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On 30 April, TIGA’s Start-up, Scale-up, and Grow Conference will bring together a host of industry experts to equip you with the essential information you need to navigate these choppy waters. We’ll aim to help more developers to overcome the obstacles to launching, expanding and growing a studio.

Agenda:

10.00 – 10.30    Registration, networking and refreshments.
10.30 – 10.35    Introduction – Dr. Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO

10.35 – 10.45    Legal considerations of co-development and why it has become the go-to approach for smaller scale studios to level up their growth.

With the industry continuously adapting to new trends, and the challenges faced by traditional AAA studio models, does co-development represent the future of video game development?

Speaker: Sam Crich, Partner in the Commercial and Video Games Law team, Eaton Smith LLP

10.45 – 11.20    Getting investment ready & pitching

Discover ways to grow your business through raising finance and what investors look for in studios, find out more about public sector funding competitions relevant for your studio, pitching advice and practical tips on raising funds and applying for grants.

Speakers:

11.20 – 11.35    Coffee break
11.35 – 12.10    Lessons in Leadership

Gain insights and practical advice from our panelists on leadership lessons and scaling your studio from the UK’s largest games studio, a BAFTA-award winning designer director and highly experienced CEO scaling teams and driving organisational growth.

Speakers:

 12.10 – 12.45    AI in game development

As AI takes a bigger role in game development, we need to ensure ethical design, avoid bias in content, and navigate legitimate concerns while embracing new opportunities. The genie is out of the bottle and AI is here – find out more about what the opportunities are for game developers?

Speakers:

More speakers to be announced.

12.45 – 1.30:     Lunch and networking
1.30 – 2.10:       Game marketing and discoverability

Discoverability is a huge industry topic – what are key tips to help developers stand out on Steam and other platforms? Is early access always a good idea from a marketing point of view? What about a demo? This and lots more hands on advice and experiences shared by our industry experts.

Speakers:

2.10 – 2.20pm   Sourcing overseas talent: Navigating the UK migration system

Speaker: Laurence Keir-Thomas, Director and Solicitor, Fragomen LLP.

2.20 – 2.55pm   Scaling up and growing your studio  

Where should developers spend their time and who should they actually target for financing? Which opportunities are appropriate for developers and where and how should they be networking? What are some lessons learned from those who have raised finance and scaled?

Speakers:

2.55 – 3.15pm   Coffee / tea break
3.15pm – 3.25pm Colin Macdonald, Portfolio Manager for the Content Fund, UK Games Fund

3.25 – 3.50pm   Entrepreneurship & mentoring

Speakers:

3.50 – 4.00pm:  Video Games Expenditure Credit

Speaker: Luke Thomas, Managing Director, Plus Accounting

4.00 – 4.25pm   Outsourcing and co-production: adding value to games development

Speakers:

4.25 – 4.30pm   Closing remarks – Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO

4.30 – 6.00pm    Networking and refreshments.

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The UK games industry is at a critical juncture. Rising development costs, unprecedented competition and an uncertain investment landscape are squeezing studios of all sizes. Attempting to understand and address these challenges can feel daunting, especially when you would rather be focusing on your next game. 

Growing is difficult, especially for independent studios. 53 per cent of all studios founded between 2008 and 2018 did not survive to 2023. Many studios stay small. 78 per cent of all UK games studios employ four or fewer people.

The Conference includes expert advice on how to: raise investment and claim the Video Games Expenditure Credit; lessons in leadership and management; advantages of outsourcing and coproduction; and best practice in game marketing and the opportunities of AI.

Delivered by some of the UK’s most successful industry figures, SSG will host a carefully curated series of panel sessions and talks to give you the tools to address this unique set of challenges.

Start-up, Scale-up and Grow takes place at The Passage in London on 30 April.

Themes to be covered during the conference:

• LEADERSHIP • FUNDING • CO-PRODUCTION & OUTSOURCING • GAME MARKETING • NETWORKING

• AI • VIDEO GAMES EXPENDITURE CREDIT • UK MIGRATION SYSTEM • PUBLIC FUNDING • LUNCH

• NETWORKING • POST-EVENT RECEPTION • FRESH INSIGHTS • Q&A • NEW TIGA GUIDE 2025

Benefits of attending:

  • 25+ speakers across investment, leadership, video games expenditure credit, recruitment and retention, outsourcing and co-production, discoverability and marketing, opportunities with AI.
  • 100+ attendees – ranging from developers, founders and C-level.
  • Networking opportunities throughout the day.

