Last month, guest speakers from Ripstone & Rockwater Games teams took to the stage at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena for LMA Liverpool’s first-ever ‘YOU Festival’.
The festival, which hosted over 2,500 LMA students and over 100 industry specialists, marked a unique convergence of education and industry collaboration in the city.
In the month since, YOU Festival’s impact has resonated deeply with all of our team that attended. For them, it shined a spotlight on the importance of education, innovation, and the building of meaningful connections both within the games industry and further afield.
With that in mind, here are three reasons why we’re tipping the event to become a cornerstone for Liverpool’s creative scene!
YOU Fest is Building Bridges Between Industry & Education
Our Ripstone and Rockwater Games teams have been longtime partners of LMA Liverpool, with the specialist creative college always stressing the importance of giving its students access to industry professionals.
YOU Fest took this one step further. It built genuine bridges between education and industry, gathering everyone together under one roof to give young people a closer than ever look at the talent of the creative sector and what it means to be career-ready in their respective industries.
Ripstone at YOU Fest 2024
Reflecting on On YOU Fest, Gary King, Ripstone’s Brand Champion, explained that “connecting with education isn’t just about sharing knowledge; it’s about empowering these young people who will become future industry leaders.”
This sentiment is what’s hugely exciting about the event; the importance of building strong relationships between academia and industry has always been clear but in YOU Fest, Liverpool now has a
During the talks and panels, Ripstone shared values not only of technical proficiency but also interpersonal skills, recognising their role in fostering collaboration and driving creative innovation. We were overjoyed to see students being encouraged to embrace this growth mindset and – most importantly to Ripstone and our studios – an understanding that industry success is more than just technical skills; it’s also essential to know how to collaborate effectively and communicate seamlessly.
With YOU Fest and other incredible educational programs like GameChangers doing great work to bridge the gap between education and employment, Liverpool is demonstrating its commitment to providing the next generation of creatives with the tools and insights they need to succeed in a dynamic, competitive industry.
Promoting Diverse Industry Collaboration
In addition to giving students direct access to creative professionals, YOU Festival also served as a platform for diverse industries to come together and explore the potential of creative collaboration. From music to TV, film to games, the festival felt like a showcase for the transformative power of transmedia storytelling.
Ripstone’s own experience in adapting a major TV IP into a video game highlights the exciting opportunities that can emerge when different creative disciplines intersect. By fostering an environment where this kind of collaboration and innovation can happen, events like YOU Fest pave the way for a more interconnected and vibrant creative community in Liverpool’s not-so-distant future.
YOU Fest Shines a Light on Liverpool’s Creative Scene
YOU Festival was a big celebration of industry and education, but it also shone a light on the cultural vibrancy of Liverpool and its emergence as a hub of creative innovation.
At the event, over 100 top-tier nationally and globally renowned companies led workshops across various fields including music, film, TV, dance, acting, games, and musical theatre. The city that Ripstone calls home hosted industry guests from the likes of YouTube, Sky, Soundcloud, EMI, ITV, and Channel 4.
With ambitious plans for the future, YOU Festival aims to further elevate Liverpool’s profile on the global stage, attracting talent and investment to the city’s burgeoning creative scene. We can’t wait to see it!
Here’s to YOU Festival 2025!
As YOU Fest 2024 still resonates, we’re already eagerly anticipating YOU Fest 2025!
Supporting events like this helps us to reaffirm our commitment to nurturing the next generation of creative talent and driving innovation within the games industry.
As we look to the future, we remain dedicated to fostering these meaningful connections, sharing knowledge, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in games and beyond.
Find out more about LMA Liverpool, here.