Latest Event Updates
July 18 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and / or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th August.
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory – If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
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Dev Scene News
Opposable Games
Bristol VR Lab have recently launched a jobs page gathering together local VR and AR on their website here. It’s updated regularly as new positions arise so do keep checking back to it! See the Jobs section for their current posting.
Auroch Digital
We sent two of our fittest and finest down to Develop: Brighton this week! Our Design and Production Director, Tomas Rawlings, gave a talk on ‘Surviving the Steampocalypse‘ and our own Nina Adams gave a talk titled ‘How to Make People Love You, Or at Least Love Working With You‘! Both talks were a great success. Did you manage to get down to Develop this year? Let us know your thoughts and if you have any further questions, feel free to let us know.
Our Mars Horizon podcast episode 3 is now live, and features a guest appearance from Andrew Kuh of the UK Space Agency! It was a fascinating experience talking to him about how real world ideas will feature in the game, and you can check it out on Apple Podcasts or our website.
Finally, our GameTheNews initiative has been fully absorbed into Auroch Digital. You can read more about this in our final blog post as Tomas talks about newsgaming in general, summarises on the initiative as a whole, and our plans to incorporate it into Auroch Digital projects in the future.
Ndemic Creations
Plague Inc. infects Buckingham Palace – Ndemic founder and Plague Inc. creator James Vaughan took a trip to London to visit the Queen (well, Prince Charles), and to receive in person the Queen’s Award For Innovation. He had to scrub up, of course, but didn’t neglect to represent the company with his trusty pair of Plague Inc. socks.
Plague Inc. Mutation 16 is live on iOS! – the latest, most Royal update to Plague Inc. brings with it a big UI overhaul and two brand new scenarios. ‘Ultimate Board Games’ tasks you with designing, producing and selling your own infectious tabletop game, while ‘Science Denial’ imagines a world in which faith in scientists is at its lowest ebb. Mutation 16, AKA ‘The Royal Update’, is free to download on iOS now and is due to spread to other formats soon.
SPECTRUM 48
SPECTRUM48 are looking for beta testers to help test their upcoming mobile game OCO. There’s a very rough video and game details here: www.oco-game.com
If you’re interested please get in touch with Philip: philip@spectrum48.com
Jobs & Opportunities
Opposable Games
Opposable Games are soon going to be needing testers for their new R&D project – a sci-fi local multiplayer VR arcade game complete with tracked Nerf guns and backpack PCs (read: “no” wires). If you’re interested in testing the game then you can sign up here. The tests won’t be taking place for a little while but Opposable will let you know when they have a date.
Ndemic Creations
Ndemic Creations is looking for a new tech/programming intern!
A slot has opened up for a tech/programming internship (paid) at Ndemic Creations starting in the next month or so. Follow the link for more info and how to apply: https://bit.ly/2JexWUk
Auroch Digital
At Auroch Digital we’re hoping to add an Unreal Developer and Marketing & Community Manager to our award-winning team. The Marketing & Community Manager is a combined marketing and community role with a primary focus on marketing and selling our products and developing and building our audience of fans. The Unreal developer role is for a programmer who will be working on a groundbreaking Unreal Engine 4 project. You’ll be an integral part of our coding team, working alongside a talented group on a very special, high visibility project with a major tech partner. For more information or to apply, email admin@aurochdigital.com.
Events Diary
Super Hamlet 64 (Wednesday 25th – Saturday 28th July @ The Arma Tavern, BS8 2HY)
3 years ago poetry slam winner Edward/Edalia Day set about rewriting Hamlet using only videogame quotes. 400 hours of playing later they’ve come up with the wildest Shakespeare experience you’re ever likely to see. Combining classical text with modern poetry, the show also dissects modern ideas of
privilege, gender and mortality. You can check out the trailer here!
“Day never ceased to impress…like a man possessed at times, effortlessly switching
between characters…for me, the best original play I have seen.”
★★★★★ Theatre Bath
Suffragette Landmarks (Multiple dates and venues throughout July)
This is a government-funded project initiated by Bristol Women’s Voice. It’s a games-making project working with young women and girls aged 13-18 that has several aims;
- raise awareness of histories of Bristol Suffragettes and explore their relevance today
- use those Bristol Suffragette stories to inspire the young women and girls to design and build computer games
- create opportunities for participants to find out more about careers in the games industry through meeting people working in the sector and visiting different creative industry spaces
- create real world markers on the city landscape to draw public attention to both the games and associated stories
The dates these workshops will be running are as follows;
- Mondays in Knowle West Media Centre 16/23/30 July & 6th August
- Tuesdays at Docklands Youth Centre in St Pauls 17/24/31 July & 7th August
- Wednesdays at The Vench in Lockleaze 18/25th July & 1/8th August
Get in touch with constance@grrrlgames.org for more information.
