ENSEMBLE RETURNS TO SHOWCASE DIVERSE GAMES TALENT

ENSEMBLE RETURNS TO SHOWCASE DIVERSE GAMES TALENT

London Games Festival and Games London have launched this year’s Ensemble, a showcase of Black, Asian and under-represented ethnicities working in the UK games industry.

The exhibition was highlighted at the weekend in Trafalgar Square, while a special YouTube launch has also profiled the cohort, with more social media videos being lined up, offering careers advice. The physical exhibition will move to WASD at Tobacco Dock from Thursday, April 7th to Saturday, April 9th.

The Ensemble initiative champions game developers and creatives from a broad spectrum of roles and a wide variety of backgrounds. Curated by award-winning, bestselling author and Artistic Director Sharna Jackson, this year’s line-up includes experts in the fields of game direction, concept artist and illustration, writing, audio design, production and more. 

They are:

• Adam Campbell, Director of Product
  Adam is an award-winning producer and diversity campaigner with a games career spanning a decade. He is currently working on a number of games at award-winning global EdTech company, Macademia, and is a Ukie board member. 

• Haroon Thantrey, Sound Designer
  Haroon has been working as a Sound Designer in Games since 2016, having worked on titles such as Dirt 5, Grid: Legends, Sniper Elite 4, Battlezone VR and Madden 17. He is currently part of the Audio Department at Codemasters, which has recently become a part of Electronic Arts.
  
  

• Jay Shin, Co-founder of indie game studio "Arrogant Pixel", Course Leader & Senior Lecturer at University of West London (Games, Design and Animation)
  Jay is an avid entrepreneur, aspiring academic and educator in the games design and development space in the UK. She is currently working towards a PhD, sits on the UKIE board of directors and is an active and visible Women in Games Ambassador.

• Jay-Ann Lopez, CEO and Founder, Black Girl Gamers
  Evolving from a like-minded group of friends to a community-powered business, BGG has become an influential agent of change throughout the gaming industry to grow the influence, representation, equity and experience of Black women in gaming.

• John Lau, Producer, Designer and Developer 
  John first started producing educational games, before completing an MA in Game Design & Development and becoming a freelance game designer. He most recently produced the narrative adventure South of the Circle for BAFTA-winning studio State of Play, and is now a Senior Producer at ustwo games, working on the next title in the Monument Valley Series.

• Leah Muwanga-Magoye, Writer & Narrative Designer
  Leah started as an editor before moving into writing and directing across a variety of mediums including radio, film and theatre. She is now Story Lead at Die Gute Fabrik running a writersroom for a Narrative driven console game, and also works as a Narrative Designer for various Netflix projects in development.

• Lili Ibrahim, Artist and Art Director
  Lili joined the games industry working on the Art Academy games, and has since worked on a range of different projects. Today she is a lead artist working on socially impactful games at Ustwo Games, currently working on the next instalment in the Monument Valley series. 

• Taiwo Omisore, Indie Game Developer
  Taiwo is a self-taught, independent game developer from London, originally designing his first retro arcade game (SpaceBots) during his commute. Taiwo now has a total of 7 apps ranging from social media app ‘Who Am I?’ to his most recent puzzle games ‘1 Chance’ & ‘TaiWord’. Taiwo is an advocate for indie devs, as well as diversity and representation within the stem and gaming/engineering community. 

Ensemble launched in 2018 and has since been a tentpole moment in the London Games Festival, helping change perceptions around games creation in the UK. The Ensemble showcase launches and refreshes each year, with a programme that includes a touring exhibit, talks and workshops, representation and a network of new voices.