Tickets are free for TIGA members and are priced at £73 for non-members. Your ticket includes access to the full day of conference sessions, lunch, refreshments, networking and a free copy of TIGA’s new Start-up, Scale-up and Grow Guide.

Confirmed speakers:

Chris Kingsley CBE

CTO, Rebellion

Chris Kingsley CBE, alongside his brother, Jason, has created the UK’s leading independent video games development business: Rebellion. They have grown Rebellion into an extensive group of media and entertainment operations covering books, comics, TV, film and board games.
Since founding Rebellion in 1992, Chris and Jason have produced more than 100 games, over 20 of which have been worldwide number one hits. Rebellion’s critically acclaimed games include: Aliens Vs Predator; The Simpsons Game; Star Wars Battlefront; Zombie Army; and Battlezone. The studio’s flagship Sniper Elite games series has sold more than 40 million units sold worldwide.

Rebellion directly employs 600 people and engages another 500 contractors. The company contributes to regional economic growth with studios based in Oxford, Warwick, Liverpool and Wakefield. Rebellion is also the largest independent games developer in the UK. Chris and Jason have also expanded Rebellion into comics, books, film and television and tabletop gaming:

Comics: Rebellion has the rights to comic classics including 2000 AD (featuring Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Slaine and Rogue Trooper); Charley’s War; Billy Bunter; Sexton Blake; Misty; Tammy; Battle; The Spider; and Roy of the Rovers.

Books: Chris and Jason have published several hundred science fiction and fantasy books via Abaddon Books and Solaris Books.

Film and Television: In 2018 Rebellion opened its state-of-the-art Rebellion Film and TV studios in Didcot, releasing the first Rebellion-produced feature film, Schools Out Forever, in 2021. Jason also presents and produces the Modern History TV channel on YouTube.

Tabletop Gaming: Rebellion publishes board games and miniature figures.

Gemma Brown

COO, Dovetail Games

Gemma Brown is the Chief Operating Officer at Dovetail Games, a leading UK-based games studio, and a passionate advocate for inclusive leadership and workplace culture. With over 17 years of experience in talent lifecycle management, general management, publishing, licensing marketing, and retail, Gemma has played a pivotal role in scaling teams, driving organisational growth, and fostering innovative work environments.

As Co-Director and Ambassador Director at Women in Games, Gemma is dedicated to driving meaningful change across the industry, championing culture and belonging, and inspiring the next generation of talent. With a deep understanding of business strategy, leadership development, operational efficiency, publishing, and commercial growth, she brings a wealth of insight into building resilient, people-first organisations that can scale successfully while maintaining a strong company culture.

Alan McDairmant

Co-Founder and Head of Studio Operations at Fuse Games

Game maker for over 30 years with nearly 18 years experience at Criterion Games, Electronic Arts. Left EA in 2023 and started Fuse Games with fellow ex Criterion leaders to continue their game making adventures together. Has shipped many games, most notably several of the recent Need for Speed games leading up to and including Need for Speed Unbound as well as before that Star Wars Battlefront 2, a few Battlefields, Burnout Revenge and Burnout Paradise.

Passionate about helping teams solve problems and achieve their goals in a healthy and sustainable way. Never afraid of a gnarly problem and always excited to look ahead at how the industry can grow and evolve. Father of 3 and a French Bulldog, die hard Star Wars and Lego nerd, Dungeon Master and proud Edinburgh resident!

Tanguy Dewavrin

Creative Director, Atom Stars & COO, StarPAL

Grace Carroll

Lead Community Manager, Astra Logical

With over ten years of experience in social media and community management, including Jagex and Creative Assembly, Grace Carroll is currently Lead Community Manager at Astra Logical, a systems and strategy indie games publisher.
Passionate about community management, she also serves on the board for the GDC community management summit, and provides mentorship to up and coming community managers through Limit Break.

Joanna Haslam

Design Director, Snap Finger Click

Jo is the Design Director at Snap Finger Click, a BAFTA Breakthrough winner, member of the Games Awards Future Class, and has been in the games industry for 17 years. She started out working on the BAFTA award-winning Buzz! franchise and has since worked on several console and mobile titles including Furby! BOOM, Family Feud, and UNO. Jo has a passion for social gaming and strives to bring something unique to every game she works on. She also volunteers as Operations Lead at Limit Break Mentorship for underrepresented game developers.