Quick Links
June 18 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and / or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th July.
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory – If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
The Bristol Games Hub Anti-Socials are on their summer holidays and will return in September!
Dev Scene News
Evil Twin Artworks
Evil Twin Artworks announces its long awaited follow up to Victory At Sea, called Victory At Sea Pacific; a huge Open World RTS where you play out the entire Pacific War.
To celebrate this announcement, Evil Twin has created a brand new trailer for the game.
The new Steam page for Victory At Sea Pacific can be found here.
Evil Twin Artworks plan to start streaming live gameplay sessions on Twitch. Tune in to the official stream here.
Auroch Digital
Ogre is 40% off on Steam and to celebrate, this month we’re running a screenshot contest with the chance to win some amazing signed Ogre goodies! All you need to do is submit your best Ogre screenshots to the Steam Community page and let jake@aurochdigital.com know. Full details can be found here. We’ll also be pushing an update to Ogre very soon with a bunch of fixes to Multiplayer. Look out for an announcement in our Steam group with full details.
Our recently-announced space agency management game, Mars Horizon, was featured in May’s Sky at Night magazine, a massive honour for the team working on the project. The game was also listed as part of DT Gaming’s Top 16 New Strategy Games 2018.
Lukas Roper
Happy to share that I’m developing a board game called Corrupt Cup Contest! Corrupt Cup Contest is a party game inspired by the FIFA corruption scandal, which tasks you to win the rights to host the “Global Sports Tournament” for your country. Players must schmooze, accuse and bribe each other to be declared the most influential G.A.F.S delegate over quick fire rounds.
If you are interested in hearing more, you can subscribe to the mailing list here: www.corruptcupcontest.com
I’ll also be looking for willing participants to be filmed playing the game for promotional purposes. If you are interested, please email me at lukasroper@outlook.com and I can send more details when I have a date.
More major news will be announced in the week preceding the World Cup final so keep your eyes peeled!
Ndemic Creations
Mutation 16 (‘The Royal Update’) out now on iOS, named in celebration of Plague Inc. winning The Queen’s Enterprise Award for Innovation! Key new features include iPhone X support, a freshly rebuilt UI, and two new official scenarios – Ultimate Board Games and Science Denial. We’re excited to see what everyone makes of them!
https://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/news/145-plague-inc-mutation-16-preview-the-royal-update-is-here
Events Diary
Bristol Gaming Market (24th June @ The Passenger Shed, Bristol)
Replay Events is expanding into Bristol with the launch of the city’s first Gaming Market – an event set to draw around 4,000 gaming enthusiasts from across the South West and Wales on 24th June.
If you want to be in with a chance of get a few FREE tickets, simply let us know on social your favourite game growing up using #BristolGamingMarket and we’ll pick the winners at the end of the week.
Find out more information about the event here.
Tech & Cider Presents – Start-up Stories: Open Bionics (Thu 28 June @ Pervasive Media Studio)
Open Bionics is an award-winning robotics company developing affordable, assistive technologies that enhance the human body.
This talk is organised by Tech & Cider with the partnership of YHP, Reach Robotics and Deniz Designs. Tech & Cider is a forum for early stage start-ups and budding entrepreneurs with the aim of demystifying the start-up journey and nurturing the Bristol tech ecosystem. Free tickets can be booked here.
Ludonarrative Discourse (Date TBC @ The Bell pub, Bristol)
Have your say on what game we play and discuss this time around, and let us know what date works best for you. We’ve even created a handy form for you to fill out with your suggestions! Voting closes at the end of the week.
Quick Links
May 18 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina@aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and / or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th June 2018.
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory
If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
Dev Scene News
Auroch Digital
Phew! We’ve been busy recently. Today, we announced Mars Horizon, a space agency management and mission simulator inspired by real science and engineering. This project was backed early on by the UK Space Agency and is scheduled for release on Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in Q4 of this year!
If you missed the Kickstarter for Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics – The Forest of Fear, the project is now up on PledgeManager where you can get a bunch of awesome bonuses on top of the core game, when it is released later this year.
