From IGDA.org: The International Game Developers Association Leadership Summit commenced late last Tuesday at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, Washington (US). Since many of the Summit’s attendees had been involved in either PAX Dev or PAX Prime in the days prior, this event presented a nice second chance for additional professional development, and to do some off the clock socializing with industry peers.
The 2015 Leadership Summit is a new iteration of the IGDA’s previous Leadership Forum events that proved very popular when conducted 2007 through 2011. The event is intended to help attendees improve their leadership skills in all areas, not only as company leaders or in management roles but also from the perspective of exhibiting creative leadership.
The conference kicked off on Tuesday night, featuring the IGDA Seattle chapter’s latest recruiting event, in additional to light networking for both the recruiting event and Summit attendees. A wide variety of developers attended, ranging from owners of serious games one-man studios to directors of AAA powerhouses. One attendee, Swatee Surve, was excitedly promoting her predictive healthcare application. “The next big trend in gaming is prescribed mental healthcare,” Surve noted, painting a picture of the future were psychiatrists use games to discern the needs of patients, like in Ender’s Game. Another group of attendees were Universe Builders Studios, who were in process of developing a space startup simulator so entrepreneurs could plan the harvesting of planetary resources. “Neil Degrass Tyson made science cool. We want to be cool, too,” they said.
PAX South 2016 registration is now open to attend the Midwestern location-friendly (and winter-warm) version of Penny Arcade Expo. Registration rates range from single day passes at 35 dollars to 75 dollars for a full weekend bundle.
As of today (September 17, 2015), all ticket options for PAX South 2016 remain available, which, while unusual in the sell-out-quickly tradition of PAX, also can be seen as unsurprising as this particular expo is a second-year event.
Earlier this year, it was reported PAX South 2015 had measured up well with a record-setting inaugural year in attendance, compared to PAX East or PAX Prime’s first time out as expo events, coupled with 120 exhibitors showing their games, products and services.
PAX South 2016 will be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, January 29-31, 2016. Be sure to follow Events for Gamers for news about PAX South 2016 as more about the agenda emerges.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games and a game pioneer for 25 years, will be the premier speaker at GameBeats 2015.
Sweeney will discuss the future of gaming in both technological and business terms. Sweeney also said that he is excited about 3-D graphics on mobile devices and the Unreal Engine allowing developers to make sophisticated graphics and physics effects in games.
Also on the discussion list is GamesBeat 2015’s theme: Game of Thrones. All of the game companies are fighting to be on top, and at this event, Sweeney and others will dissect how these companies are battling for gaming supremacy and growth.
GamesBeat 2015 takes place October 13-14, 2015, in San Francisco. This year, 80 speakers are scheduled to appear at the event.
September 11, 2015 – Cambridge, MA – The Boston Festival of Indie Games is taking place tomorrow, Saturday, September 12, 2015, starting at 10am at the MIT Johnson Athletic Center! BostonFIG is an inclusive, welcoming environment filled with family-friendly activities and games you won’t see anywhere else.
Some key highlights at the event include:
Over 100 indie games! Developers from near and far will be showing off their digital and tabletop games to BostonFIG attendees over the course of the day.
HTC Vive virtual reality demos, taking place throughout the day. With demonstrations of some of the most exciting titles being developed for the HTC Vive, both players and developers will be able to explore the innovative technology with the HTC Vive Developer Edition.
Musical performances by the Videri String Quartet, a classically trained string quartet. Videri will be performing some old favourites from Halo, Bioshock Infinite, and Yoshi’s Island as well as premiering an arrangement from Ori and the Blind Forest.
Keynote speech by Susan Gold, an artist, teacher, and activist who is deeply passionate about fostering the richness and diversity that makes up independent game development community. Susan will focus on the unique, artful, and uncanny stories that fuel independent game developers’ passion to let those stories come to fruition, play out their tales, and make amazing games.
The Boston Festival of Indie Games is open to the public and will take place at the Johnson Athletic Center at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Festival attendees play video games and tabletop games in a casual, inclusive environment, plus attend a musical performance by Videri String Quartet and keynote speech by Susan Gold, Founder and President of Global Game Jam. Tickets are available now at www.bostonfig.com – online tickets are just $12 each, and kids 12 and under can attend for free!
