Chris van der Kuyl

Chris van der Kuyl is one of Scotland’s leading entrepreneurs working across the technology, media, gaming and entertainment sectors. Chris is most notably co-founder and chairman of multiple award-winning games developer 4J Studios, best known for developing Minecraft for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo games consoles. He and fellow co-founder Paddy Burns launched Chroma Ventures, the investment arm of 4J Studios, in 2021. Chris is chairman of; Broker Insights, Stormcloud Games and Ace Aquatec and sits on the boards of; Parsley Box, Blippar, Ant Workshop and ADV Holdings. He is also a non-executive director of the Ballie Gifford US Growth Trust. Alongside his commercial roles, he was the founding chairman of Entrepreneurial Scotland and is currently a member of multiple advisory and local charity boards. Elected as one of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2013, Chris was also formally recognised for his contribution to technology in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020, becoming a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Lessons From the Ultimate Community: Bringing Players to the Centre of Game Design and Development

Minecraft changed many things about the games industry but involving the community both directly and indirectly in the development of the game and the direct engagement of the creator community may be its longest lasting legacy. Chris and Joe will talk about the journey they shared during the first decade of Minecraft where 4J led the charge with community engagement on the console versions of the game and Joe became one of the biggest stars on YouTube. They will then discuss how other games approach community led development and why it doesn't necessarily suit every project. Finishing off with an insight into 4J's new community led game, Reforj, where Joe has joined the game design team, they will talk about how the Pioneer Programme is breaking new ground in early involvement of their latest community.

Scotland's Got Talent: From the Enlightenment to the Present Day, How Does a Small Nation Constantly Find Itself at the Forefront of Technological and Creative Industries

Scotland has been a global reference on education since the Middle Ages, with major pushes for education in the XV century and the Scottish Reformation, and with Scottish universities being critical contributors to the Enlightenment. Today, Scotland has more top ranked universities per capita than anywhere else in the world, 5 in the top 200 (Edinburgh, St Andrews, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen). It continues being a reference in innovation and education, with examples like Edinburgh University leading AI research and robotics in the UK through School of Informatics/Bayes centre and Abertay pushing boundaries on games related education. 

In 1997, in the city of Dundee (a city with less than 150,000 people) Abertay University took a chance on a new path and launched the world’s first computing science degree. Today, it is an exemplar of industry collaboration and recognised globally as a top institution educating the next generation of the industry with several courses recognised in the top 10 of Princeton global list of games related university courses.

Scotland has given the world some of the most iconic games in existence. In a global industry that covers from entertainment to education and is at the forefront of technology, it is Scotland’s talent (we can say something about density of innovation or something like that) that really sets it apart.