Our own Tomas Rawlings and Nina Adams are speaking at Develop too! If you’re heading to the conference, be sure to check out their talks on the Steampocalypse (Tom) and How to Make People Love You, Or at Least Love Working With You (Nina)
And finally, we’ve updated our site (looong overdue!), with a brand new Store page, individual game pages for all of our projects and an updated blog page.
Ndemic Creations
Ndemic wins Queen’s Award!
We are honoured to announce that Ndemic Creations has won the UK’s most prestigious business award – and it’s a royal one at that! The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is awarded for excellence in Innovation and it recognises the global impact that our infectious strategy game Plague Inc. has had – continuing to top sales charts worldwide six years after initial release.
Events Diary
Artful Innovation 2018 (Deadline for applications: 10.00 Monday 18 June 2018)
Artful Innovation is an intensive Watershed course for West of England creative businesses looking to identify and develop a sustainable business model to underpin their ideas. Spaces are fully funded (usual fee of £3,250) and will bring together a group of tutors and mentors to deliver a range of creative business development modules to offer a new lens through which to understand their business. Teams will enter into a task based journey of learning, sharing, building and evaluating their businesses
The theme is Future Content; we are looking for businesses that might be exploring the future of books and storytelling, immersive cultural experiences, game design or VR/AR/XR for the next generation of audiences.
Further information, including the brief is here: http://wshd.to/artfulinnovation
The event itself will run from Monday 15 to Friday 19 October and a follow up day.
SW Megagames (not until September but tickets selling fast!)
South West Megagames are running a ‘megagame’ called ‘Watch The Skies: Second Sight’ in Bristol on 22nd September. If you’re not familiar with megagames, they’re probably most comparable to a large board game/RPG hybrid style of event that takes place over a single day. The game has units and maps but also role-playing elements and a lot of communicating and negotiating with other teams. WTS: Second Sight has been designed to be accessible to new megagamers, so there’s a discounted price for this event to anyone who has never played a megagame before (and anyone who brings a new megagamer with them).
WTS: Second Sight is a game about high-level political decisions during a of crisis of extraterrestrial proportions. What do the aliens want? Will the Earth survive? Nothing is certain, except that the aliens are coming – so be sure to ‘Watch The Skies!’
Quick Links
- UKie has published a guide to financing your new game
- Negative reviews get posted faster than possible ones…
- Global games market to hit $137.9 billion this year
- How to stop big publishers breaking your business
- Beyond Dungeons and Dragons: can role play save the world?
Thanks all!
April 18 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and / or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th May.
Next Games Hub Anti-Social: Thursday 26th April, 7.30pm
Details to be confirmed in a mailout slightly closer to the time. It’s sure to be a good one, we’re just finalising details 🙂
So join us then! We’re at 77 Stokes Croft on the 3rd Floor. The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft, opposite the Canteen.
Games Hub News
Pitch Your Game – from Bristol Games Hub & Bristol VR Lab
Following on from our successful previous investment event, we’re doing another one – this time aimed at publishers finding great games to publish from the South West. We’ve got four publishers confirmed attending so far and we hope more to follow. The event is going to be on 23rd May 2pm-4pm at the VR Lab. We’ve got limited slots for presentations, but we’d love your crazy and/or engaging and/or amazing and/or creative ideas for the next big thing to be pitched there and (hopefully) signed and published. If you’re working on a cool new project and want to pitch it to our panel of publishers, then please email nina@aurochdigital.com ASAP!
(Note to only pitch if you can make the event itself. If you’re new to this, that’s ok, we can offer a bit of mentoring and support for the selected pitches. Thanks!)
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory
If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
Dev Scene News
Bristol Games Hub Showreel 2018
We have a shiny new promo video up on the Hub site!
Filmed and edited by Becky Bell, whose work and details you can find here.
Jobs & Opportunities
Mobile Pie
Mobile Pie are interested to hear from any 3D animators with experience of Maya and a love of cartoons. Please send portfolio links and day rates to jobs@mobilepie.com
Events Diary
Ukie Hub Crawl 2018 (6pm – 9pm, Apr 19 @ Bristol Games Hub)
The Hub Crawl 2018 is a series of free events, located all around the UK, that bring games businesses together to hear and share the latest thinking on business growth.
Each event features a series of short, informative sessions from industry experts in key areas such as finance, marketing and technology and this will be followed by a games panel featuring companies from the local area. Content will change at each event so make sure you check out all the events in your region.
