QUO VADIS - Game Development & Business conference: Full Schedule

10:00

Workshop: Let's make a video game.... Unplugged!

Can you play Grand Theft Auto with the use of dice and is Diablo suitable for a family board game? Learn how to create paper versions of popular video games!

Thanks to this workshop, you will learn to: Differentiate and describe the most important computer game components behind the DNA of a brand, i.e.: unique selling point, core gameplay mechanics, gameplay loops, essence of experience. You will define video game mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics, player motivation, triggered emotions, behaviors that are evoked. And finally, you’ll just have fun practicing creativity and the ability to work in a team of enthusiasts like yourself. The result of the workshop will be a ready unplugged game, that all the participants can play.

The workshop is intended for all those interested in a game designer’s work, mostly for novices who are just thinking about joining the video game industry, but also to more experienced designers who want to expand their workshop and prove themselves in unusual tasks. The more the merrier!

Speakers

Tymon Smektała

Lead Designer, Techland

With almost 20 years of experience in the game industry – more than a decade asEditor-in-Chief of leading Polish gaming media outlets and more than 5 years as a gamedesigner at Techland – Smektała is still humbled by the creativity, inventiveness and “sky’s thelimit” mentality... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 10:00 - 13:00
SEMINAR ROOM (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

WORKSHOP

10:30

Best Practices: How to use live streamers – during development, launch and in the long run

Everybody knows Ninja, Shroud, DrDisRespect und Summit1g . They are well established live streaming stars attracting millions of viewers and earning just as many dollars while doing so. But what about the hundreds of thousands other accounts on Twitch, Youtube Gaming and Mixer? Wouldn’t they work just as well as a canvas for your campaigns? This session explains how micro-influencers work in the realm of live streaming and how 10,000 streamers with 200 CCVs are just as good as 3 superstars with 50,000 CCVs.

Speakers

Marc Fuehnen

Co-Founder / Developer / CEO, Loots

Marc was a long time coder in ad tech, before rethinking the way influencers monetize in live streaming. At loots, Marc and his team strive to alter the conventional cashflow and transform the live streaming landscape.

Monday April 8, 2019 10:30 - 11:00
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MARKETING SUMMIT, KEYNOTE

11:00

Influencer Marketing on YouTube: By the Numbers

Should you invest in influencer marketing or some other form of marketing? Do you have a sense about how successful your campaigns are? This talk will explore how to assess the value of sponsored influencer content and the role that it plays in the marketing mix.

Speakers

David Kim

Managing Director, Nevaly

David Kim is currently the Managing Director at nevaly, an influencer marketing agency that connects brands with gamers through strategic and creative solutions. Previously, David worked as a marketing executive for companies like Crytek, Fox, Vivendi, and Gravity. Over the course... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 11:00 - 11:30
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MARKETING SUMMIT, TALK

11:30

Navigating the Abyss: Driving User Acquisition to Success on your Mobile Apps

Marketers today recognise the importance of driving user acquisition as a key strategy in their marketing efforts. Come join the Google Mobile Apps team as they explore best practices and tips and tricks to grow an app’s customer base in an automated marketing world.

Speakers

Margaret Kuleta

Growth Manager Mobile Apps, Google

Margaret Kuleta is a regional Growth Manager at Google who helps high potential developers from Central and Eastern Europe scale their apps by providing user acquisition strategy and market insights. Previously Margaret worked with web products. Margaret attended the MBA program at... Read More →

Florian Ruhenstroth-Bauer

Apps Partnerships Manager, Google

Florian is an App Partnerships Manager and is supporting app developers with their user acquisition and growth strategies. Whilst at Google, he has also supported app developers in the monetisation of their apps. Prior to joining Google, he worked on the Business Development of Uber... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 11:30 - 11:55
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MARKETING SUMMIT, TALK

11:55

Design With Marketing in Mind

Most developers think of marketing as an entity completely separated from development, however I believe that you can have the idea of marketing in the back of your mind as you develop your game, as well as make design decisions that will lead to a better chance of your game standing out in the never-ending wave of games released constantly. From in-game GIF recording systems to horse genitalia shrinking in cold weathers acting as a great marketing tool, this talk will go through several examples of “Designing with Marketing in Mind!”.

Speakers

Nicolae Berbece

Founder, Those Awesome Guys

Nicolae Berbece is an indie game developer from VampireLand (Romania) and the designer of Move or Die, the friendship ruining party game. He founded his own company "Those Awesome Guys", where he teams up with developers from all over the world in order to create experimental & highly... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 11:55 - 12:20
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MARKETING SUMMIT, TALK

12:15

The unknown gamer: Attracting new user groups and investors

Video games are as versatile as Swiss Army Knives. Serious games are tools for employee training in almost all industries. Well-made gamification can be motivating on many levels and help with brand identification. Game technology and storytelling strategies can be found in healthcare applications and sophisticated interactive entertainment in the latest generation of on-board entertainment in cars. We talk about the latest developments in those fields, find out about new business models and figure out their value for investors who have been overly careful with betting on game companies up to now.

Moderators

Dr. Steffen P. Walz

Director of Design Innovation, diconium digital solutions

Dr. Steffen P. Walz is Director of Design Innovation at diconium digital solutions GmbH / Berlin, where he drives and converges topics including mobility, interactive entertainment and digital lifestyles. In his career, Steffen has produced, designed and applied as well as researched... Read More →

Speakers

Nicole Schlautmann

General Manager, Pfizer Pharma

Nicole Schlautmann, since 2016 General Manager of Pfizer Pharma GmbH is leading the Rare Disease business unit. Indications in this area include endocrinology, hemophilia, transplantation and neurology. The ongoing digitization and growing importance of e-health solutions inspires... Read More →

Prof. Dr. Lutz Anderie

Professor for Digitalization and Games, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences

Prof. Dr. Lutz Anderie is an internationally renowned expert for Games and Digitalization. He worked at Sony PlayStation, Bandai Namco and Atari. Lutz has successfully managed the launch of more than 100 video games. He is the author of two No 1 Amazon bestselling business books (‘Games... Read More →

