Networking Events for Developers in the UK (2012)

This year I'm really pushing my Indie Games Startup (Retroburn Game Studios) and I'm planning on attending all of the networking events and conferences that I can.

First up, I am a registered member of Game Republic, an organisation supported by game studios in and around Yorkshire to provide support for game developers in the area. As a member I get to attend the monthly networking events and have access to discounts for products, services and events which are of interest to game developers.

Secondly, I'm joining TIGA. The Independent Games Developers Association represent the UK games industry in the house of commons and provide business support and services to game studios based in the UK. I recently inquired about joining and specifically asked about joining as an individual developer or Indie Studio and was offered a discounted membership which makes joining much more affordable and I recommend it to any other indie devs who would benefit from the support TIGA offers and the discounts they can provide at various events. TIGA also run many networking even throughout the year which are a good opportunity to get out and network with fellow game developers.

Now for some of the actual events, I'm not going to explain what goes on at each of these events as their own websites are full of information:

Launch Conference, Meet the Games Press & App Tech Media
Wednesday 4th of April, Birmingham Science Park
http://launchconference.co.uk/meet_the_games_press/

GameHorizon Conference
Wednesday 27th of June to 28th of June, The Sage, Gateshead
http://www.gamehorizonconference.com/category/news/

Develop Conference
Tuesday 10th of July to July 12th, Brighton
http://www.developconference.com/

Eurogamer Expo
Thursday 27th of September to 30th of September, Earls Court, London
http://www.eurogamer.net/expo/

I'd also like to advise fellow Indie Devs that the games studios and games industry veterans that attend all of these events are just normal people! The first few events I attended I was very nervous and felt like I didn't fit in amongst a crowd of people, most of whom already knew one-another. I quickly found out that many of them were interested in knowing what I was working on and they're more than happy to talk to developers trying to make their way in to the games industry.


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