Global Game Jam 2026 at Goldsmiths
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Goldsmiths and Game Dev Local hosted Europe’s largest in-person Global Game Jam event for 2026 on campus.
‘Mask’ was the theme for this year’s Global Game Jam (GGJ), an annual international event taking place virtually and at in-person sites around the world.
Thousands of people took part in a 48-hour hackathon, working in teams to create games inspired by this year’s theme, which participants were free to interpret however they wanted in their game design.
Games like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes and Surgeon Simulator began as part of the GGJ and have gone on to commercial success.
For many people who want to get into game development, a game jam is the perfect opportunity to give it a go and start making games.
Alan Zucconi, School of Computing
Goldsmiths hosted the in-person site while Game Dev Local ran the online side. This year, the Goldsmiths event was the largest site in Europe, and the second largest in the world for in-person attendance, as well as the third largest site overall (counting in person and online attendees) with over 320 registrations.
Students from other London institutions joined the jammers on campus, including SAE Institute, London South Bank University, London College of Communication (University of the Arts London), and the University of West London.
Alan Zucconi, Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and programme leader for MA and MSc in Computer Games, said:
"Being one of biggest in-person sites in the UK for the Global Game Jam 2026 shows future game designers all over the world that Goldsmiths has become a focal point for game development."