After each session there’ll be a chance to network, share ideas and have a drink with your peers.
Full details and tickets are available here.
Bring Your Own Animation (7.30pm, May 14 @ PM Studio, Bristol)
This free screening and networking event invites you to come along and share your recent projects, ideas, showreels, storyboards – you name it!
This month we will joined by guest speakers Dani Abram and Lauren Orme, organisers of Cardiff Animation Festival, who will be talking retrospectively about their experience of setting up a brand spanking new animation festival along with some of their personal highlights!
Send a dropbox link to byoanimationbristol@yahoo.com or if you prefer, you can send it via WeTransfer to byoanimationbristol@yahoo.com.
They are happy for people to bring in USBs on the night, however we will show work on a first come first served basis!
Quick Links
- Ageism in development
- Very honest postmortem of Where the Water Tastes Like Wine and where Steam is now (and a counter point)
- Burn-out in game development and talking self-care
- Devs share their best ‘hacks’
Thanks all!
Hub Showreel 2018
Check out Bristol Games Hub’s new promo video for 2018.
Filmed and edited by the wonderful Becky Bell.
March 18 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and / or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th April.
Next Games Hub Anti-Social: Thursday 29th March, 7.30pm
This month we will be hosting the Anti-Social at the Bristol VR Lab, rather than the usual venue of the Bristol Games Hub, on Thurs 29th March at 7.30pm, where we will be running a small games tournament for those who want to test their skills.
Games will include Rocket League and R6 Siege, along with multiplayer VR games Coco VR and Space Pirates.
As ever, if you would like to demo or trial your game amongst a friendly audience bring it along!
Doors open at 7.30, and if you’ve not been there before, the Bristol VR Lab is between the Aquarium and We The Curious in the centre of Bristol. You can find it on a map here.
So join us then! We’re at 77 Stokes Croft on the 3rd Floor. The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft, opposite the Canteen.
Games Hub News
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory
If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work, put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
Dev Scene News
Dutch Game Garden
The good people of the Dutch Game Garden recently kicked off Game Garden Academy, a portfolio of online video courses about game business for starting game developers and students. As an industry, a lot of our knowledge and business experience stays within, but they figured it was time to share it with the world. Currently they have 4 courses, and each course contains interviews with experts in the game industry, including Rami Ismail (Vlambeer), Leonie Manshanden (Bioshock Infinite) and Katie Stegs (Crossy Road). You can use the code ACADEMY152 to get a discount for all our courses on Udemy! See here: https://www.dutchgamegarden.nl/academy/
Auroch Digital
We’re incredibly proud to announce that our latest project, Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics – The Forest of Fear, was successfully Kickstarted in just 3 days! Since then, thanks to the support of our incredible backers, we’ve managed to fund the game at over 218% of our initial goal, which unlocks the Pathfinder Demon Hunters, plus three additional stretch goals;
PLUS, we recently announced that the game will not only be released on Steam for PC in September, but also PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch!
If you missed it, you can check out studio head Tomas Rawlings and Community Manager Jake Connor talking about the project, showing off brand new in-game assets and demonstrating gameplay mechanics over on our Twitch channel. Be sure to follow us on Twitch for regular updates on what we’ve got going on, how our various projects are developing and exclusive looks at in-game content.
Ndemic Creations
Plague Inc: Evolved, the enhanced version of Plague Inc., available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, has now sold over 2 million copies. It’s gone Double-Platinum!
https://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/news/140-plague-inc-evolved-goes-double-platinum-with-2-million-copies-sold
Jobs & Opportunities
Call out for real-time Architectural Visualization freelancers
We’re always on the lookout for new talent and have a number short-term projects that require additional resource. If you a local freelancer with experience in Architectural Visualisation we’re keen to hear from you. Send us your portfolio, CV and rates to hello@whileyandblake.com
Ndemic Creations
Ndemic Creations is still on the hunt for a senior game designer. If that sounds like you or you know someone suitable for the role, find full details here: https://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/19-careers
Events Diary
Reload, Relive, Replay (30th and 31st Mar @ Bristol Hippodrome)
This Easter weekend Bristol’s premier theatre transforms into a gaming hub!
With multiple zones situated throughout the theatre each session offers a full gaming experience in areas not usually open to our customers.
Playing games on the famous Hippodrome stage, sub-stage and bar areas with more than 100 machines and games for 1, 2 and more players, this will be an unforgettable experience!