Harri Manninen

Founding Partner, Play Ventures

Harri Manninen is a Founding Partner of Play Ventures and invests in the best gaming entrepreneurs and teams globally. He previously co-founded Rocket Pack, which was acquired by Disney in 2011. He is also the co-founder of Matchmade (Shark Punch), the leading influencer marketing... Read More →

Alexander Satanowsky

Manager, NeXt Scouting, Daimler AG

Alexander Satanowsky is Manager of NeXt Scouting at Daimler AG leading technology discovery inemerging innovation fields beyond today’s automotive scope. He has worked with Daimler AG since1998 in various positions on automotive, mobility and finance-related topics in Stuttgart... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 12:15 - 13:15
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

NEW BUSINESS MODELS PANEL, PANEL DISCUSSION

12:20

How to Build a Community for Your Kickstarter Project

The most important thing in every Kickstarter campaign is upfront commuity building. In this presentation you will learn why it is so important, get some insights into the latest stats from our Kickstarter community as well as some best practice tipps for campaign planning and execution. Time for questions and inputs from the audience is granted.

Speakers

Anya Combs

Senior Games Outreach, Kickstarter

Anya Combs is the Senior Games Outreach person at Kickstarter. She has been in the digital games space for over a decade, overseeing multiple mobile and online titles launched for Nickelodeon & AddictingGames, and has worked with countless game creators launching successful projects... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 12:20 - 12:45
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MARKETING SUMMIT, TALK

12:45

It's getting personal - bring your game to market with the right data and charm

Consumers not only have turned their back on being told what to buy from generic role models for everyone. They are also clustered into tiny splinter groups with all different habits and cultures. This is also true for video games reaching to out to fans of gazillion subgenres and playing habits. We discuss how to reach them even if you cannot spend

Speakers

Anya Combs

Senior Games Outreach, Kickstarter

Marc Fuehnen

Co-Founder / Developer / CEO, Loots

David Kim

Managing Director, Nevaly

Monday April 8, 2019 12:45 - 13:30
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MARKETING SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

13:15

Lunch Break

Monday April 8, 2019 13:15 - 14:30
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

BREAK

13:30

Lunch Break

Monday April 8, 2019 13:30 - 14:30
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

BREAK

14:30

Start Lean, Learn Fast, Scale Faster - How a small idle game became an international smash hit

In his keynote, Daniel shares Kolibri Games’ success story and how the small team managed to develop an idle game in only eight weeks that is played by millions around the world today. With insights into the company’s lean development processes and their signature games as a service approach, he explains why you should quickly get on the market to develop a truly user-centric product that is geared towards long-term success.

Speakers

Daniel Stammler

Co-CEO & Co-Founder, Kolibri Games

Daniel Stammler is Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Kolibri Games. He studied Information Engineering and Management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he embarked on his first entrepreneurial ventures as Project Manager for the student management consultancy “delta... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 14:30 - 15:00
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

LIVE OPS & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SUMMIT, TALK

14:30

Funding the Dream

Are Mack Growen gives insights about what specialized gaming VCs like him are looking for when they invest in game startups. What are general components that will make them either excited or alternatively turn down a project? He will explain what current trends are starting to be overused in pitches they see. This talk will be helpful for anyone who is planning to start a game company now or later, or anyone that is in the process of raising funding now.

Speakers

Are Mack Growen

VP of Product Portfolio, London Venture Partners

Are Mack Growen is the VP of Product Portfolio at London Venture Partners, where he works on supporting portfolio companies on everything product related, and also finding new opportunities. For over 12 years he has worked in GM and VP roles to build game studios in Asia and the west... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 14:30 - 15:15
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

FUNDRAISING & FINANCING SUMMIT, KEYNOTE

14:30

Workshop: Going Global with Your Game Content

While the game industry continues to grow year over year, the often-unrecognized truth is that nearly 50% of that revenue is generated by the localized versions of games. More than ever, delivery game content to a global audience has become critical to the success of games, including the ability of indie games to find a diverse audience. Join this expert-led workshop to learn how to effectively address the key components of content culturalization, language localization, and international monetization and live ops, and be better prepared to maximize the chances for your game's global reach.

Speakers

Marie Amigues

CEO, Altagram

After living in Paris, Ottawa and New York, Marie Amigues settled in Berlin and created the first video game localization company of the city. In 2013, she founded Altagram, which grew to an international company with offices in Berlin, Seoul and Montreal.Following her studies in... Read More →

Nick Murray

F2P Product, Live Ops and Monetization Consultant, GamesConsulting.net

Nick is a product and operations professional over a decade of experience in mobile, client and AAA gaming, with insights on both publishing and development. In the past he has worked for companies such as Aeria Games, Rovio, Ubisoft and GREE. He now works as a freelance consultant... Read More →

Kate Edwards

CEO, Geogrify

Kate Edwards is the CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, a consultancy which pioneered content culturalization, a Board Member of Take This, and is the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) from 2012 to 2017. In addition to being an... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 14:30 - 17:30
SEMINAR ROOM (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

WORKSHOP

15:00

Designing for Growth with Live Game Operations

For the growing number of games that are always online, managing live operations is increasingly essential. Live Ops expands the fun with continual engagement and connected experience. Your game is part of their lives. Growth depends on satisfaction and modular features that can operate independently. Games as Community is a crucial process for your design.

Speakers

Mark Vallee

PlayFab Engagement Manager, Microsoft (Playfab)

Mark ran multimillion user online projects. Entrepreneur, an award-winning developer with 19 years of experience. Produced and directed many projects for corporations, private and public organizations around the world. In the gaming industries, Mark built studios for Ubisoft, Unity... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 15:00 - 15:30
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

LIVE OPS & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SUMMIT, TALK

15:15

Who wants to live forever?

There are so many games launching every day that most are forgotten the next day. We all hope for a hit, but hope is not really a strategy. By deliberately designing your game to be a brand that stands out in the market - and has the potential to become a franchise - you can aim for immortality. As an added bonus, it can also increase short-term loyalty, make your marketing more effective and enable your company to do the kind of long-term planning that investors love.

Christian Fonnesbech will share the creative and business related foundations of building long-term brands and franchises - and discuss the arguments that investors love to hear.

