Ukie AGM: New branding and website, new board members and 30 year anniversary plans announced

Ukie’s AGM crowned another year of great work by the industry body – a year which saw it fighting the potential impact of Brexit on our talent pipeline, pushing back on the WHO move to medicalise gaming addiction, and handling the uproar around loot box monetisation.

Just another year then in the trade body’s 30-year history. An anniversary it plans to celebrate in 2019 under the banner of ‘30 Years of Play’. Which Ukie CEO Dr Jo Twist assured us, and she’s checked with the Japanese even, makes Ukie the longest-running games industry trade body in the world.

“The 30 Years of Play campaign in 2019 will celebrate the impact that the games industry has had not just on our economy but our culture. As the oldest games trade body in the world, we are part of an important history in games, and we would like next year to give us all an opportunity to tell our stories in different ways. We want clusters across the country, companies, and individuals to be able to share their stories and histories too,” said Twist.

Sounds like a good opportunity to remind many that video games have been around for a long time now – and just maybe they aren’t going to cause the end of civilisation any time soon.

And in a tenuous link to the end of civilisation as we know it, Ukie will soon be revealing its new branding, which is ditching the purple for a monochrome look, which should reduce confusion between the body and the Brexit-loving Ukip. The new branding will come alongside a new website, which will have a new members area with lots of useful new information and data. All the new there.

In formal business, Des Gayle, founder at Altered Gene, was elected to the Ukie board for the first time. He commented to MCV: “I am overwhelmed to have been voted onto the UKIE Board. I was in the running alongside some wonderful folks from across the industry and I am incredibly humbled to have been chosen. My sincerest thanks to all the members that voted for me – I don’t take this responsibility lightly. I won’t let you down.“

It was also announced that Andy Payne OBE (AppyNation), Stuart Dinsey (Curve Digital), Ian Livingstone CBE (Fusebox Games Ltd), Veronique Lallier (Hirez Studios), Noirin Carmody (Revolution Software Limited) and Miles Jacobson OBE (Sports Interactive) were all elected to the Ukie board this year.