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London Games Festival 2022 Delivers World-First: Playable Demo Streams For Upcoming Games To International Audience
LGF22 partnership with Microsoft Azure and Gamestream offers free streaming demos to players – no download required
April 1, 2022
7 Min Read
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
Author: London Games Festival
Streaming demos of key games showcased at the London Games Festival are today available to players internationally – entirely for free, no download required – thanks to a partnership with Microsoft Azure and Gamestream, the leading B2B Cloud Gaming company.
Five upcoming indie games from the London Games Festival’s Official Selection have been chosen to take part in the offer that runs the full length of LGF22, from 1 April to 10 April.
The games are:
Grimoire Groves (developed by Stardust). Restore the magical forest as you grow cute plant creatures with your witch magic in this cosy rogue-lite dungeon crawler.
Lab Rat (developed by Chump Squad). Satirical adventure featuring an AI who will monitor and entertain you as you progress through 100+ genre-bending puzzles.
Mask of the Rose (developed by Failbetter Games). A marvellous romance with a hint of murder. The latest game in the Fallen London series.
Paper Trail (developed by Newfangled Games). A top-down puzzle adventure about leaving home. Fold and tear your way through a diverse, populated paper world.
Silt (developed by Spiral Circus, published by Fireshine Games). Plunging players into a harrowing ocean abyss to unravel long-forgotten mysteries.
All five original titles are available from the start of London Games Festival (today, 1 April) and can be played in the UK, Western Europe and US. To play, all you have to do is follow links from each game’s page at https://showcase.games.london (full access details below).
“We are excited to partner with London Games Festival and Gamestream to give players the chance to try out five fantastic upcoming indie games from the London Games Festival’s Official Selection. At Microsoft, we are committed to help game creators fulfil their creative vision and reach the broadest possible audience of players. This is a great example of how Azure helps creators build global gaming experiences on a reliable, best-in-class cloud, in partnership with Gamestream’s proprietary game streaming technology,” said Harvey Eagle, Director of Azure Gaming, UK.
“We are thrilled to be delivering groundbreaking experiences for players at the London Games Festival alongside Microsoft Azure,” commented Ivan Lebeau, president and co-founder of Gamestream. “This partnership confirms Gamestream’s reputability in the cloud-gaming market and it’s a testament to the growing capabilities of cloud-based services. We are proud to see Gamestream continuously grow as a key technology partner enabling players to seamlessly connect wherever they are in the world.”
“London Games Festival is continually looking for new ways to champion and promote new games – and thanks to this exciting partnership with Microsoft Azure and Gamestream we have delivered something fresh and special. We believe this is the first time a global games festival has offered streaming access to games at the event to attendees in different territories,” said Festival Director Michael French. “And offering streaming gameplay demos to international games fans doesn’t just make the talent at London Games Festival more accessible - it’s an innovative development in how events and festivals can engage with the world.”
London Games Festival starts today, 1 April, and runs as a hybrid event with in-person activity across the UK capital city and a suite of content for digital participants. Along with the gameplay demo streams, LGF is producing a number of online panels and announcements, and is offering industry delegates access to a brand new networking platform.
Other highlights include:
Trafalgar Square Exhibition - A new large-scale installation that will showcase the Official Selection plus other festival programming
Ensemble - profiling underrepresented ethnicities working in video games, the new cohort for which was unveiled earlier this week
Games Finance Market - which connects investors and publishers with games creators (5 April to 8 April)
Tentpole partner events Now Play This, W.A.S.D., and the BAFTA Games Awards
For listings head to www.games.london/#whatson
London Games Festival is supported by the Mayor of London. It is delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital's screen industries agency, and video games trade body Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment).
Microsoft Azure and Gamestream are platinum partners supporting the festival.
They join Associate Partners Curve Games, Coutts, Taylor Wessing, PlayStation, Wizards of the Coast, Nvidia Studio and Sharkmob, plus Festival Partners Kinda Brave, Fireshine Games and Making Moves.
Overall, the online London Games Festival 2022 is set to include over 500 businesses across all its programming, making for its biggest showing since the festival started as a physical event in 2016. For more information and updates head to www.games.london or follow @londongamesfest
LGF22 DEMO STREAMS - HOW TO PLAY
Each game can be launched from its individual landing page at the Official Selection showcase site:
Grimoire Groves: https://showcase.games.london/games/grimoire-groves/
Lab Rat: https://showcase.games.london/games/labrat/
Mask of the Rose: https://showcase.games.london/games/mask-of-the-rose/
Paper Trail: https://showcase.games.london/games/paper-trail/
Silt: https://showcase.games.london/games/silt/
Notes & System Requirements:
Games are playable on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
Gamepad and keyboard/mouse inputs supported.
Demos are limited to 60 minutes. Your progress is not saved
Wired Connection or 5GHz Wi-Fi recommended plus an up-to-date browser (Chromium, Chrome, Firefox, Edge)
Game performance depends on your internet connection and distance to the server.
Demos do not reflect the quality of the final game
//END//
About London Games Festival
London Games Festival is delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital's screen industries agency, and video games trade body Ukie – with a mission to make London the games capital of the world. Since its founding in 2015 Games London has supported over 1,000 games companies, generated £90m worth of business for participants, and in turn created nearly 600 jobs in the city.
This year’s London Games Festival runs from Friday 1 April to Sunday 10 April. Professionals and players will have access to both in-person and digital programming, flagship games funding event Games Finance Market, the debut of a new consumer show, W.A.S.D, plus returning cultural heavyweights like Now Play This and the BAFTA Games Awards. More information can be found at games.london
About Film London
Film London is the capital's screen industries agency. We connect ideas, talent and finance to develop a pioneering creative culture in the city that delivers success in film, television, animation, games and beyond. We work to sustain, promote and develop London as a global content production hub, support the development of the city's new and emerging filmmaking talent and invest in a diverse and rich film culture. Funded by the Mayor of London and the National Lottery through the BFI, we also receive support from Arts Council England, Creative Skillset and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Film London's activities include:
Maintaining, strengthening and promoting London's position as world-class city to attract investment through film, television, animation and games
Investing in local talent through a range of specialised production and training schemes
Boosting employment and competitiveness in the capital's screen industries by delivering internationally facing business development events
Maximising access to the capital's film culture by helping audiences discover film in all its diversity
Promoting London through screen tourism
Film London also manages the British Film Commission (www.britishfilmcommission.org.uk) through a public/private partnership which is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through the BFI, and the Department for International Trade.
About UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie)
Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment) is the trade body for the UK's games and interactive entertainment industry.
A not-for-profit, it represents businesses of all sizes from small start-ups to large multinational developers, publishers and service companies, working across online, mobile apps, consoles, PC, esports, VR and AR.
Ukie also supports a number of additional initiatives aimed at supporting the sector including Digital Schoolhouse (DSH), askaboutgames.com and Ukie’s Student membership scheme.
Website: ukie.org.uk
Contact: [email protected]
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