Join Cameron Keywood, a passionate advocate for accessibility and the Welsh games industry, as he explores the effects of early versus late autism diagnosis on professionals within the gaming world. With a focus on his personal experience as an autistic indie studio founder, Cameron will examine how diagnosis timing can affect not only career trajectories but also the way games are envisioned and created.

This talk will offer a deeper understanding of how neurodiversity influences creativity, collaboration, and innovation and highlights the importance of supporting autistic professionals in the industry.

The  'Games Leadership Retrospective' is a series of short talks brought to you by selected speakers from different Games Industry Backgrounds sharing experiences and learnings that have shaped their leadership abilities.

Whether funny, sad, or more every day realisations, we value all stories that offer insights and reflections on personal and professional growth.

Each talk will be 15-20 minutes, followed by a live Q&A and an informal networking session for the audience. We will be conducting the sessions live on Zoom.

Please note: Speaker Talks will be recorded and shown on our social channels. Whilst we will do our best to warn attendees when recording is taking place please be aware that your identity might be shown on screen and recorded as part of this event. Please contact us in advance of attending for further information.

Join Alice Bowman for her talk – "How to Know When You're Done Cooking" – an exploration of the challenges of knowing when you're truly ready.

Alice Bowman will delve into the complexities of recognising when it's time to take the next step - whether that's moving into a Leadership role, advancing in your career, starting a new Studio, or something else. Driven by ambition and impatience but held back by anxiety and doubt, Alice shares her personal journey of learning to manage pace and timing.

In this talk, Alice will discuss times when she jumped the gun, moved too slowly, or hit the mark just right. She’ll also share practical tips on self-reflection and finding the right pace in both personal and professional growth.

Join Dr. JC Lau for an exploration of how power dynamics play out in the Games Industry through the lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Drawing from her background in Law, Academia, and Production across both AAA and Indie spaces, JC will share her reflections on how Moral, Legal and Political Principles can shape our understanding of Game Development. JC's talk examines how we understand and exercise power through the lens of DEI initiatives, and how we can lead to create positive change.

Dr. JC Lau is a Seattle-based Producer known for her work in fostering human-centred teams and inclusive Leadership practices. She is a member of the Games Leadership Network, BAFTA Connect, and an alumna of The Game Awards Future Class, IGDA Foundation Next Gen Leaders, and the Amplifying New Voices programme by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.

Each talk will be 15-20 minutes, followed by a live Q&A and an informal networking session for the audience. We will be conducting the sessions live on Zoom.

Please note: Speaker Talks will be recorded and shown on our social channels. Whilst we will do our best to warn attendees when recording is taking place please be aware that your identity might be shown on screen and recorded as part of this event. Please contact us in advance of attending for further information.

Sign up here!

Join Mairi Nolan for her talk - "Live, Laugh, Logical Deduction - Lessons learned from puzzle design" - a brief retrospective on the steps that lead her to a career in Puzzle Game Design.

Mairi 'Spaceship' Nolan is a puzzle game designer based in the United Kingdom who has worked in escape rooms, tabletop games, murder mysteries and video games.

Sign up here!

Announcing our Online Networking Series of short talks around Games Industry Leadership! First up is Director or Games Leadership Network & Academy, Melissa Phillips, who will be presenting 'Whose Learning is this?'.

This is a life lesson reflection with new insights aimed for those in Senior/Mentoring roles who face difficult decision making on when to intervene in supporting their team members.

Each talk in the series will be 15-20 minutes, followed by a live Q&A and an informal networking session for the audience via Zoom. Free to attend but tickets must be reserved via the link below and are limited. All Games Industry folk are welcome (but those in Senior/Lead/Director and C-Suite roles will be most suited)!

The Games Industry is heading towards a crisis, if it is not already in one. It is certainly screaming silently (often less silently depending on who you pay attention to) as we slip from one outrageous revelation to another. With #MeToo allegations rising and repeated reports of poor employee treatment, crunch and dwindling retention of senior talent, it is painfully obvious that something is very wrong.

It's time, we need to talk about Games Leadership.

Melissa Phillips, Director of the Games Leadership Network, has spent the last year working with over 80 current and emerging Games Industry Leaders from over 50 studios worldwide to better understand the challenges facing our studios in the Games Leadership space. What trends are we seeing? How can we better prepare our teams to move into Leadership positions and what might we do to continue to retain those already in Leadership positions?

Our final event of 2023 will celebrate the progress made for the first year of Games Leadership Network and report on plans for 2024.

This event will be a short 20 minute presentation to showcase our new Impact Report followed by Breakout Room Networking and general discussion.

Open to all working in the Games Industry and those who have taken part in our Programmes, Training and Events throughout the year!

Our November Webinar welcomes Adam Clewes-Boyne Co-Founder of IGDA Neurodivergent in Game Development SIG and Neuurodiversity advocate who runs Playing Attention, a community built around supporting the education, facilitation, and accommodation of ADHD and neurodivergent people across the UK games industry and beyond.

This webinar will include a workshop around Key accommodations for Neurodiversity and where to find them as well as an open discussion around Neurodiversity for Leadership within the Games Industry.

This session includes some group breakout sessions and active participation in group discussions.

