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Inside Games Arcade: Six Months On

6 October 2015

Find out how the games featured at our Inside Games Arcade have developed in 2015.

Back in March 2015, BAFTA hosted its EGX.

After bringing super-fast endless runner Alone to the Inside Games Arcade, Laser Dog returned to EGX to officially launch their latest game Hopiko for iOS and Android. Sticking with the theme of speed from their previous work, Hopiko is a challenging and intense twitch platformer that has you eradicating viruses found in old videogame cartridges. Equal parts nervous and excited, the development pair of Simon Renshaw and Rob Allison had a commanding presence on the show floor – not only from their enthusiasm when presenting Hopiko to the world but also as they were blasting out the game’s pulsating chiptune soundtrack (composed entirely on a classic Game Boy).

Someone who would also know a lot about speed is Dashy Crashy developer, Travis Ryan. An arcade lover at heart, and with a CV that includes Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and OutRun 2, it seems understandable that the first game to debut from his Dumpling Design studio would focus on careening down a highway at a breakneck pace. For Ryan the Inside Games Arcade proved invaluable in receiving feedback from players and watching how they played the game, information which he has used in the intervening months to refine Dashy Crashy further ahead of its October launch.

And as we draw ever closer to the release of commercially available VR headsets, Sunderland-based developers Coatsink brought Esper to the show floor once again to put players through a peculiar yet humorous test of their telekinetic abilities. A more grounded VR experience in comparison to the outer space adventures of Elite: Dangerous or EVE: Valkyrie, Esper immerses thanks to the voice work from Eric Meyers and a surreal control method which sees you running your fingers along the side of the headset to move objects in the environment as if you’re imitating Professor X. The concept resonated so well that an expanded sequel is now in development with Meyers reprising his role alongside Lara Pulver, Nick Frost and Sean Pertwee to round out a strong cast.

Meanwhile, Project Cars has gone from Tobacco Dock basement to its very own stage at EGX. The in-depth racing sim has fully embraced the booming electronic sports craze and drew huge crowds for a series of time trial tournaments to determine the best drivers at the show. The game received such a positive reception from press and players following its launch in May that Slightly Mad Studios has already announced a sequel, Project Cars 2. 

It’s exciting times all-round for some of the UK’s brightest developers and fantastic to see that they’re still continuing to create interesting and innovative game experiences since being showcased at BAFTA's Inside Games Arcade across a wide spectrum of genres, themes and technology.

Words: James Pickard