Full information on the schedule can be found here.
The Incredible Playable Show (Thurs 12th April @ Bristol Improv Theatre)
Bristol developer Alistair Aitcheson will be performing his interactive comedy show The Incredible Playable Show as part of an digital theatre double bill. Play This Show! takes place on 12th April at the Bristol Improv Theatre.
Alistair specialises in alternative controllers, and the show is made up of four alt-controller games of his own creation, played by members of the audience. Players climb between the seats with barcode scanners, play Pac Man with inflatables, and even get to become Power Rangers!
The Incredible Playable Show won the Jury Choice at the IndieCade Festival in Los Angeles.
Tickets are available from this link: https://improvtheatre.co.uk/events/play-this-show/
‘Den of Wolves’ Megagame (Sat 14th April @ Frenchay Village Hall, Bristol )
South West Megagames are running a ‘megagame’ called ‘Den of Wolves’ in Bristol on 14th April. If you’re not familiar with megagames, they’re probably most comparable to a large board game/RPG hybrid style of event that takes place over a single day. The game has units and maps but also role-playing elements and a lot of communicating and negotiating with other teams.
Full information on the event and the game itself (it sounds awesome!) can be found here.
Game Audio South West meetup (7pm, Fri 23rd Apr @ King Street Brew House)
Game Audio South West is where sound designers, composers, audio developers and game developers of any skill can come together to strengthen the amazing game audio community.
The group is available to join at www.facebook.com/groups/gameaudiosouthwest
And the event is here www.facebook.com/events/148200799207705
Quick Links
- Great advice if you’re going for a job interview in games development
- MCV investigates the issue of store discoverability
Thanks all!
February 18 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and/or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th March.
Next Games Hub Anti-Social: Thursday 22nd Feb, 7.30pm
Join us for a great talk from Hub director Tomas Rawlings! This month he’s talking over his findings from Kickstarter – dos and don’ts, stretch goals, how to reach the best audience possible and more!
So join us then! We’re at 77 Stokes Croft on the 3rd Floor. The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St / Stokes Croft.
Games Hub News
SW Freelancer / Company Dev Directory
If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
Dev Scene News
Ben Byford
Just released on iOS and soon on the playstore – Full Colour Tiles is a fiendishly simple puzzle game. Created over a year and a half in my spare time, this is my first public game release!
Auroch Digital
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics revealed, Kickstarter funded in just three days, and stretch goals being added! A turn-based strategy with RPG elements, the game is set in the ultra-compelling world created by our partners at Modiphius, and is being published by the mighty Ripstone. The Kickstarter has 17 days left to run and unlock some (or all…?) of the amazing stretch goals available!
We were at City of Games 2018 too, which was great fun. It was the Bristol board game expo’s first year and went down a storm! We were showing a pen and paper prototype of the Achtung! Cthulhu video game, which seemed to go down really well, and we were secretly showing off a very early version of another new project that’s in the works – we’ll be talking more about this one in the coming year.
We also once again ran the Bristol edition of the Global Game Jam. It was a huge turnout, with people from all walks of life coming together to make games of all shapes and sizes. We were really proud of the quality of output at this year’s event. You can try out the games for yourself over on the Global Game Jam website.
Jobs & Opportunities
Runwild Entertainment – 3D Artist
We are looking for a 3D Artist to join our pack as we set out on a great adventure with the development of our ambitious first game Almighty. More information here.
Auroch Digital – Unity Programmer
We’re looking for a programmer that is proficient in C# and Unity for a six-month contract working on a high-profile video game project, starting ASAP. Email a CV and cover letter to nina@aurochdigital.com including salary expectations.
Dyson
You will research and develop Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality prototypes to primarily support Research and New Product Innovation teams, with a focus on Robotics Research at Dyson. More information can be found here.
Events Diary
GAConf (Monday 13th March @ Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco)
Time is running out to get tickets for GAconf, a game accessibility conference in San Francisco on March 19th (Monday of GDC week) and organised by Hub resident Ian Hamilton alongside Tara Voelker of Microsoft. Great speakers on accessibility for gamers with disabilities.
www.gaconf.com
Ludonarrative Discourse
Steampunk! Jules Verne! Stuffy high class Englishmen! Suitcases!
Ludonarrative Discourse, Bristol’s book club for games, will be meeting up again at 7pm on Monday the 19th of February at The Bell. This month the group will be discussing 80 Days, Inkle’s award-winning branching narrative game. Come along to chat about the routes you took, the people you met and the trials you overcame!
