#WGGI is the first scheme of its kind in the city, with the goal to unite Galway games developers to collaborate with support from local professionals in the games industry and Galway city cultural reps.

We’re grateful to the experts who generously gave their time to guide the participants over the past few months. Their insights and feedback have helped shape the project and they have been instrumental to the progress of the initiative. We’re also grateful for our great workspaces around Galway city.

As we wrap up the Wild Galway Games Initiative for 2022, we’ll take a quick look back at all the hard work committed to this project by the project managers, the speakers, the spaces, and the participants.

#WGGI kicked off in St Nicholas’s church in July, and continued at Galway Game Jam at the Portershed, where Ardán first met the teams who were interested in participating in the initiative. The teams went on to develop their projects alongside our #WildGalway theme over Autumn 2022, with speakers joining them at regular events at the Portershed and at Galway City Museum, to chat, and give project feedback and advice. This round of the #WGGI initiative culminated in final presentations and a dinner at Claregalway Castle at the end of October, with speakers down from Dublin as well as guests from Imirt, Creative Ireland and Galway City Council. It was followed by an evening at the Galway distillery.

We’d like to thank our talented teams for participating in this round:

Team Púca: Luke Dight & Pearse Egan

The Lazy Poodle Men: Tara Jay Burke, Lauren Keogh, Matthew Cunningham & Pat Ryan

“WGGI was a brilliant opportunity to engage with an idea, and allowed us to take it as far as we could, without fear of failure. It helped us build a network of mentors who were so willing to lend us their time, opinions, and experience. I left it feeling fulfilled and accomplished, along with a project that I hope to build on.”

Luke Dight, Team Púca

We’d also like to show our appreciation for our expert speakers:

“The time that I’ve spent being part of the WGGI scheme is something I am grateful for. Being able to work on a project consistently with the facilities and resources WGGI made available to us was invaluable. We became part of a community of peers and mentors who all wanted to help us succeed. We gained a great deal and I am bringing everything I have learnt forward with me.”

Tara J Burke, The Lazy Poodle Men

The team at Ardán are also very thankful to CREW Digital and to Galway Game Jam for their work on #WGGI.  

Ardán was delighted to be supported by Galway City Council, Creative Ireland, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media for the Wild Galway Games Initiative 2022.

“The Wild Galway Games Initiative scheme was immensely helpful in developing my programming, audio, and teamworking skills. It has also helped introduce me to wonderful people who share the same interests as me. I feel more confident pursuing a career in game development and interactive media knowing there is such a strong, supportive community in Galway that I have the privilege to work with.”

Matthew Cunningham, The Lazy Poodle Men

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