This month, XR Initiative is bringing together **games, XR and creative technology** for an evening of talks, experiments and conversations. We’re delighted to welcome **Dominic Shaw** and **Tom Lawrence**, who will share their experiences across the games and XR industries, from building a games community in Sussex to experimenting with new ways of combining XR technology with the physical world. **Dominic Shaw** Dom is an experienced event coordinator who has organised game jams for organisations including Mind Candy, UKIE and BuzzFeed. His passion for the games industry has also led him to launch Sussex Games, a new ecosystem connecting people, communities and organisations working across the games industry in Sussex. In his talk, Dom will introduce the games industry in Brighton and Sussex, share the aims and activities of Sussex Games, and tell us more about Down 2 Play 2026, a new event celebrating the people and ideas shaping the games and creative industries, taking place on 14 November. [linkedin.com/in/dominicshaw94](linkedin.com/in/dominicshaw94) **Tom Lawrence** Tom is a software engineer and artist with a Master’s degree in Virtual and Augmented Reality from Goldsmiths, University of London. His work has been presented at events including the IEEE VR Novel Input Devices and Interaction Techniques (NIDIT) 2025 Workshop. In his talk, Tom will share some of his experimental game design projects, exploring how XR can bring games beyond the screen and into the physical world. He will also discuss how virtual and augmented reality can create new possibilities for play through interactions with real-world environments and human–machine interaction. [linkedin.com/in/tom-lawrence-b68501328](linkedin.com/in/tom-lawrence-b68501328)

Description supplied by the event organiser.