More information on Ludonarrative Discourse can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2067024330197998/
Southwest VR Meetup (Thursday, March 1, 2018 @ The Boardroom, St Nicholas St, Bristol)
The Bristol VR Lab and SouthWest VR team are pleased to announce the resurrection of the SouthWest VR Meetup. This time we’re taking it back to basics with a fun VR-themed pub quiz in The Boardroom on March 1st.
This event is all about having fun and networking; you’re welcome to bring along a mobile headset and chat about what you’re up to in the immersive tech space but we’re not going to be setting up anything elaborate outside of the quiz itself.
Get your thinking caps on, do some VRevision and sign up over at Meetup. It’s gonna be a ♫ whole lot of fun, prizes to be won…♫
Grrrl Games Spring Jam (23rd / 24th Feb at the Foundry, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol)
We are very pleased to announce our first jam of 2018, hosted by PlayWest and supported by FET / UWE Frenchay and PrettyDigital. The GrrrlGames Spring Jam is open to all women (trans-inclusive) with all levels of experience. Absolute beginners and games-curious people are very welcome to come along and have a go at designing and making a game in a fun and friendly atmosphere.
We will run a FREE creche for 2-10 year olds on the Saturday 24th to make it easier for parents to attend, whether they are coming as participants or tech support. More info can be found here.
Quick Links
- Mike Rose gives a guide to sales figures
- Meeting the challenges of the increase in releases on Steam
- How genres form
Thanks all!
January 18 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and/or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th February.
Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 25th January, 7.30pm
This month’s Anti-Social is an opportunity for you to bring along your work-in-progress games and get other members of the community to try them out! If you have something you want people to test, please bring it along. Otherwise get your best constructive-criticism hats on and come along and play a bunch of new games in development from the local area.
So join us then! We’re at 77 Stokes Croft on the 3rd Floor. The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft, above Meat Liquor.
Games Hub News
The latest BGH board game night was a great success; huge thanks to all who came along! Lots of people turned up and many, many games were played. Next one is 13th of March, so mark your calendars!
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory
If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
Dev Scene News
Toxic Games
Toxic Games, based out of the Hub, announced a highly-anticipated sequel to their smash hit, Q.U.B.E. in August of last year. They’re delighted to reveal that Q.U.B.E. 2 now has a gameplay trailer!
The game is available to wishlist on Steam, which you should go and do right away!
Auroch Digital
We’re speaking at Gamesforum London 2018 and PC Connects London 2018 which is very exciting, with talks from our own Nina Adams about translating established board game IPs into great digital games. We also took part in the fantastic Jingle Jam organised by Yogscast and Humble, which raised an incredible $5 MILLION for charity!
More information can be found in our latest blog post, up now on our site.
Rumpus Animation
A Bleaker Predicklement has just been released on Android!
To celebrate we have made Episode 1 FREE for a week!
A Bleaker Predicklement was also released on iOS in Asia last week through Chorus Worldwide and, due to a glitch on the Appstore (which omitted results from previously released games such as minecraft) was the top ranking game on the paid apps chart in Korea. For 8 glorious hours Bertram was Number 1 and I have screenshots to prove it!
Events Diary
Grrrlgames Spring Jam 2018 (23rd & 24th Feb @ UWE Foundry, Frenchay Campus)
Open to all women to come along and participate; beginners and curious people are very welcome. We are looking for a few lovely Hubbers to come and help out. It will not be a women-only event as we will hopefullyhave mixed tech support!
We are hoping to also run a free creche for 2-10 year olds on the Saturday to make it easier for parents to attend. Let us know if this is useful to you. If we don’t get free food – we will be asking for a fiver towards refreshments.
Sign ups are online at our Grrrlgames meetup group. Email constance@wthub.org if you have any other questions.
The event will run from 6pm-9pm on Friday & 10am-6pm Saturday.
PGConnects London (22nd & 23rd Jan @ The Brewery, London)
Pocket Gamer Connects London is now open for registration! With a fantastic selection of events on, it’s set to be one of the biggest games events of the year. They will also be covering VR/AR and PC as well as mobile now, so lots going on! As well as the talks and panels, there are superb networking opportunities: a free Pitch&Match system for arranging business meetings, the massive Global Connects party, three Big Indie Pitch pitching competition events, a dedicated Journalist Bar where developers can show games directly to Pocket Gamer staff etc.
