- In-person visitor numbers surpass 100,000 in 2024 – highest turnout yet for city-wide celebration of video games
- Preliminary estimates show LGF generated a pipeline of investment, publishing deals and sales worth in excess of £30m for participating businesses
- Dates set for 10th anniversary festival next year: Wednesday 2 April to Sunday 13 April 2025
The 9th London Games Festival saw its biggest audience yet in April: over 100,000 people took part in person.
Visitors flocked to major events including Now Play This, WASD and LGF’s tentpole Trafalgar Square celebration – while more professional attendees than ever attended a range of business to business events over the fortnight. LGF was also underpinned by promotions across Steam, the Apple App Store and more, reaching millions more digitally and helping support the sale and promotion of hundreds of games.
Participation from B2B audiences increased to over 4,100 individual developers, creators, publishers and investors attending in person for conferences, networking and pitch meetings. On-the-ground involvement from international participants represented 41 countries and 900 different global games businesses.
The dates have also been set for London Games Festival 2025: Wednesday 2 April to Sunday 13 April.
Key stats from LGF24 include:
- 100,000+ in-person attendees across 20 days of activity in the city
- Over 300 games showcased or promoted through individual events and activities including the LGF Official Selection, which was playable at various events on Steam Deck and Playdate handhelds
- Digital activity on Steam, the Apple App Store and in games like Pokemon Go seen by millions of games fans
- Early estimates show a business pipeline of £30m+ generated for games companies, a mix of investment and publishing deals, digital promotions and game sales
- 37 events took place – including 15 core activities run by Games London and its partners, plus a further 22 side events delivered by community groups and independent companies
- 4,100 industry professionals attending events across the two weeks, representing over 900 businesses from 41 countries
London Games Festival is supported by the Mayor of London. It is delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency.
Festival partners included VIP Day supporters Hasbro and Taylor Wessing, Opening Night partner Coutts, Games Finance Market supporters Alliotts, Corpay, and Revolgy – plus Nianti, who supported the Trafalgar Square takeover.
In-kind partners included Fireshine Games, presenter of the LGF activity on Steam, Screen Play venue host Vue Cinemas, and opening night hardware provider Overclockers UK.
Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries, said: “London Games Festival was a roaring success, drawing record crowds from across the globe to visit and do business in London, and showing why it has become a key part of the gaming industry’s diary. The Mayor and I are delighted that London Games Festival will return for another year in 2025, cementing our capital’s position as a world leading city for gaming, as we build a better London for all.”
Adrian Wootton OBE Chief Executive of Film London said: ““A record-breaking visitor turnout for the London Games Festival reflects London’s stature as one of the leading cities for games on the planet. We were delighted to welcome an increased number of industry attendees, including more studios participating in our Games Finance Market than ever, plus five international delegations. We also reached a wider audience through our inaugural Screen Play conference, building bridges between games and other screen industries and including practitioners and creatives from beyond interactive entertainment. London Games Festival continues to connect talent locally, nationally and internationally, showcasing why the city is so great for games.”
Michael French, director of the London Games Festival and Head of Games London added: “We’re very proud of the London Games Festival’s record-breaking showing in 2024 and grateful to all the participants and partners that have helped achieve it. This is not just a well-attended city-wide celebration but a festival that gives tangible value back to the community in terms of connections, games sales and publishing deals – as shown with our highest yet recorded business impact pipeline, worth over £30m. Games are currently at their most culturally potent but the industry that makes them is facing various challenges, so it’s more important than ever to provide a place where fans can enjoy new games and professionals can have meaningful business connections, all underpinned with helping businesses remain competitive and sustainable. We will be building on that further with our year-round programme through Games London and then a very special 10th anniversary London Games Festival in April 2025.”
Programming highlights from LGF 24 included:
- Ensemble, an exhibition that celebrates Black, Asian and underrepresented ethnicity games talent from across the UK – which debuted at Trafalgar Square before touring venues throughout 2024
- LGF’s Official Selection, which highlighted over 40 upcoming indie games from around the world across different categories and genres
- The Games Finance Market, which in its ninth edition welcomed nearly 200 attendees from 16 different countries including delegations from France, Italy, Romania, Canada and Sweden
- Screen Play, a new conference examining renewed links between games and other screen sectors
- A free showcase at Trafalgar Square that included the Ensemble exhibition, Official Selection games and activity supported by Monster Hunter Now
- Major partner events: Now Play This, WASD, the BAFTA Games Awards and London Developer Conference, plus a range of Official Side Events that included smaller conferences, networking and workshops
LGF also saw the launch of London Creates Games, Games London’s contribution to the wider London Creates campaign – which promotes the creative industries in the city. London is Europe’s number one city of games in terms of number of businesses and workforce, and a dedicated video featured leading names from the capital talking about why it’s such a hotspot for innovation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuotSDXmC1o
Early plans for 2025’s 10th anniversary London Games Festival are already in place with all the above and more set for next year – the 2025 festival will run from Wednesday 2 April 2025 to Sunday 13 April 2025. Individual event dates and partner activity is still to be announced, with announcements due over the summer.
