Rooted in community, this dynamic hub is quickly becoming one to watch. In the lead-up to the 2025 Norwich Games Festival, we caught up with Robin, founder of Fairer Games, to find out what makes Norwich such a compelling place to create, collaborate, and grow in the world of game development.
I am founder of Fairer Games, Co-organiser of Norfolk Game Developers, member of the Norfolk Business Board, Part-time Lecturer for Games Development at Norwich University of the Arts, Consultant, Mentor for early-stage game developers and a fierce champion for diversity in the digital creative and game sectors.
Since graduating from Norwich University of the Arts, game development has been a part of my career, either alongside a ‘day-job’ or my main focus. I’ve organised conferences and festivals, designed games curriculum, taught in Further Education and always given a portion of my time to my community, through voluntary roles and mentorship.
I have helped organise Norfolk Game Developers – a community group for developers in the area with monthly events – since 2014 and 2024 saw our events grow by 86%!
In 2023 I won the DevelopHER award in recognition of my work supporting the local games sector in East Anglia and I am immensely proud of this achievement.
The local universities are incredibly supportive of the local industry, offering event space and valuable resources. Nordevcon, a technology conference in Norwich has hosted games-sector talks, panels and brought fantastic speakers to the city. Akcela, an accelerator based in Pottergate is home to several games studios and is supporting them in seeking funding. Volunteer-led groups in Norwich such as Hot Source, Norfolk Developers, SyncNorwich, often collaborate and co-promote events with Norfolk Game Developers, acting as catalysts for the local cluster’s growth.
Connected Innovation, part of the local government, has been taking the growth of the local games sector seriously and partnered with Game Anglia (a Community Interest Company founded in Suffolk) to help developers exhibit at events in London and further afield in Helsinki, helping provide equipment and travel support to make these opportunities more accessible.
It can be challenging to get the word out about the success stories from Norwich, as many outside of the region do not recognise the strength of our connected, collaborative cluster – but this too will change and improve with the continued work of all those mentioned here.
In the last 12 months a great deal of progress has been made in linking up local business support, local authorities and the innovation and games community in Norwich and Norfolk.
Studios which relocated here have benefitted from Innovation grants, are exploring SEIS funding, been nominated for BAFTAs and have grown their teams.
The games being produced and businesses built in Norwich are going to continue to go from strength to strength – our USP as a city and a region is our community here which is volunteer led and collaborative.
Diversity in the local and wider national industry for games has increased in recent years (and the industry has benefited greatly from this) but there is still a great disparity in opportunities.
Several national organisations are working to highlight this issue of diversity in games professionals and I am excited to see this work continued, despite recent challenges.
Photography credits: Tim Stephenson Photography
26-31 May at The Forum, Norwich
A celebration of all things gaming! From tabletop games to cutting-edge gaming tech and talks from industry professionals, the Norwich Games Festival is something you don’t want to miss!
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