Speakers

Christian Fonnesbech

Consultant / Head of IP Development, DDM / Nordisk Film

Christian Fonnesbech is an independent consultant at Digital Development Management - DDM. He is also Head of IP Development at Nordisk Film Games, which has invested in 6 indie game developers in the last 2 years. Nordisk Film Games is owned by Egmont, a Nordic media conglomerate... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 15:15 - 15:45
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

FUNDRAISING & FINANCING SUMMIT, TALK

15:30

Civility By Design: Fostering a Community of Confident, Creative and Compassionate Digital Natives

Safety should be standard by design. And for us, it is. But why stop there? We want better.
Roblox is committed to empowering kids, teens, parents and caregivers with the skills to create positive online experiences. Through its new Digital Civility Initiative, Roblox will invest in three main areas: enhancing the in-game experience for players; equipping parents, caregivers and educators with actionable resources to promote community safety and digital civility; and partnering with digital safety leaders to strengthen the platform and make a positive impact on the industry.
Empowering the creativity of our developers is central to everything we do at Roblox, and a positive online environment comes hand-in-hand with that.
Roblox’s goal is to help players build strong lifelong civility skills by teaching them how to interact online in a positive way. We want to share best practice and inspire the industry to aim higher, to collaborate and set a new standard for online communities. One which is kinder, more empathic, and fun!

Speakers

Laura Higgins

Director of Community Safety & Digital Civility, Roblox

Laura Higgins is Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility at Roblox. Roblox’s groundbreaking digital civility initiative is focused on providing the community with the skills needed to create positive online experiences. Civility online is a new concept, but based on existing... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 15:30 - 15:55
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

LIVE OPS & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SUMMIT, TALK

15:45

Get funded! How to get EU funding for your game?

In his presentation Jari-Pekka Kaleva will give you an overview on how to get access to grants for game development from European Creative Europe programme, grants for R&D in gamedev studios from European Horizon2020 programme and loan guarantees and equity funding for SMEs from EIB/EIF.

Speakers

Jari-Pekka Kaleva

COO, European Games Developer Federation (EGDF)

As the COO of European Games Developer Federation (EGDF), Jari-Pekka Kaleva follows European politics from the games industry perspective. He is also the senior policy analyst at Neogames, working to accelerate, coordinate and support the development of the Finnish games industry... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 15:45 - 16:15
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

FUNDRAISING & FINANCING SUMMIT, TALK

15:55

How to optimize decisions for your audience and make a narrative game perform on the F2P-market

The market for narrative driven F2P games generated around 400 Million $ in revenues last year. And it is growing at an astounding speed. Releasing a game into this market is chance and challenge at the same time. Creating a solid story is only the first step. Adding beautiful graphics, the second. And the third is optimizing your premium decisions. Does this influence how to approach Live Operations? And if so in which way? This talk will help you find an answer to both of these questions.
How to approach this optimization? Which numbers should a game designer be looking for?

Speakers

Ulrike Küchler

Producer, Gamebook

Ulrike Küchler has started working in the media industry in 2003 and built a cross-industry background in the likes of games, entertainment, broadcasting and publishing. Her career is driven by one key challenge: how can we fuse storytelling and new technologies into fun and successful... Read More →

Nico Nowarra

CBDO, Gamebook

Nico Nowarra has worked more than 20 years as journalist, writer and Business Developer. His track record includes numerous radio plays, games and talks. Beyond that he is a novelist and has published over 1000 articles. Nico has worked as a lecturer for storytelling, journalism and... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 15:55 - 16:20
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

LIVE OPS & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SUMMIT, TALK

16:15

How we attract the money to come in

Today gaming is touching digital health, educational, mental health, industry 4.0, and more. Hence, the versatility and transformative power of the medium should make it an ideal subject for investment. As an international player, Mali will share her knowledge about how the games industry as an economical leader, can attract the money to come in. As she recently came back from the European Commission EIC where she is involved in empowering European innovators, she will tell us how new funds that are coming can uplift tech and games in Berlin and in European markets.

Speakers

Mali Baum

CEO, WLOUNGE

Mali is one of the people shaping female founders future and opportunities in the tech ecosystem in Berlin and Germany, opens it for the global world, recently announced raising a new fund of funds in Berlin with focusing on a diverse team to uplift the ecosystem and building more... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 16:15 - 16:45
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

FUNDRAISING & FINANCING SUMMIT, TALK

16:20

Learning to Communicate

Community Management is a varied skill set gig that encompasses many different areas within the games industry. Learn how communication flow can help improve your game and your community at the same time.

Speakers

Lance James

Head of Production, Versus Evil

Lance James is the current Head of Production for Versus Evil after working as Community Director and Producer for the last 4 years. Has launched numerous titles over the past 10 years including Defiance, Warface, Banner Saga Series, Pillars of Eternity 2, and more.

Monday April 8, 2019 16:20 - 16:45
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

LIVE OPS & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SUMMIT, TALK

16:45

Game Financing in Germany

Funding a game in Germany can be a long race with many stops. The federal system is sheltering different regional funding bodies who over the years have stepped up their efforts consecutively. But they rarely offer a sufficient financial envelope that allows companies to compete outside a smaller segment of the market. Venture capitalists on the other side are yet shy as deer when it comes to funding games, at least until recently. Due to promising developments in the field of funding games in Germany and other uncertainties, we are going to shed the light on this matter and ask about the best way to fund games now and in the near future.

Moderators

Petra Fröhlich

GamesWirtschaft.de

Following a successful editorial career spanning more than 25 years, Petra Froehlich started the website GamesWirtschaft.de mid 2016. Before that she has been in charge for market-leading games magazines, websites and apps as editor-in-chief and publishing director. Petra Froehlich... Read More →

Speakers

Olga Voronina

Senior Business Development Manager, Super.com

Olga is a senior business development manager at Super.com Investment Fund and Publisher. Her main responsibility is to help developers connect with Super.com fund and explore their opportunities with the fund vast ecosystem of investment and publishing tools. Her first experience... Read More →

Jari-Pekka Kaleva

COO, European Games Developer Federation (EGDF)

Andreas Suika

Unreal Engine Evangelist, Epic Games

As Unreal Engine Evangelist at Epic Games, Andreas helps developers create successful games and applications with Unreal Engine 4. Andreas has 19+ years experience in different roles. At UBISOFT BLUE BYTE he worked as Level-, and Game Designer and Creative Director on titles like... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 16:45 - 17:30
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

FUNDRAISING & FINANCING SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

16:45

The backend is the frontier: How live ops can define today's gameplay experience

The backend of a videogame is becoming a platform for creation, it's where gamers are kept happy in the long run. No wonder Live Ops are key to success for many of today's digital games. They offer new content, community building, customization, localization, and quick adaptation of relevant events and Zeitgeist. We discuss the interlocking of the many departments working together in Live Ops, plus new developments in the field and the necessity to think of live ops integration in the very beginning of the production process.

