Pictured: Cllr Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City
Council and chair of Birmingham Science Park Aston, with Dr David
Hardman, CEO of Birmingham Science Park Aston
On Wednesday 16th November, Birmingham Science Park Aston will
welcome the biggest names in digital gaming to LAUNCH; a one-day
conference showcasing Birmingham's achievements and innovations in
one of the world's highest-growth multi-billion pound
industries.
Over 250 delegates from across the UK and Europe have registered
for LAUNCH to hear speakers from ustwo, Ant Games, Mozilla, Epic
Games and Google. These national and international companies will
share a platform with the acclaimed home-grown talent of
Birmingham-based Codemasters and Rare Ltd - the Microsoft Game
Studio; Blitz Games Studio, Playground Games and FreeStyleGames
from Leamington Spa; SEGA's development studio based in Solihull;
and Nottingham-based Crytek.
The annual future gaming event - the second time it has been ran
by Birmingham Science Park Aston - has been branded LAUNCH, with
the three core themes being launch a career, launch a business and
launch a technology. LAUNCH has been awarded the status of a 'high
impact event' by the influential Global Entrepreneurship Week
initiative, which has 40,000 events in 104 countries with 10
million participants.
Cllr Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council and Chair of
Birmingham Science Park Aston will open LAUNCH. He said: "The
gathering of the leading innovators in the digital gaming sector
could be held at no better place than Birmingham Science Park
Aston. Clearly Birmingham, and the Science Park, is where the
digital gaming innovators are launching and growing their
businesses. 50 technology companies have been founded at the Park
in only two years, with over 40 jobs having been created
already.
"As Leader of the Council, and Chairman of Birmingham Science
Park, I am very proud of the fact that it's not just the amount of
promising start-up gaming companies who have firmly placed
Birmingham at the epicentre of the UK's gaming industry, but also
global names such as Microsoft and Coldemasters who are choosing
Birmingham because of the talented, innovative and creative
workforce. 25 per cent of the UK's digital gaming jobs are in
Birmingham and the city region and we have a strategy in place to
increase this percentage so that many more local people can enjoy
careers in this exciting high-growth industry."
A total of 29 speakers will deliver presentations at LAUNCH,
while 23 companies will exhibit at the event. Presentation topics
range from 'the future gaming landscape' to 'is digital important
in the future' and 'making games with HTML5 and
JavaScript'.
Dr David Hardman, CEO of Birmingham Science Park Aston said:
"LAUNCH is not a conference as we know it; it is a gathering of
minds - of digital natives who are at the forefront of their
industry. While only in its second year, this is the largest future
gaming conference in the UK, and with the significant growth of the
industry - especially in Birmingham and the West Midlands - we have
plans to develop LAUNCH in 2012 and beyond.
"This event is a fantastic way of showcasing the brilliance
being produced here at Birmingham Science Park Aston by social
gaming companies such as OOP and Soshi Games, as well as by the
leading global brands located on our doorstep."