Attendance at Game Republic New Horizons 2026 jumped 78% year-over-year, from 259 to 461 visitors, according to organiser Game Republic. The conference ran October 14–16 at Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough.

The growth wasn't purely regional. More than 100 attendees travelled from London, the South East and across the UK, and the international guest list spanned ten countries: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, China, Italy, Japan, Canada, the US, France and the Netherlands. For a three-day event in Teesside, that's a serious pull.

What did the matchmaking numbers do?

The operational headline for studios and publishers: scheduled meetings between developers, publishers, studios, entrepreneurs and investors — run through MeetToMatch — rose from 100 to 257. That's a 157% increase in deal-making capacity, which matters more to most attendees than the headcount itself.

Nintendo's business development and developer relations teams hosted a breakfast session where developers and publishers could ask directly about working with the platform holder, tool development, publishing opportunities and available support resources. Casual access to a first-party platform holder is a concrete perk for smaller UK teams.

Who spoke?

The programme featured 48 speakers. The marquee name: former SCEI chairman and group CEO Ken Kutaragi. Landfall chief business officer Rebecca Lautner also presented, alongside sessions from IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak, Housemarque, Bithell Games and 4J Studios.

"This was one of the biggest and best line-ups of speakers and companies at a games conference held in the UK," said Game Republic managing director Jamie Sefton. "It was great to see hundreds of games industry professionals from all over the UK, Europe, Asia, Canada and the USA to Middlesbrough here to do business, enjoy talks and presentations and see the talent and opportunities on offer."

What's the regional angle?

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen framed the event as proof of Teesside's standing in UK games development — and as a hook for his £160 million Investment Zone covering the digital and creative sectors.

"Teesside has built a fantastic reputation as one of the UK's leading centres for video games development, and attracting a major industry event with global names like these shows the progress we are making," Houchen said.

"Getting leading developers, publishers and investors into Teesside puts our region firmly in the shop window," he added, tying the event to goals of attracting investment and creating skilled local jobs.

A £160 million public investment vehicle meeting a 78%-growth industry event is the kind of alignment regional clusters rarely get this cleanly. Whether the Investment Zone converts conference footfall into studio formation is the metric to watch.

For studios weighing 2027 plans: Game Republic New Horizons returns next year, and the meeting-to-attendee ratio — 257 meetings across 461 visitors, up from 100 across 259 — suggests the matchmaking value is compounding faster than the crowd.