Moderators

Mark Vallee

PlayFab Engagement Manager, Microsoft (Playfab)

Speakers

Nate Barker

Director of Business Development, Kolibri Games

As a true mobile game enthusiast, he has helped businesses grow for nearly a decade. Nate was Senior Marketing Manager for the Taipei-based development studio Linekong Interactive and directed business development for the player conversion engine Seeds. He joined Kolibri Games in... Read More →

Lance James

Head of Production, Versus Evil

Nico Nowarra

CBDO, Gamebook

Monday April 8, 2019 16:45 - 17:30
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

LIVE OPS & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

17:30

Games/Bavaria Beer Reception

Enjoy networking plus German Gemütlichkeit with frischgezapftes Bavarian Helles beer, brought to you by Games Bavaria.

Games Bavaria sees itself as an association of Munich games developers and games companies to which all well-known Munich games companies belong. For more info feel free to check out

www.games-bavaria.com

Monday April 8, 2019 17:30 - 18:30

NETWORKING

20:00

Games Academy Rooftop Party of gamesweekberlin unlocked by Wargaming Mobile

Entrance for everyone with a QUO VADIS ticket - first come, first serve! Please bring your badge!

Location: Gamesacademy, Rungestraße 20, 10179 Berlin

Monday April 8, 2019 20:00 - 23:30

10:00

How to capture a villain - character building with motion capture

Ask gamers about their top villains, and she's probably one of them: Irene Engel, the main antagonist of Wolfenstein II. She was a brilliant character brought to life with motion capture by the award-winning actress Nina Franoszek. At QUO VADIS 2019, Uke Bosse will host a fireside chat with Nina and Machine Game Creative Director Jens Matthies. Here they will talk about how Nina overcame her prejudices and thus became enthusiastic about video games, and how Jens was the catalysator of her epiphany. Furthermore the session she will give you insights about the intensive production and performance for a multi-layered character like Irene Engel.

Moderators

Prof. Uke Bosse

Professor for Game Design, Producer, Actor, Mediadesign Hochschule

Uke Bosse is a unicorn. Back in the days when the other unicorns played „Catch the bagel on the green meadow“ and other silly unicorn games, they wouldn’t let Uke join in. He only shrugged his unicorn shoulders and instead devoted himself instead to games that are not silly... Read More →

Speakers

Nina Franoszek

Motion Capture Performer / Actress

Berlin-born Nina Franoszek is an award-winning actor who performed in over 100 feature films and television shows, including Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist” and the Emmy Award winning TV show “Mad Men. She co-starred with Tilda Swinton in “The Party: Nature Morte” and... Read More →

Jens Matthies

Creative Director, Machine Games

Jens started making games professionally in 1998, but was an active hobbyist on the Atari demo scene since the late 80’s. Having joined Starbreeze Studios in the early days he served in various roles such as Environment Artist, Level Designer, Art Director and Creative Director... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 10:00 - 10:45
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

PC GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, FIRESIDE CHAT

10:30

Extensive - expensive: Things to pay attention to while developing evidence based apps in the field of transition medicine

During the development of a game app for the primary healthcare market that also acts as a medical device, there are plenty of pitfalls. Those are sometimes associated with very time- and money-consuming processes. This talk gives a quick overview of how this type of development differs from the classic computer game market, and why you need not only a lot of stamina but also a well-filled wallet.

Speakers

Marc Kamps

CEO & Founder, Birds & Trees

Marc Kamps is founder and CEO of Birds and Trees UG (haftungsbeschränkt) in Hamburg. After his training as a banker and several years working as a financial services provider, he switched to the games industry in 2012 and worked for InnoGames as the producer for the online multiplayer... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 10:30 - 10:55
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

HEALTH PLAY SUMMIT, TALK

10:45

60 Parsecs! - the making of a sequel that was never meant to be

How hard could it be to create a sequel to your successful game? As we found out during the development of 60 Parsecs!, a follow-up to Robot Gentleman's debut title 60 Seconds!, it may easily blow up in your innocent, indie face. Not only are there new challenges to face, but you may be surprised to discover that things you knew from your first game are no longer true. We will share our experiences of crossing such a minefield of development and tell the story of how we've managed to make it to the other side in one piece. More or less.

Speakers

Dominik Gotojuch

Founder & Creative Director, Robot Gentleman

Dominik originally intended to become an actor, but it only took a few days at Lionhead Studios to realise what he wanted to do for the rest of his life – develop games! Initally an AI programmer on the AAA award-winning titles Fable III and Witcher 3, he eventually made his way... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 10:45 - 11:10
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

PC GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

10:55

Successfully marketing educational apps to three very different target groups

You have been developing mobile games for many years and now you are taking the first step into the world of health care apps. With all your experience it should not be a big deal to develop and market this kind of apps successfully. Well, it IS a big deal, and Meister Cody, developer of the scientific dyslexia and dyscalculia training of the same name, had to come up with completely new approaches to address their different target groups: therapists, pediatrists, teachers as well as caring parents. Markus Schütze, CMO at Meister Cody, tells you about the challenges of convincing professionals that apps are not just a (free) form of entertainment but a reliable solution that helps them treat their patients.

