Live gaming tournaments, a Minecraft stage, E-sports, a Cosplay Zone, VR arena and Nerf arena

E-sports, VR and a Nerf Arena… The Historic Dockyard Chatham welcomes back Medway Gaming Festival (@Dockyard.Chatham).

The Medway Gaming Festival returns to The Historic Dockyard Chatham on 1-2 July for the third year running, promising to be bigger and better than ever before.

Medway Gaming Festival (MGF) is a celebration of video games, gaming culture and creativity, set within the unique historic environment of Medway’s former Royal Navy Dockyard and against a backdrop of real-life battleships, including HMS Cavalier of World of Warships fame.

The festival has something to appeal to every gamer, from pro to novice, and will showcase talent, art, creativity and culture, uniting players for a weekend of entertainment. Visitors to the two-day festival will be able to watch, play and learn about games; meet special guests; join competitions; and experience new and retro gaming, as well as enjoying fun, interactive exhibits such as live wrestling and Cosplay masquerade.

The festival also includes live gaming tournaments, a Minecraft stage, E-sports, a Cosplay Zone, VR arena and Nerf arena - where else can thousands of (foam) darts be fired for a huge game of Nerf wars?!

Returning by popular demand is the Robot Arena - the largest amateur robot arena event in the UK, with more than 60 teams competing from across the world. It features displays from Extreme Robots, who will be bringing along the original show robot, Major Damage from BBC 2’s Robot Wars. Are you ready to get your game on?

AT A GLANCE ...

New for 2023

RetroLand – 50 years of gaming exhibition including zones for each decade, photo opportunities with period props, Dioramas, displays and our largest number of player spaces ever
DevLand – Partnered with GameDev London this zone will be offering workshops, panel discussions, portfolio reviews and networking opportunities, this along with a developer showcase
Life-Size TableTop – First of its kind life sized D&D Skirmishes in a huge gridded play space
Vesaro racing rigs – Full Motion Racing Simulators
Creator Stage – range of engaging content from informative content (How to become a content creator) to engaging and fun stage shows as well as hosting the cosplay final.
Star Wars Village – 3 major cosplay groups coming together to creator a single focus area around star wars
World Record Attempt – University of Greenwich are looking at bringing a world record attempt to the Square at MGF this year
VR Open Arena – Groups of players run around an arena in full immersion VR
Gel Blaster Feature – Engage in fun activities with Gel Blaster guns