The British Academy of Film and Television Arts and United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment have teamed up to help guide the next generation of games industry employees through the first steps to a successful career in one of the most cutting edge industries on the planet.

As part of the GamesIndustry Fair at next month’s EGX Rezzed games event, the BAFTA & Ukie Careers Bar will feature development-focused talks like programming, art and design from BAFTA Breakthrough Brit honourees Sophia George, William Pugh and BAFTA-nominee Daniel Gray. Ukie will also be hosting talks relating to the publishing side of the games industry, covering community management, marketing, PR and more from Ukie Video Games Ambassadors at Sony, Nintendo, GameSpot and SEGA.

BAFTA Crew Games members - professionals in the early stages of their career - and Ukie’s army of Video Games Ambassadors will be on hand throughout the fair to chat about their games industry experiences and career histories, as well as advise on study choices and available career paths. They’ll also be providing one-to-one job application advice, so visitors are encouraged to bring their CVs and work portfolios.

In addition, the advisors will discuss how the wealth of free services BAFTA and Ukie provide - including BAFTA’s skills development programmes & Ukie’s Student Membership and Digital Schoolhouse initiatives - can help throughout both student and professional careers.

CEO of games industry trade body Ukie and BAFTA Games Committee member Dr Jo Twist commented, “Having the careers bar at EGX Rezzed is an incredibly effective way of inspiring the next generation of games talent. Giving people the chance to hear straight from our industry experts is a great way for them to find out about the wide range of careers available in the games industry. We are delighted to be partnering with BAFTA and EGX Rezzed to help make this happen”.

Tim Hunter, Director of Learning and Events at BAFTA, said, “The careers bar is a fantastic opportunity to speak to people with a variety of experiences of working in games, who have a wealth of advice to share about getting in and getting on in this exciting industry. BAFTA also provides a range of resources to help anyone, regardless of background, forge ahead and develop their career. We are delighted to be able to share these on a platform with Ukie and EGX Rezzed”.

Students are entitled to a 20% discount to EGX Rezzed, which includes access to the BAFTA & Ukie Careers Bar and GamesIndustry Fair, plus the many dozens of playable PC and console games and developer speaking sessions.