Speakers

Markus Schütze

CMO, Meister Cody

Markus is Senior Marketing Manager for Meister Cody at Kaasa health GmbH. He has been part of the gaming industry since 2002. Markus worked in various marketing and product management positions at THQ, Eidos and EA before he decided to take the step into health games in 2015. Since... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 10:55 - 11:20
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

HEALTH PLAY SUMMIT, TALK

11:10

Diary Study Benefits with examples from Anno 1800 development

Diary studies are a user research methodology that follow users in an early game version playing at their own leisure over a longer period of time. This talk presents the methodology and contrasts it with general playtesting. Using the case of our recent diary studies on Anno 1800, we explain the many advantages of receiving direct player feedback in the early stages of the development. Diary studies provide a direct link between developers and a game's community and allow getting the opinion leaders onboard. It provides the dev team with actionable feedback on long-term motivators as well as late game features. Takeaway: Get crucial player feedback earlier in the development cycle, and involve the development team more directly in this feedback.

Speakers

Gregory Janiczek

User Research Analyst, Ubisoft Blue Byte

Gregory Janiczek is a User Researcher and UX specialist. He has 7 years of hands-on experience in game UR and playtesting. With a M.A. in Game Design and a strong passion for a great user experience, he helped build up the Ubisoft Blue Byte user research lab. In these 7 years, he... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 11:10 - 11:35
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

PC GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

11:20

Digital Health and Games

Digitization is key for Germany's largest health insurance. During his talk, Dr Schlobohm explains the strategic impact of digitization to the company, its products and services and especially the position and role of games.

Speakers

Dr. Markus Schlobohm

Head of Corporate Development, Techniker Krankenkasse

Since 2017 Dr. Schlobohm is Head of Corporate Development at Techniker Krankenkasse. His area of responsibility includes corporate strategy, analytics and digital office. Between 2002 and 2016 he held various management positions at the Lufthansa Group, his last position was as Managing... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 11:20 - 11:45
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

HEALTH PLAY SUMMIT, TALK

11:30

Workshop: Twitch Extensions: Learn how to build interactive experiences that help you launch and grow your game

Build a Twitch Extension from start to finish in this 90-minute hands-on workshop. We'll provide an overview of Extensions, show examples that focus on enhancing a game's experience on Twitch, and run through the development process to get an Extension of your own up and running. This workshop is for developers who are proficient with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. No prior experience with Extensions is required, but please bring your laptop!

Speakers

Jonathan Bulava

Developer Advocacy Lead, Twitch

Jonathan Bulava leads the Developer Advocacy at Twitch focusing on educational content, outreach, and assistance for developers who build integrations for the Twitch community. Jon was previously the Managing Editor for Developer Marketing at Twitch, as well as the Editor in Chief... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 11:30 - 13:00
SEMINAR ROOM (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

WORKSHOP

11:35

PVE and PVP - Finding the right balance

In The Cycle, players are not told which way to play, but rather allowed to work together or alone when fighting others or the environment. Yager's goal was to create a game where all of these different ways of playing would allow players a chance to win.

This talk is about the challenges Yager's development team faced when trying to create a game that combines cooperative play, PVE and PVP in a single match setting. It is about how intertwined these three parts of the game are and how the devs often found that making a change in one area would have far reaching consequences for the other two.

This talk is about a year’s worth of development and testing, trying to find a balance between cooperative and solo play and between PVE and PVP. It examines how additions and changes of features created new, unexpected dynamics and how the balance between PVE and PVP differs greatly in internal and external playtests.

Speakers

Torkel Forner

Senior Game Designer, Yager

In my early-to-mid-twenties, after a couple of years of aimless studying, I found myself face to face with a simple question. What am I going to be when I grow up? After a quick analysis of my life, I realized that what I loved to think about, play and generally occupy most of my... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 11:35 - 12:00
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

PC GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

11:45

The role of pharma in digital patient support

Support in coping with disease is today provided by numerous digital solutions, such as medication reminder or edutainment apps. As a pharmaceutical company, our role is to develop safe and effective medications and ensure optimal use of our treatments. We will present examples from the Pfizer Rare Disease Community how Pharma can support the patient journey with digital tools.

Speakers

Nicole Schlautmann

General Manager, Pfizer Pharma

Maria Scham

Digital Marketing Manager, Pfizer Pharma

Maria Scham has been Digital Marketing Manager at Pfizer since 2017. She is responsible for the "Rare Diseases" business unit, which focuses on endocrinology, hemophilia, transplantation and neurology. She develops the digital strategy for more than ten indications and thus shapes... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 11:45 - 12:10
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

HEALTH PLAY SUMMIT, TALK

12:00

Alexa, press start. — Gaming’s newest frontier

Everyone remembers that one game from their childhood that they absolutely loved. The fun, the challenge, the adventures into wild uncharted lands. Players love to explore new worlds, and to find new ways to get immersed into those experiences. In this session, Rafael will show you the possibilities that mixing games with a natural interface like voice via Alexa can open up. You’ll learn how to build your own Alexa skills using the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) and see the many ways Alexa is already used in this space. From indie to AAA, we can all explore this new frontier in gaming together.

Speakers

Rafael Miranda

Technical Evangelist, Amazon Alexa

Curious at heart, Rafael loves trying out new technologies. Exploring voice interfaces was love at first hearing. He organized hackathons and other events with focus on Alexa before joining Amazon. As a technical evangelist for Amazon Alexa, he educates developers, designers, enthusiasts... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 12:00 - 12:25
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

PC GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

12:10

More than just a game - video games for the healthcare industry

This panel discussion will deepen the insights of the previous talks of how video games will be benefitial for the healthcare industry. Because we expect many questions coming from the auditorium, we are going to open up the discussion for a moderated ask me anything. For example: Why should you develop for the healthcare sector? What are interesting use cases and topics for medical professionals and patients? Can you bypass regulatory processes, and should you? Is the medical society ready to use games for treatment, and which domains are more open than others? Will insurance companies support the development?

Moderators

Melek Balgün

esports/Web/TV/Event Host - Sports Reporter, Deutsche Welle, ARTE

Speakers

Marc Kamps

CEO & Founder, Birds & Trees

Nicole Schlautmann

General Manager, Pfizer Pharma

Tuesday April 9, 2019 12:10 - 13:00
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

HEALTH PLAY SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

12:25

Tabula Rasa - Will the world of gaming turn upside down?

