First keynote speakers announced for Scottish Games Week, industry leaders Graeme Devine and Houston Howard

The first Scottish Games Week has today revealed its initial keynote speakers: industry veterans Graeme Devine and Houston Howard.

Tickets for Scottish Games Week, taking place across Scotland from 24th to 28th of October, are on sale now via Citizen Ticket, with early bird discounted tickets available until Friday 2 September.

With decades of industry experience under their belts, both speakers have a vast wealth of knowledge and expertise in the global gaming sector, having spearheaded titles such as Quake 3. Speaking at events across the whole of Scottish Games Week, including More Than Games in Glasgow (October 24th) and at the Scottish Games Week Conference in Dundee (October 27th and 28th), both keynotes will give insight into the global games industry.

Scottish Games Week has been created to highlight and showcase the incredible creativity and technical expertise in Scotland’s rapidly-evolving games ecosystem, and demonstrate the potential of the sector to the country’s digital and creative economies.

Graeme Devine, formerly of id Software and one of the key designers behind the seminal game Quake 3, said: “I’m really looking forward to presenting at Scottish Games Week! Scotland has a long history of being a creative engine for the world and being able to return to encourage that endeavour is extremely humbling and exciting.”

Houston Howard, leading transmedia storyteller and author of ‘You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story: The 21st Century Survival’, said: “There is so much opportunity, so many channels, and such an endless amount of tools for artists to launch and scale IP that I’m convinced that this is the most exciting time to be a creator since the invention of the printing press. It’s great to see Scottish Games Week is highlighting this.”

Brian Baglow, founder and director of Scottish Games Week, said: “Scottish Games Week will not only celebrate and showcase Scottish gaming talent working all over the world but will highlight the enormous achievements, opportunities and potential of the games ecosystem to our digital future.

“Graeme is a global scot, working on the world stage, while Houston is a pioneer and thought leader exploring our converged interactive future. We are truly delighted to have them involved and welcome them to join the first SGW programme.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. We have a lot more happening and many more exciting announcements to make as this brand new video games event in Scotland.”

Scottish Games Week takes place from the 24th to 28th of October 2022 across Scotland. Tickets are now available for all of the key events including:

More Than Games (Barclay’s Campus, Glasgow) – Video games are Scotland’s ‘secret weapon’ offering far more than ‘mere’ entertainment. More Than Games will open up this remarkable ecosystem and make games relevant to the wider digital tech, creative industries, media, public sector and government in Scotland.

Education Symposium (Codebase, Edinburgh) – A special event bringing together key educational institutions across the country, exploring the potential for games education and games IN education.

Scottish Games Week Conference (Malmaison, Dundee) – An industry-focused conference, discussing the future of the games ecosystem.

Scottish Games Awards (Malmaison, Dundee) – Showcasing and highlighting the incredible talent, creativity and skills of the game creators, educators and community across Scotland.

Scottish Games Week is supported by the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem Fund, delivered as part of its Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (STER) programme.

Scottish Games Week has partnered with Citizen Ticket, the cutting-edge Scottish ticketing platform. Dedicated to the fight against climate change, for every ticket purchased Citizen Ticket will plant a tree – a cause fully supported by the team behind Scottish Games Week.