We’re also able to offer 20% off tickets to the Hub community by using the code BRISTOL when checking out!
Quick Links
- AppStore revenues will surpass global box office revenues in 2018
- A thread on teamwork and why it matters
- Abuse as the cost of being a game dev
- Steam’s review bombing problem
- How playing a competitor game made me re-evaluate my own work
Thanks all!
December 17 Newsletter
2017 was a great year for the Hub, with lots of amazing content produced, and we can’t wait to share what we have in store for 2018!
We hope you had a great Christmas and New Year!
To have your news, events and/or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th January.
Games Hub News
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory
If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happyto have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
Dev Scene News
Ndemic Creations
Mad Cow Disease Update rolls out: This month the Ndemic team has been hard at work getting the Mad Cow Disease-flavoured Mutation 15 of Plague Inc. into as many hands as possible after positive feedback from its iOS launch. It’s coming very soon to Android, and we worked together with Auroch to get it up and running on Plague Inc: Evolved on PC, (where it’s playable right now – get a moo-ve on!).
The Xmas Board Game sales epidemic: We’ve also seen copies of Plague Inc: The Board Game absolutely fly off shelves ahead of the holidays. So much so that we’re lining up third production run plans several months earlier than anticipated!
Ndemic Creations is hiring! We’re currently on the hunt for a Senior Game Designer and a Senior Game Developer/Programmer, both on a full-time basis. We’re also looking for someone to help out in a part-time/freelance Community Manager role. For full details on all these roles, including on how to apply, click here: http://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/19-careers
Auroch Digital
As the studio begins to wrap up work for the year, December has been an interesting and highly productive month for the team here at Auroch, with a number of projects in full swing, new opportunities coming to fruition, and top secret stuff just on the cusp of being unveiled.
We’ve sent out our Kickstarter-funded Cthulhu Christmas Cards, we’re running the first City of Games in Bristol in February and lots of other exciting stuff!
Check out this blog post for a full update on all that we’ve been up to recently! 🙂
Jobs & Opportunities
Ndemic Creations
We’re looking to expand the Ndemic Creations team with a number of key hires. Would you (or someone you know) be a perfect fit for any of the following roles?
Senior Game Developer / Programmer
Senior Game Designer
Community Manager – (part-time / freelance)
If so, full details – including on how to apply – can be found here:
http://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/19-careers
Falmouth University – Lecturer openings
Falmouth University’s Games Academy is currently recruiting a Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in game design, as well as an Associate Lecturer in game programming
These are excellent degree programmes with a strong focus on practice-led studio work and collaboration between teams of students who each specialise in one game development discipline.
Events Diary
Gamesforum (24th, 25th January, Central London)
Gamesforum London is a cross platform games business conference taking place on the 24th/25th January. Over 80 speakers from companies such as Rare, Netease, BAFTA and more will be speaking on six content tracks. We’ll also be running four fringe events – the Games Business Workshop, Meet the Publisher, the XDS Sessions and the Game Dev Showdown – throughout both days, while also offering complimentary food, drink and access to our meeting app for all attendees.
We’re offering 25% off passes before Christmas. Use the code XMASSPECIAL25 to get £25 off Micro Studio passes and over £60 off a regular delegate pass.
Registration link: https://www.globalmgf.com/london-register-now/
Ludonarrative Discourse (Mid-January, exact date and location TBC in Facebook group)
Ludonarrative Discourse is a book club for board games, we play a game over a month and then meet up to discuss it at a pub. In our first meetup in December, we played Her Story then nerded out for nearly 2 hours on the themes and secrets. Some people brought notes! Our second meetup is in January and we’ll be playing Firewatch. If you’re interested then head over to the Facebook group where we’ll be organising the date or follow on Twitter for updates.
Global Games Jam 2018 (26th Jan-28th Jan, Bristol VR Lab)
The Global Game Jam® (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event (game creation) taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development.
People are invited to explore new technology tools, trying on new roles in development and testing their skills to do something that requires them to design, develop create, test and make a new game in the time span of 48 hours.
Tickets can be purchased here.
BGH Bi-Monthly Board Game Night (16th Jan, PM Studio)
The residents at Bristol Games Hub are running a bi-monthly board game night (that’s every two months, not twice a month!) where we’ll be playing table top & card games such as Netrunner, Ogre, Blood Bowl, Pandemic and more! Come along to meet fellow gamers and developers, build your network and most importantly, have fun!
