The Inaugural Games Helsinki Conference

Games Helsinki is a one-day mini-conference focusing on console and PC games. It's going to be a small, intimate event with about 100 attendees from the Finnish game dev scene. We'll take over Games Factory for a day of talks, followed by evening of mingling and finishing the night with an afterparty.

For more information see the conference website: https://gameshelsinki.com/

IGDA members get a 10% discount off the ticket price using promocode IGDA when registering. Act fast there were only 25 tickets left at the time of publication.

Get 15% of White Nights in Berlin

The winter edition of White Nights will take place in Berlin on February 12-13, 2019, with over 1,300 attendees expected. The program is already available on the confernece website.

Act fast to get one of 15 free booths at the Developer Exhibition. Participants from all over the world will present their best projects in order to meet industry professionals, find partners, publishers, meet platforms representatives and collect valuable feedback. Every team participating in the showcase will receive a free mini-booth + one free Premium all-access ticket + a good discount for team members. The application deadline is January 25th.

Developers can also take part in the Big Indie Pitch held by Pocket Gamer on Day 2. The unique speed dating format will give each developer some time with experts, meaning entrants will get real feedback from the event and a chance to win prizes! Find out more info and register on the Pocket Gamer website.

There’s still time to grab a 15% discount off your tickets by using the promo code IGDA-Finland. Feel free to contact the White Nights team at welcome@wnconf.com if you have any questions.

Volunteer with IGDA at GDC 2019

Earn an Expo Plus Pass to the 2019 Game Developers Conference with about 12-15 hours of on-site volunteer work with IGDA HQ.

GDC 2019 runs from Monday-Friday, 18-22 March. Volunteers have a required orientation on Tuesday afternoon, 19 March. If you are accepted into the IGDA @ GDC 2019 volunteer program, you are expected to be on-site from the start of orientation (Tuesday, 19 March) through the end of the conference on the evening of Friday, 22 March, during conference hours. Plan accordingly so you have no conflicts during that time.

Last day to submit your application is 16 January 2019 @ 10PM PST (UTC-8)!

See this page for details: https://www.igda.org/page/gdc2019volunteer

IGDA Members Get 20% Discount for PGC London 2019!

IGDA Members get 20% Discount for PGC London 2019!

Message from the event organizer:

Connects London, our biggest game conference yet (Mobile, PC, XR, Blockchain)
 
Can you afford to miss our sixth, biggest, best PG Connects London on January 21-22? An all-new agenda showcasing 25 tracks with 180 sessions from 300 speakers will cater for over 2,500 delegates representing more than 900 companies.

We’ll cover every key part of the mobile games industry from Live Ops to Game Design and User Acquisition, from Global Expansion to Hypercasual & Instant Messenger Games, from Esports and Influencer Marketing to Cloud Gaming, AI and more, and even tracks for XR, and Switch developers. We also have the return of PC Connects, a dedicated, fully revised, partner conference focused on the fast-changing digital PC gaming space. Plus a brand new Blockchain Connects sister event, with an agenda to explain this new tech and the opportunities for game companies.

Indie developers will have their own dedicated track and pitch events (mobile and PC) and there’ll be an expo to explore, a matchmaking event, investor-developer connection sessions, workshops, Mentor Lounge, and the ever-popular Global Connects party.

Use code IGDAFIN at https://www.pgconnects.com/london/registration

*** 
• 20% discount on ticket rates.
• Indie Showcase table competition – Exclusive limited selection of free expo tables for both days + 2 indie tickets (package is worth $650) are available, winners selected at random once competition closes December 21 [LINK: http://bit.ly/2L2ByKB]

Helsinki Hub: Xmas with Veikkaus

Text by Giorgos Riskas and Roope Sorvo, photos by Casimir Kuusela

It’s that time of the year again, when developers congregate to bid their farewells to the departing year in good old IGDA fashion. The final Helsinki Gathering of 2018 was sponsored by Veikkaus and in addition to the usual free drinks this event included physical loot boxes and a fun non-traditional Christmas feast where the main ingredient was hot dogs. Their new, pirate-themed game Kultaranta occupied the demo corner, and featured as the common center point for the presentations.

The seminars were opened by Veikkaus studio head and a game development veteran Henri Lindgren, whose presentation Veikkaus Game Studio in a Nutshell went into detail about their development cycles, team structures and company philosophy. The focal point of the presentation was the shift from slot machines towards the mobile-first game design Veikkaus has been doing for the past year.

Lindgren’s previous experience in mobile F2P games has proven to be a powerful tool in leading his current studio to success. When asked to share a few hints on how to inspire teams instead of simply managing them, Lindgren used safety, freedom and responsibility as the key to success.

Following Lindgren was Sakari Tiikkaja, lead game artist at Veikkaus. In his presentation, Our Approach to Game Design and Creative Design, he went through the journey of a Veikkaus game, from raw concept to finalized, concrete assets. A key component on this journey is a 5-Step Design process influenced by Tim Brown and Roger Martin and further based on the work of designer Feng Zhu.

Tiikkaja believes that the aforementioned process could definitely be applied to games outside the field of gambling as well. When asked to name the biggest benefit of their workflow, Tiikkaja answered: “It is important to crystallize the concepts and find the boundaries of an IP early on in the development. This way, the developers don’t need to blindly grasp in the darkness.”

After Tiikkaja the stage was given to lead game artist Senja Heikkinen and senior game artist Henrik Hackenberg, whose presentation Case Study: Kultaranta delved into various trials and tribulations the game had during its development. While primarily a recitation of the art design for Kultaranta, going from early sketches and mood boards to the finished product, the presentation also explored topics such as designing a game simultaneously for three different types of slot machines and working with the ever-changing, yet endlessly strict Finnish gambling laws. However, at least when it comes to the latter, Hackenberg thinks that the situation has improved. “Instead of handing each gambling company an unique monopoly, the Finnish law has recently been unified so that there’s less fear of stepping on one another’s toes”, he says.

Happy holidays and joyous new year. See you in 2019!