Since google's Stadia announcement, many people are talking about one topic only - how our cosy game world will be turned upside down. Will the established platforms survive? How will creatives and business developers react to instant game access and massively multiplayer online everythiing? Or is this a kind of true digital divide and only regions with perfect infrastructure (aka not Germany) can participate from this development?

Speakers

Heiko Klinge

Editor-in-Chief, GameStar, GamePro

Heiko Klinge is the Editor-in-Chief of Europe´s leading PC gaming magazine GameStar (GameStar.de) and the console gaming magazine GamePro (GamePro.de). These outlets are providing information and entertainment for a combined 5 million unique users.Heiko has been working as a games... Read More →

Arnold Nesis

CEO & Co-Founder, Capricia Productions

Arnold Nesis is an Israeli metal-head and music composer, mostly known for his work in video games and media. Arnold has worked with companies in the United States, Europe, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere and currently is the CEO of "Capricia Productions", making interactive music video... Read More →

Eric Zimmerman

Arts Professor, New York University

Eric Zimmerman is a veteran game designer with more than 2 decades of industry experience. For nine years, he ran his own award-winning studio Gamelab, which helped invent casual games with hit titles like Diner Dash, as well as make innovative games like Gamestar Mechanic, an online... Read More →

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Tuesday April 9, 2019 12:25 - 13:15
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

PC GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

13:00

Lunch Break

Tuesday April 9, 2019 13:00 - 13:15
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

BREAK

13:15

Lunch Break

Tuesday April 9, 2019 13:15 - 14:30
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

BREAK

14:00

How to Study Games in Germany

An overview presentation.

Speakers

André Czauderna

Education Researcher, Cologne Game Lab

André Czauderna is an education researcher working at the Cologne Game Lab of TH Köln, where he manages and develops the study programs as well as teaches player research. His research interests include learning in gaming affinity spaces, educational games, game design education... Read More →

Björn Bartholdy

Co-Director, Cologne Game Lab

Björn Bartholdy studied communication design (diploma) at the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart and media design (diploma) at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. He also worked as a freelance designer for Bayerischer Rundfunk, RTL, VOX and VIVA. Since 2003 he has been responsible for... Read More →

Prof. Dr. Linda Breitlauch

Professor Games & Intermedia Design, Trier University of Applied Sciences

After studying business administration and film and television dramaturgy at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen in Babelsberg, Linda Breitlauch earned her doctorate with a thesis on dramaturgy in computer games. She worked on various film and multimedia projects, wrote game concepts... Read More →

Gundolf S. Freyermuth

Professor & Founding Director, Cologne Game Lab

Gundolf S. Freyermuth, PhD, is a founding co-director and Professor of Media and Game Studies at the Cologne Game Lab of TH Koeln-University of Technology, Arts and Sciences, as well as Professor of Comparative Media Studies at the ifs international film school of Cologne. Prior... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 14:00 - 14:30
STAGE ATELIER (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

STUDYING GAMES - CLASH OF REALITIES SUMMIT

14:30

A Tale of Two Cities – Managing a Game Project Half a World Away

Two teams, two locations, but one game to rule them all! Managing one team can be challenging enough, but how do you deal with a team that’s split between two cities, separated by a 7-hour time difference? But there’s more to think about than just time; locales often have varied approaches to work and a litany of cultural differences. Enya will discuss the knowledge passed down to her and her own learnings from managing World of Warships Blitz, which has developer teams in both Shanghai and Berlin. The focal points will include tackling time differences, optimizing and picking the perfect communication channels, dealing with bottlenecks and avoiding ‘Us vs. Them’ situations. Overcoming these challenges can lead to a rich, diverse and, most importantly, united development team!

Speakers

Enya Tack

Associate Project Manager, Wargaming Mobile

Enya Tack is the Associate Project Manager for World of Warships Blitz at Wargaming Mobile.In 2014, Enya moved to Berlin to start her career in the gaming industry. First, she dabbled in customer support, but quickly moved on to community management at Shanda Games, working on F2P... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 14:30 - 15:00
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MOBILE GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

14:30

From Monolith to Microservices – Evolving from Build Engineering to DevOps

This talk will give you an overview of the technical and organizational challenges we faced while growing from a small game centric build engineering team to a full-fledged DevOps department operating a self-published live game. We will show why a microservice approach and infrastructure as code not only fits from a tech perspective, but also from the business side.

Speakers

Florian Oeser

Senior DevOps Engineer, YAGER Development

Florian is a Senior DevOps Engineer working at YAGER Development GmbH since more than ten years.Starting his career as an intern and later working student developing the rendering engine and toolset for slot machine games, he discovered his passion for Continuous Delivery, gaining... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 14:30 - 15:00
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

TECH SUMMIT, TALK

14:30

To What End Do We Educate Nationally and Internationally: Games as Art or Business, Game Development as a Craft or Knowledge Work?

Impulse lectures and a panel.

Speakers

Prof. Benjamin Beil

Professor, University of Cologne

Benjamin Beil is Professor for Media Studies and Digital Culture at the Department of Media Culture and Theater of the University of Cologne, Germany. His current research interests include video games, television series, transmediality, and participatory cultures. Recent publications... Read More →

Auriea Harvey

Co-Founder, Tale of Tales

Auriea Harvey is a digital artist and sculptress living and working in Ghent, Belgium. She is co-founder of Tale of Tales/Song of Songs, known for games such as The Graveyard, The Path, TheEndless Forest and Luxuria Superbia. Their works have been awarded (IGF Nuovo Award, IndiecadeFestival... Read More →

Prof. Nanette Kaulig

Professor, Cologne Game Lab

Nanette Kaulig has been working as an animator in the games industry for over 14 years. She started her career at Free Radical Design in Nottingham/England, working on TimeSplitters2 and Second Sight. She then moved to the south of England to join Lionhead Studios.Her credits include... Read More →

Hartmut Koenitz

Professor for Interactive Narrative Design, HKU

Hartmut Koenitz is Professor for Interactive Narrative Design at HKU, where he leads a research group on the topic. Current focus areas include analytical Models for Interactive Digital Narratives, Design Conventions, Pedagogy, and Representations of Complexity. Hartmut is the founding... Read More →

