2025 was a big year for Liv Games Network.
Over the course of the year, it delivered more than 20 events to over a thousand attendees, with over 30 industry speakers and mentors sharing the depth of their experience and knowledge with audiences.
This included it’s first-ever Liv Games Summit, bringing together over 200 industry professionals and newcomers for a day of talks, networking, portfolio reviews, exhibitor stalls, and an interactive ‘Indie Games Showcase’ featuring regional talent.
The ‘Games Pitching Bootcamp’, held in November 2025, helped indie devs grow their business confidence and learn how to pitch, and the return of the ‘Spotlight Series’ focused on more intimate sessions around the Liverpool City Region (last year reaching Southport and the Wirral). The Network also hosted a day of talks for games and tech professionals during ‘Games Tech Connect’, hosted in partnership with FORMAT Group.
Games Pitching Bootcamp. Credit: Corrupted Lens
Liv Games Network’s initiatives in 2025 saw more than £2,000 invested back into developers across the North-West. That included a prize fund for the winners of the Games Pitching Bootcamp; consultancy and feedback sessions led by industry professionals; educational workshops teaching aspects of the games industry to newcomers, and more.
There’s also the small matter of starting a new chapter with a new name and brand direction. Liv Games Network’s visual rebrand, designed by Liverpool-based company Smiling Wolf, acts as a statement of intent, laying the foundations for greater long-term impact for developers, studios and industry professionals across the North-West, and the UK.
There’s a lot for the Network to build on for the years ahead.
So how exactly did Liv Games Network grow to where it is today, and become embedded in the UK’s game industry scene?
Starting small, thinking big
One of LGN’s First Meet-Ups in 2022
The engine room that drives the network lies in its community. Established voices in games, newcomers to the industry, studio-employees and experts all coming together to drive us forward.
It all started with a regular monthly meet-up, usually held at Hanover Street’s ‘The Head of Steam’. This formed the backbone of the network when it was started in August 2022 by founder, Marek Smagala.
“My start was in music composition,” he explains. “I initially set up Liv Games Network to get myself in front of industry professionals. I invited people I’d bumped into and word started to spread.”
Now, each Liv Games Network meet-up regularly attracts around 30 people every month. Its relaxed, friendly environment is open to everyone with an interest in gaming and the wider industry.
LGN Meet-Ups welcome around 30 attendees each month. Credit: Corrupted Lens
Crowds are varied – you’ll find students, postgraduates, freelancers, people working at studios in and around Liverpool, developers, artists, writers, musicians, industry veterans and many others. Liv Games Network is open to anyone and everyone.
Since then, Liv Games Network has professionalised to host events that help facilitate true connections and deliver strong value for the industry.
It is proving to be a hugely valuable resource for established businesses across the UK as well. It’s flagship event Liv Game Summit (returning on 11th June 2026) saw business professionals travel in from across the UK, and is a perfect example of LGN’s commitment to the industry, with it’s fresh take on the industry flagship event, one of the many puzzle pieces that make a Network.
Liv Game Summit 2025
Credit: Corrupted Lens
There has also been support from across the Liverpool City Region, from partners and volunteers across the industry at various career stages: businesses sponsoring LGN events, developers providing their time and expertise to deliver a talk, and studio professionals sharing wisdom with new talent.
Next Steps
“The network opened up a new path that I wasn’t expecting at the start,” Marek admits.
“We’re a great community of developers, businesses and industry leaders and Liv Games Network is committed to delivering events and services that are going to really move the needle for those that engage with us,” Marek says.
“Events that mean people come out of interactions with the network better equipped than when they started.”
“That’s the responsibility of a network: to empower our community to go and do great things in the sector.”