Now London Games Festival is a 2013 no-show, too

The London Games Festival will not take place this year.

Organiser Ukie has confirmed to MCV that the brand is taking a year off.

Traditionally, the annual event rolls up a month-long series of events and presents them as a way to better promote the games industry and celebrate its output.

It has been running on and off and in a variety of sizes for the last decade.

Two weeks ago Ukie confirmed that its other event the Edinburgh Games Festival is also not taking place.

The trade association this year is opting to focus on bigger international industry events, such as Gamescom and GDC – both of which it is proactively getting UK businesses to attend.

Plus, many of the events that made up the London Games Festival – such as the Eurogamer Expo or our own Games Media Awards, and the London Games Conference – are still taking place.

Ukie CEO, Jo Twist said: Whilst LGF is taking a year off this year we are absolutely committed to promoting home grown UK businesses in London and across the UK.

"We will be working with big industry events already taking place in London this year such as Eurogamer Expo and looking at running some of the individual events that made up 2012’s LGF – this includes the very successful charity games art exhibition that we held last year at City Hall.

"We then hope to bring a full LGF back next year, hopefully linking it in with tax breaks, to shout about London and the UK being open for business.

"We are also busy helping UK companies to do business as the official UKTI industry partner for international trade events. We are running the official UK stand at gamescom, GDC San Francisco and Game Connection in Paris; taking over 40 businesses to gamescom this year and collectively saving them over 50,000.”