Dylan McKenzie

Incubator Director & Program Coordinator, NYU Game Center

Dylan McKenzie is a game developer, teacher, and community organizer living in New York City. He is the Incubator Director and Program Coordinator of the NYU Game Center. His work has been shown at important institutions ranging from the Smithsonian American Art Museum to the Brooklyn... Read More →

Prof. Dr. Linda Breitlauch

Professor Games & Intermedia Design, Trier University of Applied Sciences

Tuesday April 9, 2019 14:30 - 15:15
STAGE ATELIER (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

STUDYING GAMES - CLASH OF REALITIES SUMMIT

14:30

Workshop: Efficient Game Design Strategies in CRYENGINE

Game development is software development, but it is also art, storytelling, music, world-building, and much more. An efficient game design team streamlines production and maximizes the skills that its members bring to diverse development tasks, from methodical problem-solving to subtle design. In this workshop, we’ll look at case studies of some games built in CRYENGINE V by teams ranging from one person to 150+ as examples of how to strategically make the most of the skills of development resources. We’ll particularly discuss visual scripting vs. coding, and when to choose one vs. both to insure that your team can work simultaneously and seamlessly to put each person’s best skills to use.

NOTE: If you’d like to follow along on your own laptop, please pre-install the latest version of CRYENGINE V and the Homebound game asset from the CRYENGINE marketplace. You can find helpful instructions for installing and getting started in the beginner’s guide.

Speakers

Brian Dilg

CRYENGINE Learning Manager, Crytek

CRYENGINE Learning Manager Brian Dilg was programming and building his own computers by the time he was ten years old, a decade before personal computers first appeared. He brings 30 years of teaching and curriculum development experience to his position as CRYENGINE Learning Manager... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 14:30 - 17:30
SEMINAR ROOM (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

WORKSHOP

15:00

How to leverage monetization options in Messenger Games

Since Facebook (1.3 bill.) and WeChat (1 bill.) opened their HTML5 gaming platforms for external developers in early 2018, Messenger Games have become the next big thing. The opportunity is massive: Developers have the chance to reach enormous pre-built communities. These users are already connected with each other, active on a daily basis and interested in playing games in principle. With all monetization options made available on Facebook Instant Games in 2018, the forecasted hot opportunity has now manifested itself. The major question is: How to generate sustainable revenue? In this talk, SOFTGAMES’ CEO & Co-Founder Alexander Krug will share some crucial learnings on how to optimize monetization using all available options.

Speakers

Alexander Krug

CEO & Co-Founder, SOFTGAMES

Previously working at Yahoo!, Alexander is a serial games industry entrepreneur with more than 10 years of experience in making big things happen. He possesses excellent corporate strategy skills and is a person of proven ability to act as results-oriented leader who collaboratively... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 15:00 - 15:30
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MOBILE GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

15:00

What can AI and big data do for video games?

Always-online games are rapidly transforming the video game industry. Video games entail complex and interesting problems, and the actions performed by their players generate extremely rich datasets that constitute an ideal playground to understand human behavior.

Data-driven game development has extraordinary potential both to provide players with an optimized game experience and to increase user engagement. Machine learning methods can be used to predict individual player behavior, revealing information such as the moment and game level at which any given player will leave the game, when they will make their next purchase and which virtual item they are likely to select, in which in-game events they would like to take part or which playing style they would find most enjoyable to compete with. This allows developers and game planners to take customized preventive actions aimed at maximizing player engagement and lifetime.

I will review the main artificial intelligence techniques that will revolutionize the mobile game industry, focusing on deep learning and ensemble learning methods that are crucial to provide a customized player experience through personalized game events, marketing campaigns, and in-game item/action recommendations. I will then discuss how the ability of these methods to deal with really big datasets (petabytes of data) and easily adapt to different kinds of games and players allows for their use in an operational environment.

Speakers

Ana Fernández del Río

Data Science Director, Yokozuna Data

Ana Fernández del Río is the Data Science Director of Yokozuna Data. Her main goal is to understand and predict individual player behaviour, developing machine learning models that can be used in production.She is a Theoretical Physicist with a M.Sc. in Statistical Physics of Complex... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 15:00 - 15:30
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

TECH SUMMIT, TALK

15:30

How to write native plugins in Unity: do not fear the [brackets]

Many Unity developers have the impression that developing native code plugins for unity is complicated. Gabriel Steinkirch will share his experience on the topic and try to show that it is not only easy, but also very useful to be able to write your own Android (Java) and iOS (objective-c/Swift) plugins.

Speakers

Gabriel Steinkirch

Software Developer, InnoGames

Gabriel Steinkirch is Software Developer at InnoGames and Game Developer since 2007. He worked on many titles and with a variety of technologies including Flash, Android and iOS. For the last 8 years he's been focusing on Unity. Gabriel is a passionate team player who always aims... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 15:30 - 16:00
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MOBILE GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

15:30

The King of LiveOps - Showcasing the Best of the Best

LiveOps are a big driver behind King's long-term success as a leader in mobile gaming, encouraging players to return day after day (and year after year). At a high level, King achieves this by focusing on finding the very best content within its games and then showcasing this to a global audience. This talk offers insights and key learnings that can be applied to any game, regardless of genre, and will cover topics including how to find "good" levels, design philosophy that drives LiveOps at King, and insights into the tech that is used to reach a global audience every day.

Speakers

David Briggs

Game Designer, King

David Briggs specializes in level design for casual games, working with Big Fish, FreshGames, and Wooga before joining King’s Candy Crush Jelly Saga team in 2017. Before pursuing a career in games, David variously worked as a web developer, market research associate, and professional... Read More →

Tiago Correia Machado

Game Designer, King

Tiago Machado has been working as a Game Designer since 2011 spending most of his professional career in Miniclip and King. He was behind hits like Gravity Guy and 8 Ball Pool Multiplayer before joining King in 2015. Currently in the Candy Crush Saga team, Tiago works closely with... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 15:30 - 16:00
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

TECH SUMMIT, TALK

15:45

What Comes After the Bachelor’s Degree?

Practical Experiences in the Industry or Further Academic Education? Master's Courses, PhD Courses, Research Projects. Impulse lectures and a panel.

