Gamers invited to help break Minecraft marathon World Record at Wrexham Glyndwr University

Gamers gathering at Wrexham Glyndwr University are aiming to break a World Record later this month.

As part of the annual Global Game Jam event, which Glyndwr participates in each year, the university will be trying to break the record for the longest continuous Minecraft marathon.

The attempt – which is being organised by the university’s eSports society – will run alongside the main jam, where participants gather to try to build a computer game from start to finish within a strict 48 hour period.

Senior lecturer in Computing Richard Hebblewhite said: “The Global Game Jam is designed to bring people together from all backgrounds and encourage creative thinking. The plan is for small, but innovative and experimental, games to be produced – from scratch – over the weekend.

“With participants taking part in as much of the entire 48 hour period as possible, the jam is certainly a packed two days

“Last year, more than 60 people took part here at Glyndwr, joining 42,800 others across the globe. We are aiming to help break that record this year – and to set our own world record right here at the university too, with our Minecraft marathon.

“The record we have to beat is a session lasting 35 hours, 40 minutes and 2 seconds – and we expect that to be a tough challenge to beat.”

Wrexham Glyndwr University is both the longest-serving and largest Welsh participant in the global game jam, and among those who have taken part in previous jams are members of some the award-winning games development teams based in the university’s Enterprise Lounge.

The teams – comprised of both students and graduates from the university’s

Game Development and Games Design & Enterprise degrees – have won a series of awards over the years, with the most wins at the UK Games Fund awards last November.

Richard – who was also recognised at the same awards as Community Contributor of the Year – added: “There is always a strong interest in the Global Game Jam from our Computer Games Design students, but you certainly don’t need their level of expertise to take part.

“Anyone who is interested in boosting their design and development skills is welcome to come along – all they have to do is register.

“This year, we will also be working alongside Everyone Can, a charity that helps people access games and technology. During the weekend, we will be working on some exclusive content designed to support the charity’s work – with the best entries getting the chance to test their games at a special Manchester event.”

Registration for the Jam is free – simply register at the official Glyndwr Game Jam 2019 site here.