Games Talks Live Returns to Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow this March

The Scottish Game Developers Association (SGDA) has announced the return of its Games Talks Live series, with a three-city tour taking place across Scotland’s primary games hubs from 24 to 26 March 2026.

The events, which have been a staple of the local industry calendar since 2019, will feature a mix of lightning talks and networking opportunities designed to foster collaboration between developers, publishers and investors.

Three Cities, Three Nights

The Games Talks Live March 2026 tour will visit the following venues:

• Tuesday 24 March: Edinburgh (Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street)
• Wednesday 25 March: Dundee (Beat Generator, North Lindsay Street)
• Thursday 26 March: Glasgow (Sloans Ballroom, Argyle Street)

Each evening follows a set format, with doors opening at 16:00 for networking before the first round of talks begins at 17:00. The sessions are interspersed with regular breaks to ensure attendees have ample time to connect with peers and visiting guests.

Speaker Highlights and Accelerator Pitches

This set of events features a diverse range of speakers. Nicoll Hunt, software engineer at Duolingo and former independent developer, will discuss the transition from indie development to a major corporate environment and how to maintain creative chaos within a structured pipeline. Other confirmed speakers include Ronan Suess, technical artist and co-founder of RogueLink, and João Diogo Ramos, founder of the Load ZX Museum.

A significant addition to the March schedule is the inclusion of the SGDA Games Accelerator cohort. These early-stage founders will be pitching their game prototypes and business plans to a cross-section of the industry, marking the culmination of their five-month business development programme funded by the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem Fund.

Supporting the Community

The Glasgow event on Thursday 26 March will also be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person, with a dedicated online co-host managing the digital community and discord discussions.

As a registered charity, the SGDA uses these events to support both the industry and wider charitable causes. Staff of SGDA member studios are entitled to free tickets, while general admission and livestream tickets are available via the official event website.

Tickets and more information can be found at the official SGDA website: sgda.co.uk/gtl

Ready To Level Up? Looking Back at 2025 and the Four-Body Problem Facing Scotland in 2026

As we head rapidly for the holidays, it’s time for the Scottish Games Network (me) to do what we always promise: be the ‘Honest Architect’ for our ecosystem. That means celebrating the victories, acknowledging the foundations we’ve laid, and – most importantly – address the real structural challenges waiting for us in the new year.

2025 has been, frankly, turbulent. We’ve seen national highs – like some of the excellent events springing up across the whole of Scotland, the new talent support from organisations such as SGDA, Game Space (and SGN) – but also the deep, personal impact of global layoffs and job losses across our whole community.

Yet, despite the headwinds, the belief in our sector’s potential has never been higher. My personal highlight of the year was delivering the closing keynote at the TechUK Digital Economy Conference. The response in the room to the potential of games, their value to the UK’s tech sector and the ‘More Than Games’ mindset was incredible. I’ve had more connections and strategic conversations following that event than almost any other. It proved to me that the external appetite for understanding and engaging with games as a central economic and cultural engine is huge. The doors are open. I’ll ensure that more events like this happen in 2026.

The Victory: The Scottish Games Action Plan

The biggest victory of 2025 is the completion of our ‘billion-pound blueprint’. Yes, after two years, I’m delighted to share that the Scottish Games Action Plan is complete. The final notes are with the graphic designer, and I’ll be sharing the completed document with trusted individuals in the coming days. We are now actively looking for the perfect launch date and venue in early 2026.

The Games Action Plan is our collective roadmap. Based on over 1000 data points, drawn from over 250 organisations and individuals across Scotland, it is detailed, strategic, and gives us a unified voice to take to government, education, and the wider creative sector. The goal is simple, make Scotland, the UK’s first games ‘supercluster’.

The Challenge: The Four-Body Problem

However, as we look to execute the Games Action Plan in 2026, we must address the single biggest risk to its success: fragmentation.