Speakers

Naomi Clark

André Czauderna

Education Researcher, Cologne Game Lab

Dr. Sebastian Deterding

Founder & Principal Designer, coding conduct

Dr. Sebastian Deterding is a designer and researcher working on gameful and motivational design for human wellbeing. He is a reader at the Digital Creativity Labs at the University of York (UK), and has previously taught interaction and game design at Northeastern University (Boston... Read More →

Ralf Hebecker

Professor, HAW Hamburg

Since 2012, Ralf Hebecker has been Professor of Games Design and Production at the University of applied sciences Hamburg (HAW Hamburg), from 2006-10 he taught as lecturer for Interaction Design at Otago University in New Zealand. He is also software- and Game developer, creative... Read More →

Prof. Dr. Stephan Schwingeler

Professor of Media Science, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Prof. Dr. phil. Stephan Schwingeler (*1979) is professor for Media Studies at HAWK University ofApplied Sciences and Arts.His first book deals with the topic of space in video games and is one of the first art historicalpublications in the field of Game Studies. His Ph.D. thesis and... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 15:45 - 16:30
STAGE ATELIER (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

STUDYING GAMES - CLASH OF REALITIES SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

16:00

Hypercasual – Creating successful games for a casual audience

People say that first ideas often tend to be the best. If you look at the market of hyper casual games, which is game design reduced to its basal structures, they appear to be just like that - a vast collection of first ideas. While most of them just fade away quickly, the combination of sheer mass and mutation happiness has always proven to be a evolutional advantage. No wonder hyper casuals have conquered the market in no time. In this talk you can take a deep dive into the creation of a hyper casual game with Alex from Voodoo’s newly opened Berlin Studio. Their General Director is stripping down the various elements that make a hit game.

Speakers

Alex Willink

General Manager, Voodoo

Alex is the General Manager of Voodoo’s newest studio in Berlin, and has been tasked with making the office into a European powerhouse. Alex is a commercially minded, hands on project manager and entrepreneur. Previously Head Of Strategic Partnerships at Gram Games, Alex has held... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 16:00 - 16:30
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MOBILE GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, TALK

16:00

Game Online Services - Putting the Fun in Functional

Building and using online services for games is usually not the first choice of aspiring game developers. Neither is it for seasoned ones. Why is that and can we help it? We take a good look at what's at the table, what hurdles are commonly faced and how we can make it fun.

Speakers

Carsten Orthbandt

CTO, zeuz.io

Carsten Orthbandt, CTO at zeuz.io, is a seasoned industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience. Today he pushes the boundaries of what's possible in multiplayer infrastructure and hybrid cloud solutions. Carsten has always been a technology frontrunner, employing modern development tools and strategies ever... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 16:00 - 16:30
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

TECH SUMMIT, TALK

16:30

If Nostradamus were a gamer - about the present and near future of mobile games

The market for mobile games is very elusive due to rapid technological progress and cultural change. Still this panel will not only try to update the status quo, but also to take a tiny glimpse into the future.

Moderators

Craig Chapple

Senior Editor, PocketGamer.biz

Craig Chapple is Senior Editor of PocketGamer.biz and InfluencerUpdate.biz, and his been reporting on and working in the games industry for the past eight years. He was previously Deputy Editor at Develop and Online Editor at Nintendo of Europe.

Speakers

Alexander Krug

CEO & Co-Founder, SOFTGAMES

Alex Willink

General Manager, Voodoo

Tuesday April 9, 2019 16:30 - 17:15
STAGE 1 (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

MOBILE GAMES DEVELOPER SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

16:30

My Way of Games Education

Speakers

Eric Zimmerman

Arts Professor, New York University

Tuesday April 9, 2019 16:30 - 17:15
STAGE ATELIER (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

STUDYING GAMES - CLASH OF REALITIES SUMMIT, KEYNOTE

16:30

Games as a Service

Games as a Service is the new paradigm of the industry. Creating game worlds that will last longer, stories than will unfold over time and therefore engage players constantly with new events - all this means new tools and infrastructure. This panel will deepen the findings of previous sessions and give the audience the opportunity to be involved.

Speakers

Ana Fernández del Río

Data Science Director, Yokozuna Data

Carsten Orthbandt

CTO, zeuz.io

Florian Oeser

Senior DevOps Engineer, YAGER Development

Harald Riegler

CEO & Founder, Gamedev Consult

Harald is the founder and CEO of Gamedev Consult, and managing partner at Games Industry Network. Starting his career in the 90’s as a C64 and Atari demo scene programmer, he quickly got into freelance game development in the late nineties on Sony’s first Playstation. In 2001... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 16:30 - 17:30
STAGE 2 (Kulturbrauerei Maschinenhaus) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

TECH SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION

17:15

Commercial Requirements vs. Cultural Function: The Games Industry in the Digital Society

Impulse lectures and a panel.

Speakers

Björn Bartholdy

Co-Director, Cologne Game Lab

Gundolf S. Freyermuth

Professor & Founding Director, Cologne Game Lab

Carsten Lehmann

Odile Limpach

Co-Founder, SpielFabrique

Professor Odile Limpach teaches economics and entrepreneurship at the Cologne Game Lab, TH Köln Technical University of Cologne. She is also co-founder of the Acceleration Program SpielFabrique 360° and works as a Strategic Consultant for games and serious game projects. Between... Read More →

Stephane Natkin

Wolfgang Walk

After a career as a student of many subjects and manager of a discotheque, Wolfgang Walk turned his hobby, computer games, into a profession in the mid-1990s and joined Blue Byte as a story designer and project manager. Since then, he has been trying to grasp what he is working on... Read More →

Robert Yang

Assistant Arts Professor, NYU Game Center

Robert Yang makes surprisingly popular games about gay culture and intimacy -- he is most known for his historical bathroom sex simulator The Tearoom and his male shower simulator Rinse and Repeat, and his gay sex triptych Radiator 2 has over 150,000 users on Steam. He is currently... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 17:15 - 18:00
STAGE ATELIER (Kulturbrauerei Palais) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

STUDYING GAMES - CLASH OF REALITIES SUMMIT, PANEL DISCUSSION