Felix Wong

Partner, Lvl Up Partners

Felix is a legal and business adviser who has extensive experience of advising fast growing studios with everything from business set up, fundraising, publishing contracts, IP protection, license collaborations, scaling-up and exit. He held lead/senior legal positions at Mediatonic (Fall Guys developer), Miniclip (mobile games publisher), Outright Games (family console games publisher) and Epic Games. Felix is part of Lvl Up Partners - a team of advisers who leverage their deep in-house experience to advise founders on a broad spectrum of business, legal, tech and strategic finance matters.

Charlotte Pang

Co-Founder, Producer and Artist in indie video games

Charlotte loves making meaningful and wholesome games and has found her family in indie game development with amazing creatives and developers in Chirashi Games, Queensguard and Team Gramps. Focusing on sustainable development, Charlotte embraces game development with empathy and approaches projects with care and wellbeing at the forefront. When not game developing, you can find Charlotte sketching and drawing local historical sites!

Susan Cummings

Co-Founder, 10six Games

Susan Cummings is a 25+ year game industry veteran with a history that includes co-founding 2K Games (signing critically acclaimed franchises including Bioshock, Borderlands, Civilization, and 2K Sports). She led Tiny Rebel Games for over 15 years and recently launched a new micro studio, 10six Games. 10six is pioneering the next generation of player customization, building an innovative roguelike game on top of a new genAI powered platform.

Anh Luong

Business Development Director, Miniclip

Chris McCourt

Investment Director, Mercia Ventures

Chris joined Mercia in January 2023 after a 20 year career in M&A advisory, working with SME business owners. Chris advised business owners looking to grow either through raising finance or acquiring other businesses, by helping the owners sell their business when the time was right, and working with management teams looking to buy the business they worked in. At Mercia, Chris invests in technology led business across the North of England with a focus on TMT and ecommerce. Chris led Mercia’s investment into Radical Forge in October 2024.
Chris worked for PwC in Newcastle and London, was the Chief Operating Officer at the North East England Chamber of Commerce before spending 8 years as a Corporate Finance Partner at two regional accountancy practices.

Sam Crich

Partner in the Commercial and Video Games Law Team, Eaton Smith Solicitors

Sam is a commercial contracts solicitor and has focussed his career to date on the legal aspects of software, technology and data. As an avid gamer Sam is able to combine his considerable experience in video games with his legal specialisms in order to deliver extra value to his clients as video games and their delivery become ever more digital.

Colin Macdonald

Portfolio Manager for the Content Fund, UK Games Fund

Colin has worked in the UK's Games Industry for over 30 years, including overseeing the early Grand Theft Autos, Crackdown, and being Channel 4 Television’s Games Commissioner. He now works with various Scottish games companies, chairs the Scottish Game Developers Association, publishes the monthly Games Opportunities newsletter for developers looking for funding/development opportunities, and is Portfolio Manager for the UK Games Fund's Content Fund.

Professor Headleand's research interests encompass Virtual Reality, Serious Games, Artificial Intelegence and Student Engagement. He has a background in design and education, holding a BSc in Design Education, an MSc in Computer Systems, and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Bangor University. His doctoral research focused on behaviour simulation in video games.

Beyond academia, Professor Headleand has entrepreneurial experience, having founded two companies: a design and software startup and a VR video games studio. He has collaborated with various international organizations, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Throughout his career, Professor Headleand has been a proponent of pragmatic and ethical digital innovation. His work in games-based education and simulation is recognized both nationally and internationally.

Shahd Sherief

AI and Unity Developer

Nathalia Garcia

Fractional CMO

Nathalia is a marketing consultant and advisor in the videogames industry, with a 17 year career background across creative agencies, publishers and studios. Beginning at McCann Erickson before jumping to software publishing and marketing at PlayStation, her next move was to Square Enix mobile and then most recently leading Team17's marketing department as part of the senior leadership team. She now consults for studios and publishers on go to market strategies, harnessing the right publishing deal as well as advising on branding and positioning projects.

Salman Shurie

Founder and Game Designer, Gesinimo Games

https://gesinimo.co.uk/

Luke Thomas

Managing Director at Plus Accounting

Plus Accounting offers specialist accounting and tax expertise to the Video Games Industry, with a particular focus on Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) and Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) claims. Over the years, Luke has built an impressive portfolio of more than 200 video games companies.

