Week 9 Communities: WA Games

WA Games Network @wa1games

WA Games is a network of game developers, professionals, hobbyists and students in and around the Warrington area that meet up each month to discuss all things Game Dev and share great practice.

Created by Mark Gregory an indie developer who created Solarix and is currently working on Pyrewood and Aidy Burrows one of the UK leaders in Blender and helped develop the now famous update. Used their links with the industry to create a social meeting point.

Starting just over 2 years ago the meetings objective was clear, to bring together game developers to share good practice, experiences and possible opportunities.

The meetings structure would mainly consist of a social meet and greet with the sharing of current work and the discussion of anything game dev related, while the key part of the evening would be a talk from a guest speaker.

Guest speakers ranged from all areas of Game Development. Programmer, Concept Artist, Technical Artist, Level Designers, Narrative Designers, Producers, etc. Talks would revolve around the job role, current projects or advice for building profiles, portfolios and experience.

This being an analogue meeting had its difficulties, location and availability. However, it was important for the community to try and keep it face to face as many of those working in the industry spend a great deal of time in front of the screen, and so it was to make a conscious effort to create something where people would socialise in person and encourage a sense of healthy practice. The meetings created opportunities to discuss current trends in working practices and this also meant advice was readily on hand by a wealth of experience.

The event for myself created an advantageous opportunity from an educational point of view. Working in FE and running a Game Design course meant at the time that it was incredibly difficult to get studios to commit to talks at college level. A monthly meeting would mean that I could speak to professionals in the industry directly and later as the meeting developed I encouraged the students to take part and come along. To say this enriched their educational experience is an understatement, this did in time create work placements for a number of them and created opportunities to work with a range of experienced game developers.

The evening would allow volunteers working on private projects or team projects to showcase their work and gain feedback. There were opportunities to skill share and upskill as those working in an Indie setting were able to discuss techniques being used at a AAA setting. It also meant the hobbyists were able to seek advice on improving their skill set. The community was open to anyone interested in games or anyone who just wanted an insight into an industry that can be secretive.

The community grew during the year and it meant that they were able to pull in more guest speakers from across the UK and abroad with a number of speakers delivering remotely.

Rules for the community were simple: respect those around you, opinions could be shared with respect and that they wanted to encourage the members to share work. Build confidence and learn.

This has been one of my most valued communities to date, it has created a wealth of contacts for my professional career and my course. It has enabled me to develop a course that is meaningful to my student’s career aspirations. It has provided me with experiences that I would not have otherwise been exposed to on the path beforehand.