The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is backing a new initiative to make London a leading creative hub in the global video games industry. Titled Games London, the project, backed with a £1.2m investment from the London Enterprise Panel, will include a two-week games festival taking place in venues around the city.

Between 1-10 April, the first London Games Festival will include a consumer games exhibition at Somerset House, a series of talks at the British Film Institute and a London Games Fringe of smaller events. The festival is also set to feature two already established events: the popular indie games gathering, Rezzed, and the annual Bafta video game awards.

“London is already a star player when it comes to games and interactive entertainment, but international competition is fierce and we need to ensure our city can compete with our global gaming rivals,” said Johnson. “From design to banking and civil engineering to film, games technology is being used in a host of different sectors. We are investing in a dynamic and constantly evolving industry to take London to another level as a world-leading capital for games and interactive entertainment.”

Games London is being organised by Film London, the capital’s strategic agency for film and media, and by games trade body Ukie. The initiative will also feature a business-to-business networking event to connect developers with investors, as well as new skills and training schemes.

But it’s the festival that looks to be the most interesting component, promising at least 15 events and 10 venues. While Germany has the huge Gamescom exhibition and France has the burgeoning Paris Games Week, London has lacked a major city-wide gaming event for several years.

“We’re covering everything and anything in games – from the fringes where art and technology intersect with interactive design through to the core games enthusiasts will know,” said Ukie chairman, Andy Payne.

“The festival’s events will examine the cutting edge like VR through to how museums and cultural institutions engage with our great games heritage. We want to change perceptions around games, and tell the world about this vibrant art form and shout more about how it entertains – and how much of that comes from London.”

London previously hosted a month-long annual games festival between 2006 and 2012, but that event folded in 2013, with Ukie deciding to refocus its resources on other areas. Payne says things are different this time. “The mayor’s office involvement opens lots of doors that and creates opportunities that simply wouldn’t have presented themselves before,” he said. “And from Ukie’s point of view the opportunity for the London and UK games industries is now more potent than ever after the introduction of tax breaks for games productions here, and the addition of computer science to the education curriculum.

“We all know games are bigger than ever, across numerous platforms and types – the sector made £2.8bn in revenue last year in the UK, more than film and music.”

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Although London has a strong development scene (according to a Ukie report in 2014, 54% of the games industry is concentrated in London and the south east of England), there are game development hubs spread throughout the UK. The big question will be how the country as a whole can benefit from the Games London initiative. Ukie believes that by spotlighting development in the capital the programme will increase awareness of development throughout the UK, attracting inward investment.

Through links with Bafta, the BFI and Somerset House, a key aim is to communicate the growing significance of video games as a cultural competitor to movies and television. Once sidelined as something for kids and teenagers, the $80bn a year industry is now producing narrative experiences on par with the most sophisticated products of film and TV. British games such as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Her Story and Sunless Sea have led the way with experimental and mature interactive experiences.

“The UK is home to some of the best and most experienced games talent in the world,” said Jo Twist, CEO of Ukie. “Games London will celebrate and shift perceptions of games as a vital cultural medium, an important art form, and a key cultural industry.”