Leamington Spa – One of the UK’s biggest Games Hubs – opens its doors to gamers, families and students
Find out how to get a career in the games industry
Meet with and learn from industry legends John & Brenda Romero
Take part in interactive workshops, including programming your own Minecraft mods
Play classic games created in the Leamington Spa region
Interactive Futures – Leamington Spa’s celebration of the games talent and culture within the region – will open its doors to the public on Saturday, February 1.
Taking place at the Royal Spa Centre, Interactive Futures (www.interactive-futures.com) will give students, young people, children and their parents the opportunity to discover the myriad job opportunities there are available for all within the thriving video games industry.
Conference sessions will provide practical advice and insight on careers, with topics including:-
- Beyond Coding: Why there’s a career in games for everyone
- What skills and qualifications are required for a career in games
- How to become an esports professional
- Everyone Welcome: How the games industry is tackling diversity and inclusion
Meanwhile, one of the godfathers of the games industry in Leamington Spa and beyond, Andrew Oliver will provide an insight into how the region became one of the most important games hubs in the UK – and the world! Andrew and his brother founded Blitz Games in Leamington Spa in 1990 and now run Game Dragons, advising and investing in games studios.
In addition, games industry royalty will be attending Interactive Futures, namely John and Brenda Romero, founders of the BAFTA Award-winning studio Romero Games,
John Romero is an award-winning game development icon whose work spans over 130 games, 108 of which have been published commercially. He is the “father of first-person shooters”, having led the design and contributed to the programming and audio design of the iconic and genre-defining games DOOM, Quake, Heretic and Hexen. John has co-founded eight successful game companies, including id Software.
Brenda Romero is a BAFTA award-winning game designer, artist and Fulbright award recipient who entered the video game industry in 1981. As a designer, she has worked on 47 games and contributed to many seminal titles, including the Wizardry and Jagged Alliance series and titles in the Ghost Recon, Dungeons & Dragons and Def Jam franchises.
In addition to the conference sessions, visitors to the event will have the opportunity to get hands-on with latest games created in the region, while a series of interactive workshops will also be taking place, with amazing sessions from:
Game Academy – Discover the best profession or career for you based on analysis of the games you play and the way you play them!
Raspberry Pi Minecraft Workshop – During this workshop participants will use a few lines of Python to build a house, a rainbow road which helps them walk in the air and on water. They’ll also get very creative by painting with TNT.
Digital Schoolhouse – Learn how to design a game in practical workshops hosted by experts, and experience a unique approach to play-based learning through innovative activities and free adaptable resources.
There will also be lots of practical demonstrations to get hands-on with, including the chance to compete in a GRID lap challenge in an awesome Playseat, and the opportunity to play dozens of games created in and around Leamington Spa from throughout the last 30 years.
Tickets for Interactive Futures are on sale now priced at just £5, which covers all conference, Expo and workshop activities on Saturday, February 1st: https://interactive-futures.com/tickets-2020
Interactive Futures is being funded by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP), Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council alongside support of local industry.