Thanks to our terrific sponsors, the Boston Festival of Indie Games is able to remain a focal point for the indie gaming community each year. This year’s festival sponsors include HTC Vive, AdMagic, Turbine, White Wizard, virZoom, WGBH, Phonetic Eyewear, and Scirra. A full list of our sponsors can be found on our site here.
The Boston Festival of Indie Games is a celebration of independent game development with emphasis on the New England and neighboring regions. The Boston Festival of Indie Games seeks to support and showcase the efforts of independent game developers by providing an inclusive, safe, family-friendly event that encourages attendees to share and interact with games in various media, from video games to tabletop games and beyond. The Boston Festival of Indie Games is focused on creating an intersection between community, academic and development interests in game play.
Martin Rae brings his experience in video games and finance and business development to his position as president of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS). Rae took the helm of the nonprofit organization in October 2010, championing the 22-billion-dollar video game industry by raising awareness of individuals, games, companies, organizations and associations, and changing issues. As president of AIAS, Rae is the voice of the academy and its more than 30,000 trade members. He oversees the annual Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (D.I.C.E.) Summit, the D.I.C.E. Awards, D.I.C.E. Europe, the AIAS Foundation and the Into the Pixel video game art exhibit.
Q: Who in the game industry is D.I.C.E. most suited for, and how can newcomers to the industry benefit in attending?
A: D.I.C.E. attracts a strong cross-section of seasoned creatives and biz-dev folks. Emerging talent who have a keen interest in new business opportunities, making connections with C-level industry executives and getting inspired from our creative talks should absolutely mark D.I.C.E. as one of their must-attend events. We make a concerted effort to be inclusive of young talent from a programming perspective and through encouraging general attendance. With our conference in February, we sponsor the attendance of our student scholarship recipients through the Academy Foundation. While our event remains exclusive in feel, we do our best to continue to diversify.
Q: In your years of experience being the voice for D.I.C.E., what do you feel was one of the most professionally or personally impactful experiences you (or your attendees) felt at one of the events?
A: Each year is so unique and takes on a new life of its own — it’s so hard to choose. Now that we’ve started establishing themes for our conferences each year, we really are able to utilize these themes as time capsules for what has been top of mind in the industry. We search for themes that offer our speakers the ability to explore from varied angles that are a strong reflection of what is in the zeitgeist. The fact that many of our attendees are long-term supporters leads me to believe we are able to achieve this goal reasonably well.
Q: The theme for D.I.C.E. Europe 2015 is The Art of Engagement. Do you feel engagement in games is more art than science? What areas of engagement do you expect to be highlighted during the summit?
A: I think engagement is both art and science and found in how these two elements are employed together. Our speakers are really going to address this from many unique angles. 343 Industries Kevin Franklin will be sharing some analytics on how they improve player engagement based on data; DICE Studios speaker Maria Sayans will be discussing how they were able to work together with their “Battlefield 4” community to really improve the online experience over time; Mobcrush speaker, Greg Essig, will be talking about new frontiers of engagement on mobile live-streaming platforms. Engagement is central to maintaining an audience and a community, and it is achieved in so many ways today.
From a planning perspective, we’ve engineered D.I.C.E. Europe 2015 to be a premium networking experience. For the second day, we are facilitating focused roundtable sessions where we have leaders help navigate a discussion on a topic of their choice without necessarily the pressures of a main-stage presentation. Also we are taking advantage of the resort vibe of our host hotel, the W, and Barcelona itself. We encouraged attendees to bring their significant others/spouses. They get to attend all the networking events, adding a new dimension to things. I think attendees will have great fun meeting their colleagues’ significant others. If we pull it all off, the whole thing should have the feel of a unique leadership retreat that emphasizes new ways to connect and share ideas.
Q: Overall, what role does D.I.C.E. play within Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences outreach strategy? What impact do you feel this conference has within the game industry?
A: Our D.I.C.E. Summits are designed to present and promote really high-level thought leadership within the industry. Attendees leave the conferences inspired, educated and with better creative tools to continue to lead the industry forward. In addition, I can’t think of a better place to nurture deep professional relationships.
Q: Has the fundamental mission of AIAS changed, as the game industry has been evolving and expanding?
A: The mission remains the same — recognize the outstanding creativity and talent within our great industry.
Q:Staying on the theme of events, what other events, apart from D.I.C.E., does AIAS create, partner with or promote?
