If you’re in the northern half of the UK, then you would no doubt already know everything about the Yorkshire Games Festival. But now, with two years under its belt, it’s ready to return again in early 2019 – and this time the legendary Jeff Minter will be there.
Celebrating the diverse world of gaming and being held at the UK’s National Science and Media Museum in the heart of Bradford, the Yorkshire Games Festival will return for a third outing from Wednesday 6th – Sunday 10th February 2019.
It’ll play host to a number of firsts too as a new partnership with BAFTA will see the youngest and brightest stars being celebrated. Activity for this will include game concept workshops for 10-14-year-olds and 15-18-year-olds, with guidance workshops for parents and teachers, and panel discussions about those interested in a career in the games industry.
But whilst that in itself is news worthy, the Yorkshire Games Festival is today announcing that the legendary Jeff Minter – yes, he of Llamasoft fame and the main drive behind the likes of classic 1980s games Gridrunner and Attack of the Mutant Camels, Xbox Live Arcade’s celebrated Space Giraffe, the mesmerising PlayStation Vita game TxK and most recently the mind-bending PlayStation VR title Polybius – will be attending and speaking at the show.
Should you wish to attend, then you’ll be able to see Jeff as he takes to the stage to talk about his incredible 30-year career, the landmark games and technology and the making of his forthcoming game, Tempest 4000, for publisher Atari.
Jeff Minter is the first major name confirmed for the event, but further announcements unveiling other fellow industry legends are planned for the months ahead. According to Festival Director, Kathryn Penny, 2019’s event is going to build on the foundations of last year’s extravaganza, which saw 9,000 attendees head for National Science and Media Museum – a 15 percent jump on the inaugural year’s figures.
“It’s amazing what the Yorkshire Games Festival has achieved in just two years – 2017 really felt like a landmark year, with the line-up of acclaimed speakers helping to cement the festival as a crucial event in the games industry’s calendar,” offers Penny. “We want to continue inspiring people just starting out in their careers – or, indeed, students still studying their craft. I know the new partnership with BAFTA, plus talks from Jeff Minter and many other industry luminaries means we’ll be doing just that.”
As Penny suggests, 2019’s festival will be designed to build on the range of speakers who made their mark on the first two events.
“We’ve had acclaimed games writers like Martin Korda talk about Destiny 2 and Rhianna Pratchett discuss Lara Croft; TT Games’ head of design Arthur Parsons, Ninja Theory’s Dominic Matthews, and designer Brenda Romero – just to name a few – on stage at the Yorkshire Games Festival,” continues Penny. “We’ve set the bar high, but we’re ready to raise it again.”
If you’re interested in gaming, and are anywhere near Bradford, then a visit to the Yorkshire Games Festival 2019 should be pretty high up on your agenda.
We’ve been lucky enough to attend for the last couple of years, and had the pleasure of being given the chance to sit down with some industry leaders. Check out what Keith Stuart, Martin Korda and the one and only Arthur Parsons had to say to us. If you like Tomb Raider, FIFA, Destiny or LEGO Marvel, then you should really be checking out those articles asap.