Quick Links
- A cry of rage over Steam Direct
- “2018 is going to be the year where gamers take the power back”
- Look forward into 2018 for the games industry
- The emotional rollercoaster of making a video game
Thanks all!
November 17 Newsletter
All the latest updates from the Hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.
Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina@aurochdigital.com for more information.
To have your news, events and/or job opportunities featured in the monthly newsletter, you can contact jake@aurochdigital.com. The deadline for entries is 10th December.
Next Games Hub Anti-Social: Thursday 30th November, 7.30pm (Changed date from mailout, apologies for any confusion!)
Join us for two great talks! This month we’ve got:
George Osborn – Under press-ure: how the changing video game media landscape affects developers
Getting your video game covered by the press remains one of the biggest challenges for a developer to overcome. But how is that challenge evolving as the games media itself is changing? This talk seeks to outline how the press is changing, why it is doing so and what that means for anyone looking for publicity.
Nina Adams – An Agile Approach to Making Games.
An introduction into how Agile project management methods can be used in game development to reduce stress and increase productivity.
So join us then! We’re at 77 Stokes Croft on the 3rd Floor. The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft.
Games Hub News
SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory
If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory
SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…
Dev Scene News
Auroch Digital
The Kickstarter for our Cthulhu-themed Christmas cards ended over the weekend, and we’re incredibly proud to announce we gained 226% of our initial goal! This allowed us to include some great stretch goals, with two unspeakable extras now included; backers will now receive A4 prints and mugs with the fantastic artwork from Dylan Shipley and Stu Griffin. You can check out the designs on the Kickstarter page. Huge thanks to everyone that supported the project!
We’re also continuing to update Ogre with new features, and would love for those of you that have picked up the game so far to let us know your thoughts and feedback in the Steam Discussions. If you haven’t already, feel free to leave a review too!
Ndemic Creations
We’ve been busy working on a few things here at Ndemic HQ, not the least of which is Plague Inc.’s upcoming Mad Cow Disease-themed Mutation 15 update, with its three new official scenarios (details here!).
This past month saw the launch of iOS 11, and we got to see the effects of being featured by Apple in one of its ‘developer stories’ App Store editorials. Downloads of the game surged in number following this piece, showing them to be a really effective way to help a game stand out from the infamously crowded storefront.
We’ve also announced the winner of the Scenario Creator competition. If you fancy spreading a tabletop RPG pandemic then give the winning entry a try! 😉
Jobs & Opportunities
Aardman Animations
Aardman’s games department is looking for a Unity FX artist or programmer for a short term contract. If you have a passion for making particle effects, explosions, amazing volumetric lighting, fluid systems or anything like that then drop us a line! George.rowe@aardman.com
Events Diary
SW Megagames (Sat 27th January @ Frenchay Village Hall, Beckspool Rd)
South West Megagames are running a ‘megagame’ called Crisis in Elysium in Bristol on 27th January. If you’re not familiar with megagames, they’re probably most comparable to a large board game/RPG hybrid style of event that takes place over a single day. The game has units and maps but also role-playing elements and a lot of communicating and negotiating with other teams. You can check out full details as well as past events here. Reservations can be made here.
Crisis in Elysium – When the tension hits breaking point in the giant Martian city-dome of Elysium, local authorities, Earth governments and radical factions fight over control of the city’s streets. Players take on the roles of political leaders, diplomats, military commanders and more, representing the factions on all sides of the conflict – including the forces of powerful Earth governments, multiple radical groups, local Martian authorities, and also some other actors with a stake in the future of the city.
Influence and control, as well as sudden strikes, raids and combat will be happening across three maps representing Elysium’s three main domes – whilst the Council of Mars meets to discuss and enact solutions. And, as ever, yet more diplomacy and discussion is being had in back rooms and dark streets across Elysium, outside of official government channels.
The City of Games 2018 (9th – 11th February @ Future Inns, City Centre)
A massively varied and exciting new 3-day gaming convention in the heart of Bristol, running from 9th – 11th Feb 2018. They’ve absolutely smashed their Kickstarter and tickets are very limited, though there are still some left for the Friday. You can also upgrade your ticket to take part in the Board Game Jam! Check them out, pledge your support and hopefully see you there!
Quick Links
- More games released on Steam this year than whole of 2016
- Are Steam games too cheap?
- What do devs want from Steam?
- Switch sells 2 million units
- Rediscovering History’s Lost First Female Video Game Designer
Thanks all!
