Programme
The conference starts at 10am and finishes at 5.45pm with networking drinks until 7.30pm.
10.00 – 10.45: OPENING KEYNOTE:
Strategies for Game Development on the Facebook Platform
Gareth Davis, Platform Manager for Games, Facebook
Facebook’s platform has emerged as a leading platform for games, igniting the social game revolution. Hundreds of millions of people play games on Facebook every month. Gareth Davis, Platform Manager at Facebook, shares strategies on using the Facebook platform to create social games on desktop, console and mobile.
11.00 – 11.45: The Evolving Games Business Model and How it Will be Funded
Nick Parker, Parker Consulting
With a dozen or more business models available to drive revenues online, not to mention the hybrids of these, which mix is the most productive for developers in the evolving value chain? Considered one of the top four reasons to invest in games development, the potency of the business model will define the amount of investment to be raised and govern the overall perception of the business. Nick is demonstrating which business models work the most effectively for a variety of case studies and examining the amount of funding attracted to these models and from where it has been sourced.
12.00 – 12.45: From Core to Casual – How Bigpoint Made the Shift to a More Diverse Game Portfolio
Philip Reisberger, Chief Games Officer, Bigpoint
Most games never get successful after being launched. Farmerama, Bigpoint’s first attempt on conquering the casual and social games market, started out as an experiment in 2009. Today, after only 1,5 years it is one of the most successful online games in this segment with more than 30 million registered Users and a daily growing and very active community. Still, Farmerama is not a “One Hit Wonder”: ZooMumba, Ramacity, Skyrama followed to build up Bigpoint’s own IP and a more diversified games portfolio. Philip Reisberger will talk about the very first beginnings with Farmerama, the challenges of developping a game in an unknown genre but also will explain the opportunities of establishing a hole new line of business.
12.45 – 2.00 Lunch
2.00 – 2.45: Minecraft: A Legal Adventure
Jas Purewal, Games Lawyer, Osborne Clarke
Games lawyer Jas Purewal uses Minecraft to explain what Mojang and its indie hit game can teach us about some key challenges for developers: creating and protecting a successful game, navigating intellectual property, funding and the consumer relationship.
2.00 – 2.45: Taking Advantage of the Chrome Webstore to Distribute Web Games
Paul Kinlan, Developer Advocate, Google
The Chrome Web Store is fast becoming the way to distribute games on the web. Learn why the store is important for your future, how to get your games in the store, how to reach a large audience and how to make money from the store.
3.00 – 3.45: Synchronous and Social: Why Games That Connect People in Real-time are the Real Future of Social Games
Hussein Chahine, Founder and CEO, Yazino
This session will look at the emergence of synchronous (multiplayer) social games, and how they deliver a far more social experience than games which until now have been classed as ‘social games’. Using real data from Yazino.com and Facebook, the session will explore the psychology of social gaming and real-time interaction, and look at how synchronous games are outperforming other social gaming formats, and how players of synchronous games are more loyal, with a higher investment in time and money, than non-synchronous players. Finally, it will look at the technical and business challenges of creating synchronous social games.
3.00 – 3.45: Freemium Business Model for Android, Blackberry and Java, not just IOS
Paul Flanagan, Tequilla Mobile
These days many IOS developers moan about difficulties in Android, like how to reach users and how to make money, while most have given up on Java entirely. Meanwhile Tequila Mobile SA has launched a new freemium platform and acquired over three million users in five months while making good money. This is for Android, Blackberry and Java, not just IOS. We are opening up our platform to third party developers and we are happy to share our experiences and expertise, including: user acquisition via independent app stores; direct marketing on the mobile Internet; getting organic downloads, and driving retention.
4.00 – 4.45: What The X Factor Can Teach Games
Mark Sorrell, Head of Games, Screenpop
Screenpop are an innovation centre at FremantleMedia, the makers of hit shows such as The X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. They’ve spent the past four years mixing games and television together, with interesting results. Mark Sorrell, Screenpop’s Head of Games, looks at the obvious tricks and techniques The X Factor employs and how you can use them to make your games more creatively and commercially powerful
4.00 – 4.45: How Can You Sleep at Night? – Exploring the Ethics of Free-to-Play Game Mechanics
Paul Farley, CEO, Tagplay
Free-to-play is rapidly emerging as the business model of choice for a greater number of developers and publishers, not just on Facebook, but across a wide variety of platforms. At the same time significant concern exists that unscrupulous members of the industry are utilising manipulative and potentially illegal sales techniques to exploit users in an effort to maximise revenues. In this session we will review the evolution of Free-to-Play games to date, explore the rationale and values behind Tagplay’s first social Free-to-Play game Funpark Friends and ask where our collective and individual responsibilities lie as we seek to grow a mature and responsible industry.
5.00 – 5.45: CLOSING KEYNOTE:
Accelerating Change: Navigating Today’s Technology for Tomorrow’s Games Business
Ian Shaw, Director, Games Technology Consulting
Change in the games industry is accelerating. Change for execs means working in shifting markets with global production, new payment models, diversifying consumers and financial disruption. Change in technology means the creation of new devices, motion and touch control, the rise of social platforms, and the ongoing shift to online. Today’s challenge is to bridge these two worlds, navigating the pace of change to build strategy and a vision for tomorrow’s games. This session will examine the major tech issues facing games execs today, translating engineering speak into levers which can position a business for modern games development. Great technology strategy is aligned with executive leadership and helps create rather than block change.
