Games industry comes out in force to support 10th anniversary of Brains Eden

Brains Eden, celebrating its 10th anniversary as the UK’s largest international student games festival, has sold out faster than ever before.

Hosted by Anglia Ruskin University, the special anniversary event takes place on Friday 13th to Monday 16th July at its Cambridge campus, with a full roster of 35 international student teams – from across Europe and as far afield as China – competing in a 48-hour games jam.

Industry support for Brains Eden has flooded in from across the games, technology and education industries. Companies including ARM, PlayStation First, Sumo Digital and Frontier are returning supporters of the festival.
Dom Hood, Head of Art at Sumo Digital, said: “Brains Eden is a great showcase of amazing, young talent from all over the world. It’s a great opportunity to get a glimpse of how this up-and-coming generation of game developers is thinking and to see what they’re making.”

New supporters for the 10th anniversary will be Codemasters and Cambridge Assessment English. Commenting on why it is important to support events like Brains Eden, Andrew Nye, Deputy Director of Digital New Products at Cambridge Assessment English, said: “We’re delighted to be involved in the 10th anniversary of Brains Eden. Games play a hugely important role in learning today and we are actively exploring how they can be used to help people learn English and prove their skills to the world. We’re excited to meet the next generation of digital innovators and see how they respond to the challenge they are set!”

In celebration of a decade of budding brains, and with the support of industry leaders, Brains Eden organisers have been able to devise inventive new award categories recognising the skills and talents of more student teams than ever before. The categories will challenge students to think creatively about this year’s theme and the narrative of their games.

A highlight of the international student games calendar, Brains Eden delivers a unique networking opportunity for both students and potential employers, enabling students to get direct access to industry and their first taste of the workplace, in a collegiate environment with a healthy dose of friendly competition.

Dr Apurba Kundu, Acting Dean of Anglia Ruskin University’s Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences which hosts the festival every year, commented: “By bringing together passionate, talented and ambitious gaming students with leading figures in the industry, Brains Eden has significantly shaped the future of games creation in Cambridge and beyond. It’s great to see where creativity and drive can take you, and we are proud to host the event for the 10th year in a row.”

Alongside the 48-hour games jam, where a surprise theme is revealed at the start of the event, students showcase their games development skills and participate in mentoring sessions; where teams pitch games concepts and then their final games to industry experts. Students also have the opportunity to attend career clinics and hear industry-focused talks from representatives of leading studios.

Mark Green, Development Director at Codemasters, said: “The careers clinic at Brains Eden is a great place for students to seek industry input and advice on their portfolios. Equally, I’ve found it incredibly useful over the years to meet students and I’ve taken on several who I first met there.”

The event offers one of the biggest new talent recruitment opportunities in the industry and over the years, Brains Eden has seen 37 students placed in internships and 12 full time positions secured.

Mentoring, sponsorship and prize donation opportunities are still available for companies looking to support the UK’s biggest celebration of new gaming talent and innovation. Those interested in getting involved should contact alison.white@consciouscomms.com for package details.