London Games Festival Details JumpStart Workshop

Organizers of the upcoming London Games Festival have announced details concerning the event's day-long concept design workshop called JumpStart, to be held at 01zero-one in Soho on Thursday, October 5 from 9.30 am until 5 pm. An "intensive, expressive, team-based" workshop, JumpStart is aimed at encouraging the introduction of new game design ideas, while possibly suggesting the pursuit of game design as a career path for participants. According to organizers, the intention of the workshop is to develop understanding of game design as a dynamic and collaborative endeavour, so participants will engage in a variety of team activities. Planned group activities for the workshop include working together to come up with a game concept, and developing it further using various evaluation, visualization and communication techniques. Organizers note that over the course of the day, the workshop will offer insight into game design principles and methodologies, and will seek to place the game concepts generated into a commercial context. While taking part in the JumpStart workshop is free of charge, seating will be limited. As such, participation will be based upon the submission of an application form so that “the most interesting and effective mix of participants” is included. More information on the event can be found on the official website. JumpStart is just one part of the London Games Festival, a week-long celebration that begins October 2, and combines key public and industry events throughout the capital. Other scheduled events include the London Games Summit presented by ELSPA and TIGA and programmed by the CMP Game Group, the London Content, Outsourcing and Middleware Market presented by TIGA, and BAFTA's British Academy Video Games Awards. In addition, Gamasutra.com, GamesIndustry.biz and Eurogamer.net will present the London Game Career Fair on October 3-4, and the CMP Game Group-organized event, GDC London. For more information on the London Games Festival, please visit the official LGF website. Gamasutra will be covering the Festival week in detail on this website.