Guildford is being positioned as the UK’s “Hollywood for video games” with the help of a new gaming innovation zone.
The hub has spaces for group work, testing, and gaming as part of a £2.3 million initiative to celebrate the town’s gaming heritage. The major gaming firms in Guildford are Sledgehammer, Epic, and EA.
The project is the first of its sort in the UK, according to its organizers, and it opened at the University of Surrey.
The Surrey Innovation District’s director, Caroline Fleming, called it “a leap forward towards the next generation of gaming.”.
In order to “solidify Surrey’s reputation as a leader in the global gaming industry,” the gaming zone brings together academics, regional game developers, creative tech leaders, casual gamers, and e-sports professionals.
Ms Fleming added: “The innovative solutions generated inside the new zone will help to tackle the industry’s biggest challenges, showcasing to the world Guildford’s credentials as the UK’s ‘Hollywood for video games’.”
One of the “real success stories” in the region, according to Surrey County Council’s director of economy and growth Dawn Redpath, is the gaming business, which presents the county and its skilled workers to a worldwide audience.
Prof. Yu Xiong, who chairs the advisory board of the UK government’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Metaverse and Web 3.0, is one of the project’s contributors.
