It’s far from grim up North this winter thanks to video games developers in Yorkshire - Jamie Sefton

We got so much positive feedback from other towns and cities listening to Yorkshire-based panellists from Red Kite Games, XR Games, Thunkd and Rum Punch Games sharing their perspectives on why our region does so well.

The games output from Yorkshire is truly staggering. Just looking at August alone, here are a few examples of what happened. Games companies went to Cologne, Germany for GamesCom. The event is the biggest games business and consumer event in Europe with a staggering 320,000 visitors.

Companies from the region exhibited games and attended meetings there including Rebellion North, Red Kite Games, Cooperative Innovations, Radical Forge and Team17 – the latter showcasing no less than 16 playable games including brand new and upcoming titles such as gothic side-scrolling platformer Blasphemous II and WWII strategy game Classified: France ’44.

Last month all social media channels and industry sites were alight with talks about an upcoming title from York-based games company Revolution Software, announcing the return of its legendary adventure series Broken Sword with a sixth game in production, entitled Parzival’s Stone, as well as a remastered version of the 1996 original game Shadow of the Templars.

In an interview with Eurogamer, co-founder and CEO of Revolution, Charles Cecil, called the brand new game’s graphical style “super 2D” as it will retain the point-and-click gameplay of the series but with beautiful 3D backdrops taking its two main characters George Stobbart and Nico Collard on a globe- trotting puzzle-filled adventure to find the mythical Holy Grail.

Meanwhile Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged will be updated with 4K graphics for modern-day consoles and PC, to be released in early 2024.

At the same time in Barnsley, Pitstop Productions were winning global recognition for their work on Baldur’s Gate III. The hugely popular role-playing game Baldur’s Gate, set in the universe of Dungeons & Dragons, has just released its third incarnation on PC and PlayStation 5 to rave reviews and record sales.

In Ossett, Five Aces published New Star GP which has been developed by New Star Games for PC and consoles. New Star GP is a fast and exciting arcade motorsport game with crisp retro visuals.

I am so proud to be part of a network with such fantastic companies and successes. They all support each other in ways you just don’t see elsewhere.

I am seeing more collaborations between different sectors too- film, TV and games - I was fortunate to work with Screen Yorkshire earlier on in the year on a leadership programme and more positive interventions are on their way.

It seems clear that the sector is being recognised as a powerhouse for the region. It is why Game Republic is working with XR Stories and Barclays on a free event for producers and wannabes in film, TV and games on October 5 looking at the enormous potential of virtual production, XR (mixed reality) and more – with Production Park in Wakefield and new creative spaces like Tileyard North and Barclays Eagle Labs to name a few, there are increasing spaces in the region for studios to get started and get producing.

The event at the Guildhall in York will get Insights from the visual effects creators of Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the creators of some of the most immersive VR experiences through games companies like Yorkshire-based XR Games, Reflex Arc and more, working with film and TV and vice versa - it’s all happening in Yorkshire and the North thanks to our fantastic facilities, talent and research.

Alongside fantastic universities and educational providers across the county, our Yorkshire-based companies are blazing the trail.

Sheffield-based Sumo Group spent the summer celebrating their own 20-year anniversary (it’s Game Republic’s too) and their first apprentices who successfully completed their pioneering new apprenticeship programme with its first cohort already securing industry jobs. Their production apprenticeship intake is open to applications up until September 22.

In Brighton it was great to share our Northern Lights at the Develop conference, we don’t often get a chance to fully appreciate them. So, as it all gets a bit ‘backendish’ rest assured, that there’s plenty of entertainment indoors on games produced right here. Yorkshire and The North is far from grim - it’s great.

Jamie Sefton is managing director of Game Republic.