Business Cloud at FOUNDRY.

These folks know their stuff so we thought it’d be ace to get them all together in our TV & Film Studio development in Salford and get them to chat to an audience of other gamers and developers about the opportunities and ideas that are seeing the sector grow so quickly.  

Gamers aren’t well known for being early risers, so we coaxed them in with breakfast and plenty of brews to keep the creativity flowing.

This sector really excites us. Manchester and Liverpool’s burgeoning technology sector is well known, but few people outside the industry fully appreciate the size and sheer potential of the region’s gaming businesses.

Cheshire-based Playdemic recently reported their first £1m of sales (in a single day!) with their latest game, Golf Clash, getting close to an annual turnover of £100m. 

Playdemic’s CEO Paul Gouge was speaking at our get-together and we were chuffed to see 100+ people networking……and gaming of course.

The region is now home to thousands of game developers, all striving to launch the next big thing in gaming onto the world. With TT Games alone (part of Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, which bought Playdemic earlier this year) employing around 600 people, it's incredible how big this sector has become.

The rewards for getting it right are flipping massive. Microsoft paid £1.5bn for Minecraft maker Mojang while closer to home Macclesfield company Chillingo published mobile blockbuster Angry Birds - yeah you know you want to. 

We had a load of different gaming studios exhibiting their games, including Clever Beans’ No.1 smash ‘WipEout Omega Collection’ and a demo of its new prototype game; plus indie Odd Bug Studios’ 2D PlayStation VR platform ‘The Lost Bear'.

Shout out to our event partners Business Cloud’s and Gameopolis, see you at the next event…