Tom is Lecturer in Games Development at the University of Greenwich. Until recently he was Lecturer in Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London and before that founded and led the BA Games Design degree at the University for the Creative Arts, Rochester. His research is situated at the boundary of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Games Studies, and focuses on the broadening and deepening of emotional engagement in videogames. He also organises AdventureX - the Narrative Games Convention, which has quadrupled in size in the last four years under his watch, and has become an internationally recognised sell-out event at the British Library Conference Centre. Tom was previously at Supermassive Games where he was a designer on the BAFTA award-winning horror game Until Dawn and artist on Killzone Shadow Fall.
Further and Higher Education Games Development courses wish to produce high-quality graduates who go on to be employed in the industry, thereby improving their student outcomes, increasing student satisfaction and contributing to their marketing and growth. At the same time, the industry is sometimes struggling to find enough good-quality talent to maintain their own growth targets.
Everyone would benefit from clearer communication of the challenges of one sector to the other, and of collaborative solutions which benefit both parties. This roundtable aims to encourage discussions, collaboration and reflection to help forge new partnerships and move towards meeting the needs of both education and industry.
Note to industry: Indies and small companies needed just as much as large companies!
Takeaway:
I absolutely love coming to Develop, it’s a brilliant, brilliant conference – you just know you’re guaranteed to meet everyone.
Jo Twist, OBE
Ukie
One of the things I like about Develop is it brings people together from across Europe and the whole world. There is a very high level of professionals here, so you have company leaders having drinks with juniors from their community.
Dr Mata Haggis-Burridge
NHTV
A lot of the opportunities that come from being here are speaking to other developers who are doing exactly the same thing as you. And there are some good parties – it’s very much a pleasurable work experience!
Gemma Foster
Dlala Studios
We are so lucky to have Develop here in the UK. It’s a unique event where you can come and discover new things with people who care passionately about video games. It’s a sea full of new ideas.
Jonathan Smith
TT Games
There’s really something for everyone at Develop and the experience of being around like-minded people is really useful.
Grace Carroll
Creative Assembly
It’s really nice to see some of the younger people in our studio come to Develop, interact with other people in the dev community and make new contacts. I think it’s really important to learn from other people.
Abbie Heppe
Media Molecule
I really like Develop, I really like the intimacy of it and I love the location.. there’s a good diversity of talks going on so there hasn’t been a time when there’s nothing I want to see.
Brenda Romero
Romero Games
Develop is important – the networking is very important. And go to talks they’re inspiring and get your creative juices flowing, they can make you think and you’ll learn how other people do things.
Jason Kingsley
Rebellion
Develop always gets put in the diary. There are many reasons to be here, not just the talks, but the networking, people exchanging ideas about where the industry is right now and where it’s going to. It’s pretty essential to be here I think.
Ian Livingstone, CBE
Develop:Brighton is especially unique - it’s by the seaside and there’s a lovely relaxed tone that goes with that.The talks are cool, the networking is cool and having the opportunity to catch up with people – that’s always the excitement for me!
Sean Murray
Hello Games
There are many ways you can be part of Develop:Brighton - including taking a booth in the Expo or choosing one of the many sponsorship opporunities during the event or at the Star Awards.
Contact us now!