We now have four separate, significant, and well-intentioned organisations operating in very similar areas within the ecosystem:

All four are critically important, but the sheer number of initiatives running in parallel creates the potential for confusion, duplication of effort, and – most dangerously – dilution of the limited resources and attention span of our public sector partners.

The Question for 2026 is simple: How do we align?

As the Honest Architect (and OG), I must question how we ensure every one of these initiatives works together to support the Games Action Plan. We cannot afford to have these great new organisations pulling in different directions. The challenge for all four organisations – myself included – is to establish a framework for collaboration, synergy, and clear boundaries that benefit the entire Scottish games ecosystem.

I’ve already spoken to the teams at SGDA and Game Space. I hope to catch up with the new policy advisor from IES in early January.

2026: Scottish Games ‘Fest’ and a Call to Action

On a personal note, I will be looking to focus my efforts on two key areas next year: making the Games Action Plan a reality and making Scotland’s games ecosystem more visible, connected and collaborative.

I am thrilled to formally tease the biggest announcement on the SGN calendar: the inaugural Scottish Games ‘Fest’ (SGF), scheduled for September 2026. This will be a multi-day event designed to put Scotland on the global map. Planning is underway, and I will be looking to the community for support and partnership in the new year to make this a reality.

Finally, a call to every single developer, freelancer, and student: We need your stories.

The narrative of 2026 cannot just be about politics and funding. It must be about the incredible games being made here. The studios, the events, the good work being created across the whole country.

Send us your news, your releases, your updates, and your milestones. Help us show the world why Scotland is more active – and creative – than ever. I’m looking for new writers and partners to expand our coverage into Company profiles, studio interviews, opinion pieces, thought leadership and sector analysis.

Have a safe, peaceful (and fun) well-earned break. The foundations are laid. Now, let’s all go build the future.

Support an Island Creator: Crowdfunding Launched to Fund Orkney Developer’s SGDA Accelerator Travel

The Scottish Games Network is calling on the community to support a unique crowdfunding campaign forAdam Clarke, an Orkney-based game developer who has secured a place in the Scottish Games Developers Association (SGDA) Accelerator Programme.

While earning a spot in the prestigious accelerator is a huge win for the developer and a testament to the talent emerging from all across Scotland, the high and often prohibitive cost of travel and accommodation from Orkney has created an unexpected financial barrier to Adam’s participation.

The developer, whose project was selected against stiff competition, is now seeking support from the wider industry to cover the essential logistical costs required to attend the in-person sessions of the accelerator.

Bridging the Geographic Gap

This situation underscores a recurring challenge in the Scottish creative sector: ensuring that national opportunities are truly accessible to talent outside of the central belt. If Scotland’s games ecosystem is to be truly national – a key pillar of the Games Action Plan – it must actively support creators from all regions.

The SGDA Accelerator is designed to provide intense mentorship and resources for business growth. Losing a highly talented participant simply due to geography would be a significant loss for the entire cohort.

This crowdfunding campaign is a vital, community-driven effort to bridge that gap and ensure that regional excellence is not penalised by high travel costs.

How You Can Help

The Scottish Games Network urges studios, freelancers, and individuals who believe in the importance of supporting regional talent to contribute to the campaign. Every donation will go directly toward ensuring that Adam can continue to attend the necessary in-person sessions and benefit fully from the SGDA Accelerator experience.

Let’s ensure this up-and-coming island creator gets the platform they deserve to build a successful Scottish studio.

To donate and support the campaign, please visit Adam’s GoFundMe page.

#accelerator #Crowdfunding #games #Orkney #scotland #SGDA

Applications Open for SGDA Games Accelerator

The Scottish Game Developers Association (SGDA) has opened applications for a major new initiative aimed at fostering the next generation of games industry leaders: the SGDA Games Accelerator.

Funded by the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem Fund, the accelerator is Scotland’s first dedicated business development programme for the games sector. It offers a free, intensive series of workshops designed to provide early-stage and aspiring games leaders with the practical skills and expert mentorship needed to build a successful studio.

