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Andy Payne

Chair

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Andy is an experienced video games entrepreneur and investor of 37 years and has worked with many of the world’s top studios and publishers, running Mastertronic from 1988 to 2015. He chaired video games trade body Ukie from 2005 to 2015 and was a board member until September 2020. He is a board advisor at games developer Bossa Studios and a founder of games industry charity, GamesAid, where he is now a patron. Andy is a patron of BAFTA, working with them to develop their presence in games. Andy founded mobile & tablet specialist AppyNation and Good Shepherd, which was the world’s first equity based crowdfunding platform for games and movies, and exited both companies as a result of commercial acquisitions.

Andy was founder of simulation specialists Just Flight, where he is now CEO and a Vice President of games charity, Special Effect. Andy also sat on the Creative Industries Council from 2010 to 2019, which reports directly to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, as well as being a founder of the UK Crowdfunding Association.

Andy is chair of The British Esports Association and was a board adviser to the world’s biggest Esports company, ESL, up until the sale to Savvy Gaming in 2022.

Andy sits on the Creative Industries Federation UK Council and also chairs the Digital Advisory Panel at the Gambling Commission. He is also a board advisor at Flick Games, games development studios in the United Kingdom (UK).

Andy is also a founder and trustee of the British Games Institute, a founding patron of The National Video Games Museum located in Sheffield, and a patron of the Creative Computing Club Foundation in Suffolk. Andy developed and published a video game adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm in 2020.

Andy’s latest start up is Soulcast, which is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform focused on collecting, remixing and customising digital objects, assets, fashion and content from curated artists, designers, and brands.

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