Last Updated on Oct 29, 2025 @ 14:52:48 PM.
London Games Festival is growing year-on-year, and with the recent infusion of investment from the UK Government in 2026, it’s undoubtedly going to be the biggest year to date. With the closure of E3 last year, the onus is on other events to pick up the slack, and alongside the likes of GamesCom in Cologne, Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, USA, and the Tokyo Games Show in Tokyo, Japan, the London Games Festival is helping fill the gap.
Straight from the London Games Festival:
London Games Festival’s core events will significantly expand in 2026 – providing more ways to showcase games to the public and more business opportunities for professionals.
LGF 2026 will run for its eleventh edition in 2026, taking place from Monday 13 April to Sunday 19 April. London Games Festival is supported by the Mayor of London and delivered by Games London,an initiative from Film London. From 2026 the event will also welcome extended support from the UK Government, as announced earlier in the year as part of the Modern Industrial Strategy.
This additional funding will allow the festival to increase the opportunities at its key events, and create an additional £30m worth of investment back into the games industry every year. London is already the biggest games cluster in Europe, home to over hundreds of games businesses, and a workforce over 13,000. Since it started in 2016, Games London has helped facilitate £110m worth of completed deals and software sales for games studios, which has led to the creation of 900 jobs.
London Games Festival expanded events and activity next year include:
- Games Finance Market, Tuesday 14 April & Wednesday 15 April – The festival’s central B2B event will maintain its core of hundreds of high-quality, curated studio-to-investor pitch meetings but will add additional strands for codevelopment and self-published games
- New Game Plus, Thursday 16 April & Friday 17 April – The new consumer expo delivered by London Games Festival will move to a new venue – Exhibition in White City – doubling its exhibition space to house a wider selection of games, and provide access to thousands more attendees
- Plus the festival’s respected Official Selection – which has proudly championed indie hits like Dredge, Schim and Thank Goodness You’re Here over the years – will also add ways for experimental games artists to submit their works
In a time where the gaming industry is suffering from studio closures, ballooning costs, a saturated market, and an audience crying out for innovation, this is one of the few bright lights right now. Will you be attending next year?
For more Thumb Wars, check out our interview with Chris Stone, General Manager of Ready or Not’s VOID Interactive, or this easily missed God of War Easter Egg in Dying Light: The Beast.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
