Author: Christian Beckett

The National Videogame Museum is celebrating five years since its Sheffield launch with a day of celebrations.

Everyone visiting on the fifth anniversary, Friday 24th of November 2023, can book discounted tickets and experience a celebration of the history and culture of videogames, with over 100 interactive exhibits and hands-on creative activities from their award winning Learning Team.

The Museum’s anniversary year has been its busiest to date, welcoming over 50,000 visitors to the Castle House venue (of which 70% are from outside of the city region) and establishing the NVM as a unique Sheffield attraction. The museum exists to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret videogames for everyone and like many cultural organisations it survived the pandemic through support from the Arts Council England Culture Recovery Fund, plus support from patrons in the videogame industry and a community fundraiser

Under the new joint CEO leadership of Creative Director, John O’Shea, and Director of Visitor Experience, Cat Powell, the last year has seen a refocus on the Museum’s ambition to expand its work with diverse and underrepresented communities; reflect on the relevance of videogames
across society, and advocate for greater access to careers in the videogame industry.

At the half decade mark, the Museum is reflecting on achievements with its community, and looking forward to the future, as a success story for Sheffield.

The Museum is dedicated to transforming lives with videogames: Initiatives during 2023 have ranged from pop up exhibitions around South Yorkshire, to exploring stories of sanctuary-seeking communities through the art of game making; and creating a fair for celebrating careers in videogames.

The NVM is now working towards Museum Accreditation – Arts Council England’s National benchmark for museum standards – a process which sees its expert team cataloguing over 5,000 videogame objects and cultural artefacts. The vital work aims to establish the Museum as the leading organisation for videogame culture – and builds the foundations for researchers, publishers, games developers, and the public to engage with this unique collection in new and exciting ways.

Sir Ian Livingstone, President, BGI Board of Trustees, said, “Videogames are an integral part of the UK’s cultural heritage, and the 5th anniversary of The National Videogame Museum in Sheffield is a significant milestone. Looking to the future, there is great potential to build on this foundation regionally and nationally, to emphasise Sheffield as a contemporary powerhouse for videogame development, and to communicate the full social, cultural, economic and educational impact of the videogames industry through the work of the museum.”

John O’Shea and Cat Powell, Co-CEOs of The National Videogame Museum said, “It’s a privilege to lead the Museum at such an exciting juncture in its development. Digital culture, including videogames, plays such an important role in all of our lives now. As the UK’s only museum dedicated to videogames, we want the museum to continue to grow, and to educate, inspire and engage the widest possible audience over the next five years and beyond.”

Celebrating careers in games, the week will showcase the wide array of diverse opportunities and pathways into the videogames industry.

 

Returning for its third year, Games Careers Week celebrates diverse pathways into a career in games for young people of all backgrounds, through events, media, diverse developers, and online activities.

Organised by The National Videogame Museum, the week brings together organisations, individuals and educational institutions to showcase excellence and celebrate one of the UK’s fastest growing industries, which has a market worth of over £7 billion.

The week will not only encourage and inspire young people’s passion to enter the industry but will also help parents understand the credibility of a career in games (with nearly 21,000 people employed in the games sector in the UK in 2022 – a 25% increase on the previous year.)

For 2023, The NVM, alongside partners Into Games, Grads in Games, NextGen Skills Academy and Women In Games, will deliver activities, events and resources throughout the week while encouraging studios and educational institutions to participate with their own activities in this
week-long national festival.

The NVM will host a “Why do Videogames Matter” symposium on the 21st of June in collaboration with Leeds Trinity University where academics and industry speakers will debate this provocation.

The 22nd and 23rd of June will see a careers fair inviting studios, FE and HE providers to have an exhibition stand at the museum demonstrating alternative pathways into the games industry. Students will be invited from high pupil premium schools, SEND and alternative FE providers to
discover a variety of careers and take part in STEM based workshops (created by their award winning learning team and NextGen Skills Academy).  All of which will be available to them for free with the help of headline sponsors Boneloaf, a Sheffield based indie game studio, and Sheffield Hallam University.

Into Games will organise activities aimed at FE students to help students build confidence in developing their portfolios, and taking the next steps on the games careers ladder. Women In Games run a global Ambassador Programme to build a powerful and diverse community of action, aligned and committed to achieving the vision and mission of Women in Games through meaningful collaboration and initiatives. It will be their ambassadors that will take centre stage to create and participate in activities that will be aimed at young people.

Any organisation, school, university or games studio can participate in Games Careers Week to inspire young people, parents and teachers to discover careers in games. The NVM has provided a resource pack showcasing examples of events that institutions can organise, host or promote. No matter the size of the event, Games Careers Week highlights how a little can go a long way in someone’s life. Studios could host game jams, provide expert talks or studio tours, while educational institutions can take part in online courses or design videogames using Scratch or
Twine.

Events will be added to the Games Careers Week website in the weeks leading up to the 19th June.

Stacey Jubb, Head of Learning at the NVM says: “Games Careers Week is an opportunity for us to celebrate the fantastic range of careers in the games industry. We are excited to be hosting a two day career fair at the NVM which will showcase alternative pathways into the industry, give students opportunities to take part in workshops, speak to industry professionals and experience our interactive museum. If you are wanting to embark on a career in games but not sure how or where to start, our careers fair is the place to be!”

Create and event and get involved with the Games Careers Week’s Event Resource Pack and help shape the future of young lives and the industry.