A: I’m glad you touched on this — the AIAS is often only associated with our main conferences, but as an organization, we represent so much more. Each year around the E3 Expo, we collaborate with the Entertainment Software Association to curate the annual Into the Pixel video game art exhibit. We have a group of fantastic jurists from both the fine art and digital worlds who review the submissions to curate a really stunning collection each year.
We are also very proud of the AIAS Foundation, which as I mentioned provides scholarships to video game students. These students also have an opportunity to attend the D.I.C.E. Summit, where we set them up with mentors who help provide invaluable connections with industry executives. Several of our past scholarship recipients came out of the conference with job offers!
Q: Is there any way for consumers to check out the speakers from D.I.C.E. Europe 2015?
A: Absolutely! We will be live-streaming on Twitch the speaking sessions on Monday, September 14, beginning at 10 a.m. CET (Central European Time). You can subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss it at www.twitch.tv/dice. Also check out our speakers lineup on our website, www.diceeurope.org.
Twitch, a social video platform for gamers, announced an array of presentations for TwitchCon 2015. Here are some of the competitions and exhibitions:
Founder Faceoff: Twitch CEO Emmett Shear will take on Blizzard president Mike Morhaime in “Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.” Since this is a high-profile battle, expect commentators and coaches, as well as special guests.
VCGW (Video Game Championship Wrestling): Since VCGW is best known for customized character wrestling matches, expect some familiar competitions.
Super Smash Brothers Exhibition featuring Twitch versus Red Bull: This competition pits San Francisco-based Twitch against Los Angeles-based Red Bull in a “Super Smash Brothers” exhibition match.
WorldGaming: This organization is hosting a grand prize giveaway for event attendees. The winner will receive an all-expenses paid seven-day trip for two to the Maldives to watch the grand finals of WSVG October 5-10, 2015. WorldGaming also is hosting a “Chill Out Charge Up” lounge, where people can participate in head-to-head challenges, win gaming hardware, DLC and giveaways every hour for such games as “Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft,” “StarCraft II,” “NBA 2K16” and “FIFA 16.”
H1Z1 Invitational: In this competition, players who qualified from the Daybreak’s H1Z1 “Road to TwitchCon” contest come together and take each other out in the ultimate survival mode-PLAYERUNKOWN’s Battle Royal. The current prize pool is over $125,000.
Rock Band 4 Broadcaster Battle of the Bands: Hosted by Harmonix, Twitch broadcasters will compete against each other and be judged by their stage performance.
Hi-Rez Studios: This company will showcase two games: “Paladins” and “Jetpack Fighter.”
HTC: The HTC Vive will be demonstrated at the event; this is a first of a kind virtual reality system that enable “360 roomscale VR.” This system also features wireless controllers for VR interaction. The company also will feature demos from WEVR, Radial Games and Northway Games, Skillman and Hackett, and Valve.
Blizzard Entertainment: Blizzard will show off content for the upcoming “StarCraft: Legacy of the Void” expansion.
To view other exhibitions and competitions, visit the TwitchCon 2015 events page.
TwitchCon 2015 takes place September 25-26, 2015, in San Francisco.
Nintendo is going all-out at EGX 2015, bringing tournaments, stage shows and more than 30 games to the event.
Some of the featured games include “StarFox Zero,” “Xenoblade Chronicles X” and “Super Mario Maker.” There also will be a “Splatoon” tournament in which eight teams of four players will compete against each other in ranked battles. Other tournaments will be held for “Mario Kart 8,” “Super Smash Brothers” and “Mario Tennis.”
Nintendo 3DS fans will be able to play a demo of “The Legend of Zelda: Tri Forces.”
EGX 2015 will take place September 24-27, 2015, at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The finalists have been revealed for the 2015 Unity Awards; the winners will be officially announced at Unite Boston 2015. You can vote for the winners at Unity’s website.
