London's video game and interactive entertainment industry is about to receive a £1.2 million ($1.69 million) boost following the launch of Games London, a new program designed to turn the city into "the games capital of the world."
Funded by the London Enterprise Panel and helmed by veteran journalist, Michael French, Games London is being created with the help of Film London, the capital's strategic agency for film and media, and video game trade body, UKIE.
The program will look to build on recent growth in the UK video game sector, which generated £2.8 billion ($3.95 billion) in revenue in 2015, by capitalizing on the appeal of video games tax relief to create more jobs, boost skills and training, and generate roughly £35 million ($49.5 million) in additional revenue.
A new annual London Games Festival - the first of which will take place in April 2016 - is being launched as part of the initiative, and will feature 15 official events across 10 different London venues.
Among those events will be a weekend video game festival at Somerset House, an all-new Games Finance Market, which will connect interactive content talent with global investors and partners, and a series of ‘LGF @ BFI’ talks, uniting the London Games Festival with the British Film Industry.
Established events such as the British Academy Games Awards and EGX Rezzed will also be included in the lineup.