Ukie’s royal stand at the gamescom expo in August has achieved a record £31m potential business for UK games businesses and attracted over 2,500 visitors, making it the games trade network’s most successful since they started running the UK stand in 2012.

The UK was also the official country partner for this year’s expo, further raising the profile of the UK’s games and interactive entertainment sector to an international audience. Fittingly, the stand this year was the biggest that Ukie has ever had at gamescom, with 60 companies represented on the stand during the three day event.

Ukie held networking events on the stand, with a drinks reception sponsored by Multiplay and Dovetail Games, and a second networking event sponsored by UKTI Germany and UKTI Korea. Visitors to the stand topped another Ukie high, with over 2,500 people visiting, including investors, overseas platforms, VIPs and international press.

The Royal Box presentation area was a new addition to the stand, and was used by companies to showcase new games, host press announcements, and deliver industry insider seminars, covering a range of subjects including UK tax credits, investments, and a talk from Women in Games.

Dr Jo Twist, CEO of Ukie, said, “We are always proud to represent the community of UK games companies at gamescom, and to do so this year as the official country partner made it an even better opportunity to promote the fantastic work that is being done in the UK. The size and buzz of this year’s stand is a real testament to the growth that we are seeing in the sector and being able to bring these businesses to a global audience is something that Ukie is really honoured to do every year. We look forward to making 2016 even bigger and better than this year’s brilliant achievement.”

The stand also saw the return of the UK Game of the Show Award, sponsored by Green Man Gaming, which was awarded to Robo Pixel Games’ upcoming release Gunnihilation. James Batten, Art Director at Robo Pixel Games, said “We’re thrilled and amazed Gunnihilation won UK Game of the Show, there are so many other amazing projects going on out there – we’re in disbelief! Thanks so much to everyone in, on and around Ukie at gamescom 2015!’

The Ukie staff on the stand were once again joined by three student helpers, who were sponsored to attend the expo as part of the Ukie Student Membership Scheme. The students were selected as part of the programme’s sponsorship award to get the next generation of games talent attending relevant games events.