DVRS Games Festival - Recap

In April 2025, Dr Satish Shehorak organised the first international diverse games festival at Manchester Metropolitan’s School of Digital Arts. Satish is a Senior Lecturer in SODA and Programme Leader for MA Games Art. He also researches the inclusivity and diversity in video game representation, working with UKIE to collect longitudinal data on this issue. Satish’s research is part of the MGC’s Narrative and Representation research theme.

DVRS hosted two days of talks and a networking event showcasing diverse speakers and topics across games development as well as animation and film. Working in collboration with PoC in Play, UKIE, Gameopolis and the Liverpool Game Dev Network, the festival engaged over 80 attendees in person and 500 online with speakers and presenters Shifally Rattan, Senior Character Artist at Infinity Ward, Harvey Newman, Game Director and Animation Specialist, founder of Proxima Studio, Helen Kaur, UI Art Director at Hundred Star Games, Darshana Jayemanne, Reader in Digital Cultures at Abertay University and others.

DVRS elicited amazing feedback from attendees and there are plans to run this again in 2026, with an expanded research track and more activities for 16+ students looking to get into the game industry. MGC have been really proud to support this festival and we can’t wait to see how it develops in future years. For now, you can catch up by watching some of the sessions over on SODA’s YouTube channel

"This was the one of the best conferences I’ve ever been to . . . I left feeling inspired, informed, and keen to tell others about this wonderful event.”

“It approached the topic of diversity in an interesting way, not ignoring issues, but also celebrating some great artists and their stories.”

“At times it was genuinely moving . . . I look forward to seeing it grow.”