Extended Play 2011 is announced today as the Southwest's first, and only, digital interactive festival open to the public. It will take place at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth on 3rd – 5th November 2011, and celebrate the notion of ‘Play’ using digital media. A brainwave of the creative network Designed in Devon and organised by Ella Romanos, MD of local interactive studio Remode, the festival will deliver a two-day programme of inspiration and creativity, showcasing the region’s best talent within the gaming and interactive industries, while addressing some of the sector’s most current debates.
The theme for the inaugural festival is “games as a service,” exploring the challenges that the gaming industry faces today and in the future in terms of moving away from the provision of games as a single use product, to persistent online gaming, downloadable content and MMORPGs, as part of a longer term service provided to consumers.
The event will include industry speakers, sessions and a Game Jam for the public, as well as a Boot Camp for independent gaming studios, stimulating the region’s interactive industry. The festival will open with a keynote speech fromRichard Wilson, CEO of the UK games industry trade association TIGA, and continue with panel discussions that will include, Guardian games journalist Keith Stuart, Channel 4 Education commissioner Jo Twist, Preloaded Creative Director Phil Stuart, and BAFTA-winning designer Andrew Smith. More speakers and event information will continue to be announced at www.explay.co.uk.
Ella Romanos, MD of Remode and co-founder of Extended Play, says, “The team behind Extended Play all live, breathe and work in games. We are huge fans of Develop Indie Day and Flash on the Beach, and Extended Play is the result of our vision to create a complimentary annual event based in the Southwest. We are looking forward to participants creating, sharing and inspiring each other in what is the fastest growing, and in our minds, most exciting, sub-sector of creative industries – Games. The programme is shaping and shifting every day as we accept an ever-growing roster of inspirational speakers and participants, and we cannot wait to reveal all in November.”
Dr Richard Wilson, CEO, TIGA, says, “TIGA’s mission is to serve the interests of game developers and developer-publishers. All our activities are geared towards helping new interactive businesses in the UK grow, so I could not be more delighted to be involved in the first ever Extended Play festival, which will help enable games businesses to start up, grow and be more successful.”
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