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A celebration of Irish video games - inside the FÍS Games Summit

Updated / Tuesday, 6 May 2025 14:46
Art Matthews and Yasmine Benarab in the Demo Room (Pic: Brigid Vinnell)
Art Matthews and Yasmine Benarab in the Demo Room (Pic: Brigid Vinnell)

Video games are at the crossroads of all culture – fact. They bring together the brightest and sharpest creators from across entertainment to provide us all with unmissable experiences. From writers, actors and musicians, to artists, coders and more, their combined efforts have made it the multi-billion-dollar industry we know and love today.

As a nation of storytellers, it should come as no surprise that Ireland has a growing stake in the growing gaming empire. And this could not have been more evident at the annual FÍS Games Summit in Galway this April.

Organised by screen talent development organisation Ardán, the event is now in its 5th year and aims to foster the growth and success of the Irish games industry, inviting creatives from all corners of the country (and world) to come together, share, collaborate and and celebrate the industry. And what a day it was.

Industry legend Tom Hall closed the FIS Game Summit (Pic: Brigid Vinnell)

World-class talks and chainsaws

First and foremost, the summit was a key place to learn more about game design and the industry as a whole. Senior programmer at Failbetter Games, Séamus Ó Buadhacháin, kicked things off with a talk on how developers can deliver effective branching narratives at scale. To see the work that goes into organising choice-based stories was truly eye-opening.

Afterwards, senior narrative designer at Grimlore Games, Drew McGee, explored that dreaded realisation of why players may skip parts of your game, but more importantly, what developers can do to make them care about your stories. There were also panel discussions on the challenges and opportunities of publishing games in 2025, with the role artificial intelligence may play being addressed.

Tom Hall and Xalavier Nelson Jnr with the infamous Doom chainsaw

BAFTA-nominated studio head, narrative director and writer Xalavier Nelson Jr. delivered a rousing headline talk in the evening entitled "Don't Let the B*stards Win". The talk was an analysis of the current industry norms of long development cycles, growing burnout and a lack of opportunity for artists to experiment. He stressed how developers must not only recognise themselves as artists but also develop a strong business sense to confront the pressures and realities the industry can pose.

Finally, the legend that is Tom Hall closed the summit. Now working in Galway as Design Lead with Romero Games, he explored the creative process of ideas, including the importance of 'Drift Time', i.e. giving your mind an opportunity to wander (without a mobile phone!)

Tom explored approaches to game design, using examples from his expansive library of hits, including Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, and, of course, Doom. Like many at Romero Games, he remained tight-lipped on the studio's highly anticipated new game – but he did bring the Doom chainsaw for avid fans to pap a magical photo from the day.

Coffee breaks nestled throughout the day allowed everyone an opportunity to meet and mingle with peers. A series of roundtable discussions in side rooms also covered topics like accessibility design, gender and writing in games, as well as pitch development sessions for aspiring developers. Needless to say, everyone left the day with plenty of new information, and plenty of new connections.

A celebration of Irish games

The Imirt Game Awards made a triumphant return at the summit, celebrating the games we've all enjoyed playing over the last while. Comprising 12 categories, it was the perfect reminder of the calibre of skill and imagination across the island.

The big winner of the day was Amber Isle. The cosy shop-simulator game that blends exploration, crafting, shop management, and adorable dinosaurs scooped up five awards, including the coveted Game of the Year 2025. Their office will most definitely need a new shelf or two.

Chaotic multiplayer Filthy Animals Heist Simulator won three awards, including the well-deserved GOTY 2024, while retro-gravity switching puzzle game Axyl picked up the award for Best Upcoming Game, and top-down action game Just Dodge, LOL won Best Technical Achievement.

CEO of Ardan Alan Duggan with Xalavier Nelson Jnr at the demo room
(Pic: Brigid Vinnell)

Jamie Gavin picked up the Rising Star Award, as well as two others for his first-person, immersive horror adventure, Mothered. As a solo developer, Jamie paid tribute to the vibrant Galway development scene in his acceptance speech, a sentiment echoed by the winner of the Community Hero award, Darren Kearney, moments later.

A spotlight was also put on tabletop games, reminding us of the enormous scope and creativity that game design truly encompasses. Steve Bennett's co-op comedy game Dungeons and Naggins picked up three awards, including Best Analogue Game. In his speech, Steve shared news of a Kickstarter for a highly anticipated expansion pack to the game, which promises more mechanics, more cards, and, of course, even more craic.

Imirt is the national organisation representing game developers and creators in Ireland. You can read the complete list of the winners and runner-ups across all categories in their news section here.

Speaking of games...

As well as holding space for past games, the summit offered a chance for people to test out upcoming releases. And if anyone needed proof of the creativity in store for the sector, a quick wander into the demo room addressed it.

From Spooky Doorway's supernatural detective mystery, The Séance of Blake Manor, to Outlier's highly anticipated park management sim, Mars Attracts, there was a huge variety across different genres to enjoy. One could easily have spent the entire day bouncing from screen to screen and talking to the creators of said games nearby.

Like any sector, we're always encouraged to shop locally and support Irish. Well, video games should be no different. A great starting point for your next game can be to find and support Irish creators. A great starting point is Imirt's curated list of games developed in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, from Irish creators, as well as games as Gaeilge, which you can find on Steam here.

Introducing... The Digital Games Portfolio

Speaking of support, a key announcement was made at the summit of critical funding aimed at helping support the video games industry across the island.

The Digital Games Portfolio (DGP) is a €500,000 funding scheme launched by Screen Ireland and which will be managed by Ardán and Imirt. It will fund various new initiatives, the first of which will be IndieDev 2025, a cross-border prototype fund in collaboration with NI Screen to help teams of creators turn their game ideas into prototypes.

The fund will also see Dublin and Galway become 'incubators' to support individuals at the early stage of their careers. A pilot development fund will also help target established Irish game studios to allow them to develop IP within their work spaces.

The funding comes at what Ardán CEO Alan Duggan called a "pivotal" moment and "an inflection point" in the Irish games industry. "There's a tremendous enthusiasm and vigour in the Irish games industry," he said. "We're swelling into a wave, and that's really running contrary to a lot of what's happening internationally."

Caloan McKendry of Ambertail Games with all the awards Amber Isle won on the day

Colm Larkin, CEO of Imirt, said: "At a State level, Ireland is looking at games and games developers as a culturally relevant art form and is saying, 'Yes, we need to support this.' This is just going to be the first step towards really growing our sector."

Speaking on the fund, the Minister for Arts, Culture, Media, Communications and Sport Patrick O'Donovan TD said: "The international games industry represents a huge contestable market, one in which Ireland can excel based on our technical, design and storytelling competencies."

"This funding combined with the recently introduced tax credit for games are key steps along the government's path to developing a national strategy for games."

Excitement is no doubt building for the calibre of games that will stem from this kind of financial support – something we may see the fruits of at next year's FÍS Games Summit.

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