GameCity and LGF dated

Last year saw a series of video game events debut in the UK, including the London Games Festival and GameCity in Nottingham. This year these will both be back, promising to build on the foundations of last year and add even more video-game-related events to their rosters.

This week the official GameCity 2007 Web site launched, giving this year's dates as October 24-28. This year, the event will feature 'An Audience With'-style meetings, game-playing sessions, and audio and art competitions. A spokesperson for GameCity commented, "This year we'll build on the foundations of last year, and we have an even stronger lineup of developers from Europe, the US, and Japan...and some slightly off-the-wall stuff too."

GameCity describes itself as a "grassroots event," and is primarily aimed at the public and students interested in getting in to the industry. Last year's GameCity saw Oddworld Inhabitants' Lorne Lanning announcing Citizen Seige, a movie and game property he described as a "modern-day 1984," along with the European premiere of documentary High Score, and a game-themed pub quiz.

The London Games Festival will also be returning this year, between October 22 and 25. On top of the previously announced video game BAFTA awards on October 23, which is expanding to accommodate 2,000 people this year, there will be a host of other events. ELSPA's Duncan Best, who is organising this year's LGF, told GameSpot, "This year's will be significantly bigger than last year's." He added that the focus would be more consumer- and press-oriented, with less business-to-business-related programming than there was in 2006.

Like last year, the London Games Festival will feature a collection of independent events in fields including innovation, education, and more mainstream-focused content. For example, last year's happenings included The Lizard's Lair, a show where wannabe game designers brought their ideas to industry veterans, and a public seminar on Artificial Intelligence in Games at London's Imperial College. Although more details will be revealed next week, Best confirmed that UK television broadcaster Channel 4 would be a partner for this year's LGF.

Another event on the UK gaming industry horizon is GamePlan, which will be happening in 2008 over June 5 and 6 in a central London hotel and aims to offer a UK answer to the US-based Electronic Entertainment Expo. There are no other details on what this will entail as of yet, although coorganiser Barrington Harvey confirmed that it would be definitely going ahead.