Games Eden is a vibrant network of people involved in the game development and creative digital industries. Games Eden exists to promote collaboration, share knowledge, provide mutual support, and to have fun! It is an inclusive group for people working in all areas of the industry and for companies large and small. Games Eden aims to raise the profile of the game development and digital creative industries across the region. We build upon the reputation of the Cambridge region as an international digital creative hub. We facilitate knowledge sharing, networking and collaborative business opportunities through our meetings and events and we expand the pipeline of talented, young developers and creatives into the industry.
Jeremy is CEO of Gameware Europe and heads a small team currently focused on e-learning and photo realistic avatar development. Jeremy is a games industry pioneer with a 30+ year career spanning magazine publishing and exhibitions, boxed product distribution, game publishing and development and TV production.
Jon is one of Europe’s best known development team leaders & game designers with Sensible Software & Tower Studios producing 11 international #1 games since 1985 including Cannon Fodder, Wizball, Sensible World of Soccer ("the most influential European game of all time”, Stanford University) and Sociable Soccer 2020 ("The premier arcade football game on mobile”, PocketGamer).
He is Honorary Professor of Games at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, frequently speaking at international universities and industry events. A seasoned design and business consultant and regular chairman of games award juries for BAFTA, Jon previously held senior posts at Codemasters & Jagex.
James "Woody" Woodrow is known as independent games developer, Utopian World of Sandwiches. Woody has worked in the games industry in various roles since 2005. Starting out as an animator, his work now encompasses nearly all aspects of game development and publishing.
Most recently Woody has been developing Chompy Chomp Chomp Party for current-gen consoles and PC as well as various mobile apps and software for use in live event experiences and escape games.
Laura has been working as an environment artist since 2006, starting out in AAA for PlayStation but now graduating towards smaller independent companies working on a range of platforms. A relatively new member of the committee, she has nonetheless been active in the Cambridge dev scene for a number of years, and has particularly enjoyed working with students at ARU, Brains Eden, and through local STEM initiatives such as Form the Future. She also sits on the advisory board for Game Anglia, and is a voting/former jury member of BAFTA.
Chris is the co-founder and Director of Game Anglia, a Community Interest Company growing the games industry in the East of England. Together with his co-directors, Chris works on helping connect the region's industry and provide opportunities for business and education to the students and companies involved in the industry. He also organises events and helps manage the community of game developers who are residing in the Tentacle Zone, by Payload Studios. Chris is a prolific public speaker, always looking to help folks.
Matt graduated with a MA in Animation and Special Effects from Sheffield Hallam University. Since graduating Matt has worked on several game/serious games projects on a range of different platforms. Recently he has worked on a VR training app for the USAF and Mobile Football Manager game for mobile. Along side working on projects for clients Matt released a game called Sure Footing on PC with his own company called Table Flip Games. Table Flip Games also works with education partners to deliver tutorials for game development creation.
Mark is Creative Director for RuneScape and started working for Jagex in 2003. He is the vision holder for the RuneScape universe and is currently working on new MMO projects with bold ambitions.
Mark likes to get involved with all aspects of Jagex’s development cycle and can often be found in the audio booth, prowling the stage at RuneFest, getting feedback in-game or working with testers on perfecting gameplay. Mark's background has spanned many parts of the games market, including working for TSR (D & D) and running LARP events. His work creating local games jams with schools continue to be his personal career highlight.
