Link Round-Up — May #1
The link round-up, our equivalent to a dollop of post-bank holiday aftersun.
Burnt skin is of course a rite of passage for any Briton, so let’s get applying that aloe. There’s loads of happenings coming up in May, and some you’ll be sad to have missed. The Continue Network is in full swing and the events are coming in thick and fast — look alive!
News
Virtual Reality was a huge part of our most recent Continue event, so it seems prudent that Oculus have recently been trying to spread the love. Oculus’ Matt Conte has urged developers to ship their experiences and games on as many VR platforms as possible. Oculus is obviously a big player in the VR scene, but seemingly wants to see VR thrive, not just on their terms.
GDPR is set to roll out new Data Protection regulations imminently, with some potentially detrimental effects for independent developers and small studios. Free-to-play shooter Loadout is one game experiencing issues in making the game compliant to new regulations — GDPR has contibruted towards its collapse.
Features
First of all, if you haven’t read our interview with Light Night 2016 producer Suzie Cross, then you really ought to. It’s packed with funding insights, advice to creatives and an interesting glance at how Brexit will affect our industries.
With the concerns over skin gambling and real world risk in videogames, Electronic Arts has recently come under fire for breaking national gambling laws in Belgium. EA maintain that the loot boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II do not constitute gambling, despite pulling them from the game last year. The think-tank Demos recently released a report which piloted school lessons detailing the potential dangers of gambling.
Events
We held our first local Continue Network event in Leeds last month and it was a big hit. Alex Chisholm, co-director of Freedom Studios, gave a fascinating behind-the-scenes glance at a project to renovate the former Bradford Odeon (we’ll be keeping up with that project in the coming weeks). Yorkshire Gubbins creator Charlotte Gore took us through her YorkshirePunk Manifesto. Dave Lynch, Richard England and Suzie Cross also uncovered their experience contributing towards the success of Light Night Leeds.
There’s an awards ceremony next week which is celebrating all things games industry. The Games Media Brit List 2018 takes place on May 17th in London, with critics, reporters, streamers and more receiving the recognition they deserve.
Like comedy? Like games? Look no further than Stand Up For Games Aid, a comedy event in London on May 14th. Hosted by funny man and ex-games tester Imran Yusuf, the line up includes Milton Jones, Geoff Norcot and James Patterson. Games Aid seeks to harness the talents of games industry individuals to raise money for number of smaller charities who help disadvantaged and disabled children and young people.
Opportunities
The British Games Institute is looking for people from the games, culture and arts industries to put themselves forward to join steering groups for the BGI’s programmes. The Steering Groups, focused on Finance, Culture, Skills and Diversity, will open up to new members in the Summer. The BGI encourages a wide range of stakeholders from across the sector to put themselves forward for consideration. To express your interest, click here!
To get involved in the Continue Network, get tickets for our events and give us your opinion on past or upcoming events, get in touch with Alice or Chris at the National Videogame Foundation. If you have an event coming up and would like to include in the next Link Round-Up, get in touch too!
chris@thenvf.org ; alice@thenvf.org
