Yorkshire's biggest celebration of the British videogames industry, Games Britannia, is giving people the chance to ask a panel of industry experts about the issues facing the industry at a free event at Sheffield Hallam University.

For the first time ever, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) are bringing their Games Question Time event to a venue outside of London.

The Games Britannia videogames education and careers festival has teamed up with Sheffield Hallam University to bring the BAFTA event to Sheffield on the evening of the festival's opening day.

Games Britannia organiser Mark Hardisty said: "This is a chance to ask a stellar panel of renowned luminaries and experts about the issues affecting the rapidly-evolving videogame industry.

"It's a brilliant opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the most influential and creative people in the games industry today."

Taking part in the event is BAFTA Games Committee member Andy Payne OBE , who is also Chairman of UKIE, GamesAid, and The Mastertronic Group, and leader of games developer consortium AppyNation.

Andy said: “Games Britannia is a truly unique and ground-breaking week long event focused on our next generation of games creators. We are very pleased to be working with the Games Britannia team to bring the BAFTA Question Time format to Sheffield. This is BAFTA's first regional Games Question Time event and there are more planned in 2012.”

The panel also includes Charles Cecil MBE (creator of the Broken Sword series of games, designer of the BBC Dr Who Adventure Games and founder of Revolution Software), Maria Stukoff (academic partnership manager for SONY Computer Entertainment Europe), and Sean Millard (Creative Director at SUMO Digital).

The BAFTA Games Question Time event takes place 6-8pm in the Pennine Theatre, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University, on Monday 2 July.

Tickets are free and can be booked through the Games Britannia website: www.gamesbritannia.com/bafta

Also at Games Britannia, BAFTA will be hosting a workshop for 11-16 year-olds on Wednesday 4 July in support of the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition.

About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org and www.bafta.org/guru. Follow BAFTA Games news at www.twitter.com/baftagames.

BAFTA Young Game Designers is a competition that aims to inspire the game designers and game-makers of the future by giving young people the chance to design and create their own video game and develop it with industry professionals. For further information, visit www.bafta.org/ygd.

About Games Britannia

Games Britannia (incorporating Games Britannia: REPLAYED) is the UK's biggest videogames education and careers festival, involving seven days of workshops, activities and keynotes celebrating and inspiring the next generation of British videogame talent.

Targeted at children aged from 5-18, Games Britannia draws children into programming, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as well as art, English, music and creativity through the engagement, fun and excitement of videogames.

Games Britannia: REPLAYED opens the doors to the public for a weekend of games-based learning and entertainment.

The main partners alongside Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in the Games Britannia festival are Sheffield Hallam University, UK Interactive Entertainment and REPLAY Events Ltd. Sponsors currently include Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sumo-Digital and YoYo Games. The event is supported with workshops by Raspberry Pi and BBC CBBC/CBeebies.