Applications for the programme are open now and will close at 17:00 BST on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.

The accelerator will run from November 2025 to March 2026 and will consist of nine in-person workshops led by established games industry experts. The curriculum is designed to be highly practical, covering essential topics such as product development, finance, and pitching to publishers.

Participants will be encouraged to form teams and develop a small game prototype over the course of the programme, allowing them to apply their learnings in real-time. Throughout the process, they will also have access to advice and support from a network of experienced developer mentors.

SGDA Games Accelerator: From Workshop to World Stage

A key feature of the programme is its direct link to the established industry network. The accelerator will culminate in March 2026 with participants pitching their newly developed games and business plans at Games Talks Live, held across Edinburgh, Dundee, and Glasgow. This provides a unique and invaluable opportunity for new talent to get directly in front of an audience of publishers, investors, and industry peers.

Cian Roche, the newly-appointed General Manager of the SGDA, told the SGN :

Scotland’s burgeoning games talent will directly benefit from this practical business skills development course. Expert advice and feedback, knowledge of clear routes to funding, and the opportunity to pitch to a cross-section of the industry will give participants the confidence they need to put a concrete plan into action and grow a successful games business.

Eligibility information and criteria for entering the Accelerator, as well as the application form itself, can be found on the SGDA Accelerator programme page.

#accelerator #EcosystemFund #games #scotland #SGDA

Level Up Scotland: From Games Day to Games Supercluster

Last week, the global games industry turned its attention to Scotland. Thanks to the hard work of the Academy of Interactive Sciences (DICE Europe), the Scottish Games Association (SGDA), the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and countless others, there was an undeniable and welcome surge of energy, ambition, and recognition – both in the room and across the media.

I was at the SGDA’s Games Day in Dundee, listening to the conversations and briefing key partners. It was fantastic to see, but it also raised a crucial question for me: what happens now?

The Scottish games community knows that a day of celebration, no matter how spectacular, doesn’t necessarily bring about change. We have seen firsthand how the energy of a moment (SGW 22, 23 and…) can dissipate without a clear, unified path forward. In 2025, the stakes are too high, and the opportunity to build greater understanding of and support for the games ecosystem is too great to let that happen again.

Fortunately, we are not starting from scratch. While the spotlight was on the events, the Scottish games community has been engaged in the painstaking work of building a consensus for a way forward. For the last two years, I have listened to hundreds of you – studios, developers, educators, artists, engineers, esports players, and public sector bodies – to forge a new consensus and transform the way that games are understood and supported across Scotland.

It is a vision supported and strengthened by insights from pioneering countries and regions in Finland, Australia, Northern Ireland and across North America, which have shown us that proactive government support is the key to creating a world-class games sector.

That blueprint is the Games Action Plan for Scotland.

This is not one person’s vision or one organisation’s plan. It is a data-driven, community-led strategy that provides the clear direction we have been missing. It is the answer to the question of “what’s next?” It is the framework that can buil upon last week’s energy and turn it into tangible, coordinated action for the years ahead.

What Is A Games Supercluster?

I’ll be making the final draft of the plan public, once the final elements have been added – and then discussing all of the key recommendations and outcomes across the Scottish Games Network.

The challenge is now one of alignment. The community has provided the plan, and the forum for its public launch is set. The Cross-Party Group on Scotland’s Games Ecosystem on Tuesday, November 18th is our moment to show a united front.

So, let this be a clear, public, and constructive invitation. We formally invite the leadership of Interactive Entertainment Scotland, the SGDA, and our partners across the Scottish Government to join us at this public forum.

Let’s stand together and back the Games Action Plan as the undisputed national strategy for our industry. Let us show our community, our policymakers, and the world that we are united in our vision.

The community has done the work. Now, it is time for us all to align and to build.

See you there,

B

#actionPlan #edinburgh #games #GamesDay #IES #scotland #SGDA