Did you miss the 2023 Barclays Games Frenzy event, on 25th of May at our Canary Wharf HQ.
At Barclays we have a specialist Games and Creative Team and a bank wide strategy, to ensure we work with and can support the needs of these industries at all level. The aim of the Games Frenzy is to spotlight important industry topics, create opportunities for new and upcoming UK games talent to showcase their games and create a great opportunity to network with others in the industry.
This year’s event was bigger and better than before, with fantastic panel discussions and more twice than as many exhibitors than last year including a student area, mobile games area, Creative UK area, Code Coven area and much, much more.
Watch the talks and find out more about the exhibitors who were there on the day.
Hear from the 2023 Games Frenzy Attendees:
Ensemble
This year we are delighted to display the Games London’s Ensemble showcases of Black, Asian and underrepresented ethnicities working in the UK games industry.
Launched every year at London Games Festival and supported by Jagex and PlayStation, Ensemble spotlights and showcases inspiring stories in the workforce to promote diversity, advocate for new voices, and change perceptions.
The Ensemble initiative champions game developers and creatives from a broad spectrum of roles and a wide variety of backgrounds.
Ensemble and London Games Festival are delivered by Games London, supported by the Mayor of London and delivered by Film London and Ukie.
2023 Games Frenzy Speaker Playback:
What you need to know about AI, IP and the law
In this session, our panelists explore the intricate relationship between AI, intellectual property rights, and the legal frameworks that govern them. Get ready to delve into the fascinating world of AI innovation, intellectual property protection, and the legal considerations that shape this rapidly evolving landscape.
Kostyantyn Lobov
Partner, Harbottle & Lewis LLP
Kostyantyn co-heads the Interactive Entertainment Group at Harbottle & Lewis, a Tier 1 ranked law firm which has been advising the games industry since the early 90s. Kostyantyn’s areas of specialism include IP, regulatory and advertising. He is a litigator by background, meaning he can advise on all stages of a dispute – from early strategy and negotiations, to litigation in the High Court and beyond.
Philip Wildman
CEO – GG Insurance Services
With 20 years of experience in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market, Phil founded GG Insurance services to combine his passion for games with his insurance knowledge. Now celebrating 5 years in business and with offices in the UK and USA, GG Insurance looks after hundreds of clients around the world from small startups to AAA publishers.
Vincent Scheurer
Co-Founder, Payload Studios and General Counsel, Rebellion
Vincent Scheurer has worked in law and business affairs in the video games industry since 1997. He started as in house counsel at a games publisher and is currently General Counsel at Rebellion as well as a co-founder of Payload Studios, a London based independent games developer. He is also a co-founder of TIGA.
Sam Collins
Chief Commercial Officer, Ukie
Sam Collins is the Chief Commercial Officer and acting Co-CEO at Ukie, the games trade body. He has worked in the games industry for 25 years which has included stints at start-up developers through to international publishers working in a variety of commercial roles. Sam is the driving force behind Ukie’s award winning International Trade Programme.
How to decarbonize your studio
Our panel of experts will guide us through the journey of reducing carbon emissions in the gaming industry. They will share valuable insights on achieving environmental sustainability while creating captivating games. Get ready to explore innovative strategies and practical steps towards decarbonising your games studio, making a positive impact on both the industry and the planet.https://cardboardsword.co.uk/
Matt Anderson
ICT Sector Technical Lead, The Carbon Trust
Based in the Carbon Trust’s London office, Matt works with closely with businesses in the ICT sector, advising them on how to navigate the complexities of carbon footprinting, setting science-based targets and engaging suppliers in the value chain on the path towards decarbonisation. Matt co-authored the Carbon Trust white paper ‘Carbon impact of video streaming’ and is supporting the Playing for the Planet Alliance decarbonisation group on achieving their 2023 objectives.
Adam Whittaker
CFO, Outright Games
Adam has been Chief Financial Officer of Outright Games since 2020 and was a key member of the team during the PE buy-out by EMK Capital. During that time, Outright Games has become the #1 kids and family video games publisher, with a portfolio of over 40 games across many top franchises such as Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Jumanji.
Jane Campbell
Jane Campbell is the Commercial Manager at ustwo games managing Partnerships
Business Development and Operations. She is passionate about leveraging games as a platform for driving impact and social change. Ustwo games is one of a handful of games companies in the B-Corp movement, and the studio is best known for the Bafta award winning mobile game series Monument Valley, and their recent impactful release Alba: A Wildlife Adventure; which won the 2021 Apple Design Award for Social Impact and has supported reforestation projects around the world to plant over one million trees.
Dan Wood
Chief Strategy Officer & Acting Co-CEO Ukie
Dan is Ukie’s Acting Co-CEO, having previously been their Head of Communications and Public Affairs and then COO. Dan has led the work on many significant projects and big issues faced by the industry over this time, including: the successful original bid to the GLA to create the London Games Festival; leading Ukie’s work around the introduction of the video games tax relief; authoring Ukie’s Esports White Paper; creating the industry-wide ‘RaiseTheGame’ Diversity Pledge; co-writing the first-of-its-kind Green Games Guide and building and running Ukie’s business accelerator programmes.
Growth in Challenging Times
In this session we will delve into what it takes to grow your games business in such economically challenging times. We will speak to some amazing studios who have scaled at pace, to find out what their secret sauce is, in a time when many others have struggled.
Elaine Dowman
Head of Games & Creative Industries
Elaine heads up a dedicated games and creative industries team at Barclays, leading the banks strategy and implementation for these industries both in the UK and globally.
Her focus is on identifying opportunities where Barclays can better support the industries to help it grow, from banking and beyond.
Amelia Jones
Senior Marketing Analyst, Tripledot Studios
Amelia is part of the User Acquisition team at Tripledot, a fast-growing London-based mobile gaming studio. At Tripledot, she is responsible for organic traffic growth and also specialises in app store optimisation (ASO) and creatives. Alongside her role in marketing, she drives the sustainability initiatives at the studio.
Doug McConkey
Business Director, Stellar Entertainment
Starting at Virgin Our Price in 1997, Doug has worked in games retail, sales, marketing, branding and business development at various companies including Electronic Arts and Ubisoft on the road to joining Stellar Entertainment. This career path has given him a useful insight into the full spectrum of the games industry from gamers to retailers to publishers to developers.
Meet our 2023 Games Frenzy exhibitors
The key objective of the Games Frenzy is to create opportunities for new and upcoming UK games talent to showcase their games and a great opportunity to network with others in the industry. We also invite some brilliant games related businesses and charities to share the work they do to support the UK games industry.