Surrey launches GAIN programme at Guildford Games festival

The University of Surrey has launched the Games and Innovation Nexus (GAIN) at the Guildford Games Festival, to help tackle challenges within the gaming industry.

As part of the launch, Caroline Fleming, Director Surrey Innovation District, University of Surrey, chaired a panel session titled ‘Connecting Capabilities, Research to Revenue’ involving industry and academic representatives.

The prestigious panel comprised of Charity Joy from Criterion Games, which is part of the gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA); Steve Cuss of The GamePlan Consultancy; Andrew Bossom from the University of Creative Arts and the University of Surrey’s Dr Stephen Mooney.

Together, the industry experts explored the relationship between universities and the games industry, delving into issues around people and skills, research, and the value of connections and networks.

AN INDUSTRY GAME CHANGER

The Guildford Games festival – a grass roots, community initiative from a team of people actively involved in the Guildford games industry – was the ideal event to announce the kick-off of the GAIN project, which will deploy £2.3m of funding to address industry challenges by:

• Connecting University researchers with games companies with challenges to solve
  
• Connecting the Guildford and Leamington games clusters
  
• Investing in an innovation ecosystem, including a new Games Innovation Zone at Surrey, and a town centre incubation centre at UCA Farnham, that support games innovation commercialisation.

Caroline Fleming, Director Surrey Innovation District, University of Surrey, said: “The University of Surrey is particularly excited to develop our innovation collaboration with Guildford’s vibrant and exciting games cluster.

“GAIN is designed to tackle the challenge of development of a new diversified innovation model that bridges across academic research and the IP sensitive Games industry, creating opportunity for regional economic growth and positive societal impact.

“I would like to thank the Guildford Games Committee, for inviting us to host this session, Surrey County Council for their ongoing support for the games sector in our region, and Research England, for recognising the value of our regional games cluster and committing £1.5m to funding it.”

GET INVOLVED WITH GAIN

If you’re working in or interested in gaming, the GAIN project team are keen to hear more about your industry challenges, opportunities and ideas for research collaboration.

Click on the button and complete the form to share your industry challenges, opportunities and ideas for research collaboration.