Here are the finalists:
Golden Cube
Cities Skyline (Colossal Order)
Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios)
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Kerbal Space Program (Squad)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios GmbH)
Pillars of Eternity (Obsidian Entertainment)
Best 3D Visual Experience
Adventures of Poco Eco (POSSIBLE Games)
Counterspy (Dynamighty)
DeadCore (5 Bits)
Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios)
Mobius Final Fantasy (Square Enix Japan)
Grow Home (Ubisoft Reflections)
Best 2D Visual Experience
Alto’s Adventure (Snowman)
Angry Birds 2 (Rovio)
HAROLD (Moon Spider Studios)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios GmbH)
Pillars of Eternity (Obsidian Entertainment)
Sunless Sea (Failbetter Games)
Best Gameplay
Dungeons of the Endless (Amplitude Studios)
Implosion: Never Lose Hope (Rayark)
Kerbal Space Program (Squad)
Oddworld New N Tasty (Just Added Water)
Pillars of Eternity (Obsidian Entertainment)
TIS-100 Zachtronics
Best VizSim Project
JLG Equipment Simulator (ForgeFX Simulations)
Parachute Training Simulator (Pennant PLC)
Phalasarna (Dept. of Media and Communication, University of Oslo in collaboration with CodeGrind and Tag of Joy)
Rolland Garros TV Studio Application (On Air Proof Studios)
Square Enix has just revealed its game lineup for the 2015 Tokyo Game Show. The games include “Dragon Quest Builders” for PS4, PS3, PS Vita; “Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward” for PS4, PS3, PC; “Star Ocean: Integrity, and Faithlessness” for PS4 and PS3. All of these games can be played on the show floor.
The Tokyo Game Show is an event where all big names in the video game industry come together to showcase their projects. There is also speculation that “Dragon Quest 11,” “Final Fantasy XV,” “Nier 2” and “Kingdom Hearts 3” will be shown at the show.
Gematsu says that the company will stream its showcase on YouTube and Niconico. Square Enix had a fantastic showing at E3 2015 with games like “Just Cause 3,” “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” “Kingdom Hearts 3,” “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” and “Final Fantasy VII.”
XDS 2015, which is set to occur in just a couple of weeks on September 9-11 in Vancouver, is the only annual international games industry event held in Canada. The event’s primary focus is on external development for art, animation, audio and software engineering.
We had the pleasure to chat with Dilber Mann, the senior project manager at Capcom Vancouver, to talk about his upcoming attendance at XDS. He shares with us what external development means to the games industry and how XDS is helping to bring together developers to learn more about its potential.
Events for Gamers: What exactly is ‘external development’ and why is it important to the games industry?
Dilber Mann: Looking at console, PC, mobile, our technology for these gaming platforms continue to advance, and so have audience expectation and appetites, growing the need for higher quality content and large encompassing gameplay experiences. As a result, scalability and sustainability of resources have become a challenge. External Development looks to solve this by distributing the development of a product across one or more external partners, often at a time when specialist aren’t readily available for a particular domain of game production and to the scale that we need them at.
E4G: We see that you are a Speaker, Advisory Committee Member, and Industry Influencer for XDS 2015 – can you give us a little information about XDS and why it’s important to you?
Dilber: It’s just a great platform for sharing knowledge. We gather to talk about process, workflow, and methodologies that help to not only share our experiences, but to reflect on those experiences and evolve the way we work with external development. As a summit that gathers experts in this niche, we have the ability to collaborate and effect positive change to improve this industry. This is what makes XDS so important to me, but it’s more than just knowledge sharing. XDS is also a great venue for discovering new partners, and to build relationships with key developers and service providers. Further we have a strong line-up of software, tools, and middleware companies that are integral to supporting a wide range of development criteria, making XDS a great forum for these products.
E4G: You’ve attended XDS since its 2014 event, how has XDS since evolved?
Dilber: I have definitely seen changes since I first attended in 2014. The quality and line-up of the presentations for this year are by far the best. We’ve put a process and support system in place that allows us to make the best selections, and pair each presenter with a knowledge expert. This ensures that we can deliver the best XDS experience to our audiences.
E4G: What are you most looking forward to about XDS 2015?
Dilber: I am definitely looking forward to re-connecting with colleagues. Even on the Advisory Committee we may have one or two opportunities to see each other within the year. It’s great to meet up in person, to catch up on the latest and greatest. It’s also great inspiration for me when meeting with like-minded individuals that are tackling similar challenges, and achieving success.
E4G: You’re presentation is on ‘Metrics that Matter’ – are you able to briefly describe why this topic is important to you and external development?