Mistakes are an inevitable part of any creative process, and the games industry is no exception. Our October webinar will explore the often-uncharted territory of dealing with public scrutiny, team judgement and the weight of guilt from making mistakes within Leadership, whilst also offering supporting strategies to foster self-acceptance and move forward.

The webinar will include some group discussions and optional breakout sessions. This event is free for anyone currently working in the games industry to attend.

The Games Leadership Network is offering some interactive emergency Group Coaching sessions for those experiencing sudden layoffs within the Games Industry.

These sessions are designed to help support those currently navigating the challenges of job loss. We hope to offer a supportive space for people to come together to share and validate their experiences and help guide and manage you through the initial shock and grieving process.

These sessions will not be officially reported on and we ask all participants to agree to keep what happens in these sessions as confidential as possible. There will be no recordings, these will be one-off standalone sessions.

We are offering three separate sessions at different times over the next few weeks to try and offer some different options. All sessions will be the same format and spaces are limited so we ask that you don’t sign up to all three sessions to allow people a chance to attend.

Participants will be expected to take part in group breakout sessions that involve interacting with the group. Please be open to that if you are planning to attend.

The Games Leadership Network is offering some interactive emergency Group Coaching sessions for those experiencing sudden layoffs within the Games Industry.

These sessions are designed to help support those currently navigating the challenges of job loss. We hope to offer a supportive space for people to come together to share and validate their experiences and help guide and manage you through the initial shock and grieving process.

These sessions will not be officially reported on and we ask all participants to agree to keep what happens in these sessions as confidential as possible. There will be no recordings, these will be one-off standalone sessions.

We are offering three separate sessions at different times over the next few weeks to try and offer some different options. All sessions will be the same format and spaces are limited so we ask that you don’t sign up to all three sessions to allow people a chance to attend.

Participants will be expected to take part in group breakout sessions that involve interacting with the group. Please be open to that if you are planning to attend.

The Games Leadership Network is offering some interactive emergency Group Coaching sessions for those experiencing sudden layoffs within the Games Industry.

These sessions are designed to help support those currently navigating the challenges of job loss. We hope to offer a supportive space for people to come together to share and validate their experiences and help guide and manage you through the initial shock and grieving process.

These sessions will not be officially reported on and we ask all participants to agree to keep what happens in these sessions as confidential as possible. There will be no recordings, these will be one-off standalone sessions.

We are offering three separate sessions at different times over the next few weeks to try and offer some different options. All sessions will be the same format and spaces are limited so we ask that you don’t sign up to all three sessions to allow people a chance to attend.

Participants will be expected to take part in group breakout sessions that involve interacting with the group. Please be open to that if you are planning to attend.

There has been a rise of interest in Coaching for the Games Industry and in recent months we are seeing a number of studios begin to adopt more coaching strategies within their workplace.

Our September Webinar explores what Coaching theory might have to offer the Games Industry, how to adopt more Coaching culture into your organisation and provide some tools and resources on where you might go to start to implement more of these.

Is it ethical to coach your employees? What power dynamics do you need to be aware of in this space? and How can we create awareness to encourage active Change in our workplace.

The webinar will include some group discussions and optional breakout sessions. This event is free for anyone currently working in the games industry to attend.

Our August Webinar is designed to equip game developers with the essential skills to navigate upward power dynamics and communicate effectively with higher-level management.

It is crucial to learn how to articulate your ideas, advocate for your values, and effectively communicate the need for positive change in the workplace. We will provide you with invaluable practical strategies and real-world examples to empower you with effective tools to communicate with higher-level management and ensure that your voice is not only heard but also valued.

The webinar will include some group discussions and optional breakout sessions. This event is free for anyone currently working in the games industry to attend.

Our July Webinar for the Games Leadership Network will focus on cultivating psychological safety within game studios.

We'll be discussing the importance of shaping a 'safe space' and how to help teams express themselves in constructive and productive ways.

The webinar will include some group discussions and optional breakout sessions. This event is free for anyone currently working in the games industry to attend.

Book Tickets Here

Our June Webinar will focus on Anxiety in the workplace - both from a Manager’s perspective for supporting anxious individuals and also how to manage our own anxiety levels about work.

Book your free tickets here

Do you find the prospect of Networking in the Games Industry absolutely terrifying? Do you worry about communicating your ideas or maybe finding that none of your Networking feels like it leads anywhere?

The Games Leadership Network is dedicating its May Webinar on building your Network & Communicating your ideas within the Games Industry.

Open to all currently working in Games. There will be some mini breakout sessions during the webinar followed by informal discussion and further networking practice for any attendees who want to hangout afterwards.

There will be some group breakout work during the event and an informal networking event held afterwards to get to know people.

Book your Free Tickets Here

Game Dev is often full of change and requires us to adapt on a regular basis and yet we often neglect change in our studio structures and processes.

Join us for our April webinar where we will be exploring how we can create effective, meaningful and lasting change in our workplace. All Games Industry welcome - whether you are looking to approach decision makers in your own studio or have the power to immediately make changes.

There will be some group breakout work during the event and an informal networking event held afterwards to get to know people.

Book your Free Tickets Here

What does good leadership look like? Join us for our first webinar of 2023 for an open discussion about what might benefit Leadership in the Games Industry.

Tickets available at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-is-the-role-of-a-good-leader-tickets-501241766617?keep_tld=1