The Guardian dubs Guildford 'Hollywood of Games'

If you've ever wondered how Guildford came to be known as The Hollywood of Games, read this article by Stuart Heritage of The Guardian from 2014.

Equidistant from the thronging metropolis of London and the rural tranquility of the South Downs, Guildford has birthed some of the most profound creative works of our time. PG Wodehouse was born and baptised there. Lewis Carroll completed Alice Through The Looking-Glass there. And let’s not forget that Mike & the Mechanics filmed the video to their seminal 1995 No 12 hit Over My Shoulder – starring Tony from Hollyoaks, remember – in the neighbouring borough of Waverley.

Even today, Guildford is responsible for a bafflingly large slice of our culture. You wouldn’t think so to look at the place but tucked behind the anonymous facades of its nondescript Legobrick industrial parks lurk some of the most talented artists and developers in the world. Guildford, you see, is the beating heart of the British videogame industry.  

To the casual outsider, Guildford might look like another identikit British town, but it’s nothing of the sort. Its contribution to gaming culture simply cannot be overstated. It’s the Hollywood of videogames. It’s an elysium of electronics. People should make pilgrimages there. They don’t – probably because it’s got such a crap Travelodge – but they should. Long live Mike and the Mechanics, long live Peter Molyneux and long live Guildford

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