[From the industry] London Games Festival locks dates for 2024

This is a press release posted in addition to our usual editorial content.

London Games Festival returns for a bigger-than-ever showing next year as organiser Games London details the 2024 dates and the first wave of locked-in events.

LGF will run for its ninth year from 9 April to 25 April, with a city-wide celebration that incorporates a programme of activity for global games professionals and players across the country.

London Games Festival is supported by the Mayor of London. It is delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency, and video games trade body Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment) – with a mission to make London the games capital of the world. London is already the biggest games cluster in Europe, home to over 500 games businesses. Since it started in 2016, Games London has helped generate nearly £100m for games businesses that have participated in its programmes.

Programming across the 16 days of London Games Festival 2024 will be grouped around three strands that focus on: industry, talent and impact, and gameplay.

Key moments from LGFs Industry programme include:

• Dedicated VIP networking activities for UK and international games professionals and visiting delegations will open the festival
• A brand new conference, dubbed Screen Play, which looks at the renewed links between the games, film and TV screen sectors on Wednesday 10 April
• Games London’s flagship Games Finance Market, which provides tailored introductions between developers and investors & publishers (Thursday 11 April & Friday 12 April)
• A second year for the one-day London Developer Conference (daytime Thursday 11 April)
• And the world’s most coveted accolades, the BAFTA Games Awards (evening of Thursday 11 April)

Elsewhere, the Talent & Impact strand will explore important topics such as diversity, skills and sustainability. Planned activity includes:

• Another outing for Games London’s influential Ensemble exhibition which champions games creatives from Black, Asian and underrepresented ethnicities
• The return of the Games Impact Summit which will explore a variety of themes including the ways games can create positive change in the world, AI and responsible technology, and the environment
• A revival of the London Games Festival Fringe, which has been on hiatus since 2019 but will now enable other organisations to add accredited events to the LGF schedule
• And the return of Open Studios, which sees games studios open their doors to invite players and professionals in, will also return for next year

And there will be plenty of ways to get hands on with new, exciting and experimental games in a broad programme of events across the city in the Play strand. Look out for:

• LGF’s Official Selection, which will again highlight 30+ innovative and original games from across the world via an online showcase, Steam festival, and in-person demos
• The return of Now Play This, a festival of experimental games that once again takes place at Somerset House, from 6 April to 14 April
• Plus the return of W.A.S.D. to the Truman Brewery, which starts a three-day run as LGF comes to a close, running 25 April to 27 April

A full schedule will soon go live at www.games.london. From November applications will open for the likes of the Games Finance Market, Official Selection, Ensemble, the festival Fringe and Open Studios, along with calls for the likes of Now Play This and W.A.S.D.’s Curios, to ensure that everyone has a chance to participate in London Games Festival. Ticket sales will open in December.