The World’s Biggest Professional Game & VR Jam
Now in year two, JAMCHESTER is an annual, weekend-long video game & VR creation competition. It will take place on Friday 23rd June through to Sunday 25th June 2017 at The Studio event space in the heart of Manchester, UK.
Teams of professional developers (and a sprinkling of up-and-coming student talent) compete onsite to create the best games in a weekend.
Participants will have the opportunity to network with other developers, learn new skills and have fun! Think of it as a chance to recharge your creative batteries in a friendly environment.
Teams will be 1 to 4 people. The event is open to pre-existing teams of friends, indie devs, students and we encourage individuals to sign up and join/create new teams themselves.
The jam is based on the established HAC100 format where developers stay onsite and work overnight on their projects.
Due to the overnight nature of the event, we’re unable to accept applicants under 18.
The Competition
The jam will be judged continuously with Judges walking round throughout the entire competition, looking at and playing what people are making right from the start to the end. There will be no final presentation necessary as the judges will be following the games through development.
Prize categories will include – Best Game, Best Audio, Best Graphics, Best Gameplay, Best Tech Achievement, Innovation Award, Best Company Game, Best Student Game.
Our lead judge is Gary Napper, who is Game Director at Supermassive Games and formally the Lead Designer for Sony’s VR Studio in Salford. Gary was the Design Director for Creative Assembly on Alien: Isolation and has judged the Rezzed Game Jam. He will lead a team of industry professional judges and expert jammers to choose the best games of the competition.
The Venue
We’ll be taking over The Studio, a great events space right in the centre of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, less than 10 minutes walk from Manchester Piccadilly station and surrounded by hotels, hostels, bars, and restaurants.
Complimentary food and drink will be provided for jammers across the entire weekend. You are welcome to bring additional snacks to keep you going in between meals, overnight or if you have special dietary requirements.
EQUIPMENT – Please bring a laptop, power cables, converters etc. We will provide power supplies and wifi connectivity. There will be comfortable rest areas – feel free to bring a pillow, blanket, sleeping bag etc. There will be delicious food and drink and all kinds of entertainment throughout the weekend, including a showcase of games in development in Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas.
Parking
We have discounted rates at our nearest main car park The Northern Quarter NCP on Church Street. The postcode for this is M4 1LX.
To obtain discounted parking at the Northern Quarter Church Street car park simply ask for an NCP validation ticket at thestudio reception. When you are ready to exit the car park, simply insert your original parking ticket into the payment machines along with the validation ticket to activate the discount.
Who are we?
Simon Smith (@vauncey) is co-founder of Gameopolis, the Greater Manchester video games industry network. He has worked in the industry for 15 years as designer and producer at Codemasters, Blitz Games, and SCEE (PlayStation). He now heads up Business Development for the VR/AR/Interactive team at Studio Liddell in Manchester.
Claire Foster (@squarejazz) is Manchester’s Tech Community event organiser extraordinaire and Director of HAC100, a registered Community Interest Company. HAC100 is now in it’s sixth year of running successful coding competitions and has attracted sponsorship from companies including GCHQ, Barclays, SKY, AutoDesk, AutoTrader, AO.com, Co-op, Sage, and TheLADbible to name a few.
Sponsors
Our launch sponsors so far are as follows:
FAQ’s
What if I’m looking for a team?
We will be setting up a Slack for Jamchester2017 so you can find team members in advance of the event. The slack invite will be sent out a couple of weeks before the event. You’ll also be able to turn up to registration and meet people there too.
How Big Are The Teams?
Teams can be a minimum of one person and a maximum of four. If a company/group has more than four participants they will be asked to make up another separate team.
Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event?
You must be 18 or over to attend.
Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?
No we will be registering you on the Eventbrite app.
The name on the registration/ticket doesn’t match the attendee. Is that okay?
No. Please either seek a refund or contact the organisers to transfer the ticket to someone else.
Event Schedule