Dilber: The idea behind the “Metrics that Matter” series is to help managers pair analytics with reliable and meaningful metrics that touch their work at an interpersonal level, or on a level that reflects genuine concerns. Last year, my presentation focused on stakeholder concerns, converted those into reliable metrics, and then showed how to use those metrics to make decisions when planning the volume of work for external development. This year, the intent is the same, but instead of external volume planning, the focus will be on external team planning. The list of metrics that we have access to can be exhaustive and time consuming. With “Metrics that Matter”, I do my best to filter through that list and focus on data that is actionable and can be used by managers to make informed decisions that are impactful in a big way.
E4G: You’ve spoken about how office technology is allowing ever more connectivity between global teams. How is the traditional office environment changing towards a more distributed workforce structure?
Dilber: This question is definitely a keynote presentation :), but the best way I can describe this is to talk a bit about “Perceived Comfort”. In the office, we are most comfortable talking to people. For example, a manager just needs to walk a few steps to see how an individual on their team is progressing with their tasks. You don’t have the same “options” of interaction when you work with an external team. My goal in the workplace is to not try and replicate the “options” for when we work with external teams. Instead, the goal is focused on replicating that “feeling”, or “Perceived Comfort”. One of the ways that I try to do that is by using similar processes, workflows, and technologies both internally and externally, creating an environment where development is truly distributed across multiple partner locations. Cloud technology and social intranets are examples of technologies that have worked to re-enforce team interactions.
E4G: For those interested in your talk but cannot attend XDS this year, what online resources do you have available for them?
Dilber: I have a number of articles on Linked-In that I do end up writing throughout the year as supplementary material. They are more of an exploration on topics I discuss at XDS as I can’t always delve into specifics during a 40 min presentation. XDS also has a YouTube channel that publishes a selection of presentations. If you don’t see my 2015 presentation published there, then at the very least people can look back at my 2014 presentation. For those attending the event, but miss out on my presentation, there is also an option during registration where you can choose to purchase all the video content from the summit which includes all the key note presentations.
E4G: Any advice for developers looking to attend XDS for the first time?
Dilber: Don’t be in such a rush. Vancouver is the perfect setting to relax and get to know people. We organize the event schedule in a way that allows you to attend the presentations, meet with business prospects, but still have time to come up for a breath of fresh air. Don’t miss out on the “Welcome Reception”, and other special events that we are hosting during the event.
For more about Dilber Mann, watch his XDS 2014 presentation here:
Did you attend XDS or have your own thoughts about the direction of external development in the games industry? Share with us your thoughts!
To help you plan attendance for this month’s game industry conferences, conventions, festivals and other events, we post a consolidated list of events each month. View the complete September event list below!
September 2015 Game Industry Conferences and Other Events:
Game Music Connect 2015 is planning to host “The BAFTA Interview 2015” at its event. This interview will be about the talent behind the BAFTA award-winning audio for Creative Assembly’s “Alien: Isolation.” Joe Henson, Alexis Smith and fellow composer Christian Henson will discuss the creation and implementation of the music in “Alien: Isolation.” The game is a first-person survival horror game based on the fear and tension of Ridley Scott’s 1979 film.
Joe Henson and Alexis Smith also have worked on soundtracks for “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.” The score for “Alien: Isolation” was nominated for a 2015 BAFTA Music Award and Best Score/Soundtrack at the Game Awards. Christian Henson’s other credits include “Robot Overlords” and “Inside No. 9.” Game Music Connect was created by James Hannigan and John Broomhall to celebrate and explore the music in video games.
From IGDA.org: The International Game Developers Association Leadership Summit commenced late last Tuesday at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, Washington (US). Since many of the Summit’s attendees had been involved in either PAX Dev or PAX Prime in the days prior, this event presented a nice second chance for additional professional development, and to do some off the clock socializing with industry peers.
A: D.I.C.E. attracts a strong cross-section of seasoned creatives and biz-dev folks. Emerging talent who have a keen interest in new business opportunities, making connections with C-level industry executives and getting inspired from our creative talks should absolutely mark D.I.C.E. as one of their must-attend events. We make a concerted effort to be inclusive of young talent from a programming perspective and through encouraging general attendance. With our conference in February, we sponsor the attendance of our student scholarship recipients through the Academy Foundation. While our event remains exclusive in feel, we do our best to continue to diversify. 
Events for Gamers: What exactly is ‘external development’ and why is it important to the games industry?
