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25/03/2025
Jason & Will have just returned from an incredible trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco—one that took us from consular dinners to the heart of the global games industry at GDC.
First stop: Los Angeles, where we were honoured to attend a special St. David’s Day celebration at the residence of the British Consul General Paul Rennie, OBE. Massive thanks to Luis Calette and the team for hosting such a memorable evening. It was a brilliant opportunity to connect with fellow creatives and innovators from across the Welsh diaspora and beyond—including GBx’s Mark Charkin, Aled Miles, and the wider Welsh Government delegation. Diolch! 🥂🌟
From there, we headed up to San Francisco for GDC 2025, where Sugar were proud to represent the best of Wales on the Creative Wales stand. A huge thank you to Kathryn Wolfe-Adams, Joedi Langley, Beth Romais, Welsh Minister for Culture, Skills and Social - Jack Sargeant MS and the whole Creative Wales team for championing Welsh creativity on a truly global stage.
The buzz this year ranged from XR and geospatial tech to the game-changing potential of AI, it’s clear we’re at a major tipping point.
As many noted, the GDC show floor may have been quieter this year, but the real energy was in the offsites—the panels, pop-ups, and private events where the future of games and immersive tech is being written. Whether it was the Niantic Spatial showcase of geospatial XR (1M+ VPS locations—insane!), the "Landing and Expanding in the US" panel hosted by GBx and SVB, or countless serendipitous meetings across SF, the sense of momentum was there.
What stood out again and again was the ambition, and creative leadership coming from Wales.
We had some fantastic meetings (and more than a few mind-blowing demos) and came away feeling energised about the future—not just for Sugar, but for Wales as a serious player in the global creative tech scene.
And lastly, thank you to Leigh Jacka who was given the unenviable task of re-arranging the entire delegations return journey to the UK after the fire in Heathrow disrupted all of our plans!
If we met you during the trip—let’s keep the conversations going. And if you didn’t catch us this time, we’ll see you at the next one. 🚀
