word with me.

All of a sudden I had a full line-up of speakers, exhibitors and hundreds of people voicing interest. Overall it was tough but it's the community that really helped make this happen.

How do you think the day went? What were the key take aways?

It went very well. At 11am the show started without a hitch and throughout the day we saw 400 attendees enjoy 26 games, 10 talks and a very long after-party.

All of a sudden I had a full line-up of speakers, exhibitors and hundreds of people voicing interest.
Andrew Bennison

Everyone we spoke to said it was an amazing event and [venue of choice] The Landing said it was the best they've ever hosted. The main thing I've taken from the show is that people want more events like this one, so long as they're bigger and better every time.

Do you think UK bodies, trade associations etc need to be doing more to reach out to developers in the north? What do you think the answer is?

I think they are already taking notice of what we're doing and in the past year have really stepped things up in the north.

UKIE in particular has held several of their "How-To..." events in places like Huddersfield and are currently touring the country with tax break workshops. I think it's up to the developers here to grow the community and make more noise, give trade associations a reason to look in our direction.

What future plans do you have for Update? Where do you think it'll be in 2-3 years' time?

The show on Saturday has opened up a lot of doors for me so I'm in the planning stage of my next set of events. My main focus is on providing a space for developers to network and help them showcase to the public.

This means regular talks, workshops and meet-ups along with a larger yearly show. I also want to develop Update's online media further such as our podcast, The Weekly Update, where we interview developers and discuss gaming news.

For those developers who missed out on Update this month, what would you say to encourage them to come to the next one?

If you want to promote your game to a large audience, meet new people and take part in one of the fastest growing game developer communities in the UK, come to Update.

Thanks to Andrew for his time.You can follow Update on Twitter here.

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.