We are proud members of TIGA and last year, we were honoured to be finalists for ‘Best Tax and Accountancy Supplier’ at the TIGA Games Industry Awards. We also received a nomination for ‘Best Business Support Service’ at the 2024 Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards.

Tanguy Dewavrin

Pioneer creator of AI avatars, video games and virtual worlds, Tanguy Dewavrin has been a virtual world and game developer for the last 30 years, with an artistic and creative background.

Evolved into a successful team leader, building, inspiring and motivating teams of game developers, he set up and managed 2 game studios. Now creating AI-powered smart avatars

Lili Ibrahim

Lead Artist, ustwo games

Lili Ibrahim joined ustwo Games in 2020 to work on socially impactful titles such as Alba: a Wildlife Adventure, and Monument Valley 2: The Lost Forest. Most recently she directed the art on Monument Valley 3.

Emma Cooper

Knowledge Transfer Manager - Creative Industries at Innovate UK.

Anh Luong

Director of Business Development, Miniclip

Matt Spalding

Partnerships Manager, Flix Interactive

Matt is the Partnerships Manager at Flix Interactive, managing all business development and client relationship matters at the studio. Flix Interactive are a TIGA award-winning games development studio based in the West Midlands, providing co-development support to publishers and developers worldwide

Lisa Kneidl

Senior Communications Manager, ICO Partners

Laurence Keir-Thomas

Director and Solicitor, Fragomen LLP

Laurence is a Director and Solicitor in Fragomen LLP’s Sheffield Office, where he manages a team of lawyers and immigration professionals. He has over 14 years’ experience in UK immigration law and works with major corporate clients, providing strategic immigration and compliance support to manage their UK immigration programmes. He has extensive experience across a range of sectors with a particular focus on video games, technology, and engineering. He provides strategic advice on sponsor licence obligations, Day 1 compliance concerns, company restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions to ensure his clients continue to meet their reporting and record keeping responsibilities and avoid the risk of illegal working.

Ignacio Monereo

Partner, Boost Capital Partners

I’m driven by the dynamic startup landscape and the potential for technology to unlock new opportunities. Before joining Boost Capital, I spent 10+ years working at Google and Meta helping web/app developers and content creators increase both reach and monetization across these platforms. In addition, I am an active angel investor in various startups and served as a mentor with incubator programs such as Antler. I love all kinds of team sports and multiplayer online games as I really enjoy being part of a community that is bigger than myself and because it is much more fun when you share those experiences.

Marco Minoli

Director of Publishing, Slitherine Software UK Ltd

Marco Alessandro Minoli began his career in games marketing in 1997.
A dedicated enthusiast of video game niches and vertical market segments, Marco has held marketing roles at EA and Eidos. Currently, he serves as the Director of Publishing at Slitherine, a company specializing in strategy and wargames. Marco is deeply committed to nurturing sustainable business practices and promoting responsible growth within the gaming industry. His extensive experience and passion for the sector have made him a key player in driving innovative and ethical approaches to game publishing.
www.slitherine.com

More speakers to be announced at a later date.

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The Passage 

TIGA’s partner for the conference is The Passage. The Passage has been the caretaker of the homeless community in London for the past 40 years. The Passage’s aim is to provide the support to help people transform their lives through outreach services, three residential projects, befriending programmes and the UK’s largest Resource Centre. The Passage’s services offer practical support with employment, welfare rights, immigration, and accommodation, as well as tailored advice for mental health or addiction issues and victims of modern slavery. The Passage believe that homelessness is everyone’s responsibility and by working together we can be part of the solution.  

For further details please visit www.passage.org.uk or contact media@passage.org.uk

Agenda

  • Registration at 10am – Refreshments and networking
  • Opening remarks at 10.30am
  • Keynotes and panels 10.30 – 4.30
  • Networking reception 4.30 – 6.30

Finding the venue

5th Floor, St Vincent’s Centre, Carlisle Place, London, SW1P 1NL

Carlisle Place is a turning off Victoria Street. If you are walking from London Victoria Station, take the (right) turning immediately after Pret. Keep an eye out for the large red brick building.

Please enter via the St Vincent’s Centre entrance, by pressing the buzzer and letting our receptionist know that you are visiting Cathedral View.

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