Develop Conference 2009

Anticipation for this year’s Develop Conference in Brighton continues to build as organiser Tandem Events announces David Jones - creator of legendary titles Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, and founder of Realtime Worlds (one of the most successful developers in Europe) - as the event’s first prestigious keynote speaker.

Joining the list of developer heroes who have also graced the keynote stage at Develop, such as Peter Molyneux, Richard Garriott, Ken Levine and Tsutomu Kouno, David promises an insightful talk into how to make great games.

David, who has been in the video game industry for over two decades, will share his thoughts on how to make a game successful, drawing on his experience from the award-winning and record-breaking Crackdown through to Realtime Worlds’ upcoming online title All Points Bulletin (APB), the hotly tipped online action game. Currently keeping his cards close to his chest with regards to APB before its launch this year, David promises to reveal more about his talk closer to the conference.

“Develop is the most prestigious development conference in the UK, and I’m looking forward to coming to Brighton as it’s a great opportunity to share some of my experiences of making games – both good and not so good - plus tell a few of the Realtime World’s stories to my fellow developers,” commented Jones.

As well as the announcement of the first keynote presentation, the programme is beginning to take shape for both Evolve on Tuesday 14 July and Develop on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 July.

Evolve is a new part of the Develop conference, focusing on developing games for new platforms including mobile devices, iPhone and XBLA, new technologies and growing markets like social and casual gaming. It takes place on Tuesday 14 July as a one-day event with three tracks and then as a new track within the main programme on Wednesday 15 July.

“Tandem Event’s philosophy has always been to provide a programme that inspires today’s developers to make better games. The Develop Conference offers a relaxed setting, which people love, but it’s the quality of speakers and the opportunity to share in their experiences that really inspires our delegates.” said Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events.

“And with the line-up for both Evolve on the Tuesday and Develop on the Wednesday and Thursday already looking fantastic, I’m confident that this year’s programme will be the best yet.”

Evolve sessions include:

• Panel: The Fight for Playtime: What Do Social Networking Sites Have to Offer the Games Industry?

Limvirak Chea, Google; Chris Thorpe, MySpace; Tom Armitage, Consultant

• How Today's Social Networks Will Change How You Make, Play and Sell Games Tomorrow

Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish

• Taking Your Game to iPhone and Android, Without Killing Your Team

Chris White, Glu

• 10 Things Nobody Tells You About Digital Distribution and Self-publishing That You Must Understand to Succeed

Martyn Brown, Team 17

• User Generated Content – the Legal Consequences

Tahir Basheer, Sheridans

• 20 Great Innovations in Casual, Social and Mobile Games That You Should Steal

Stuart Dredge, Pocket Gamer

Develop sessions include:

• Driving 3D TV’s Using Current Generation Consoles

Andrew Oliver and Aaron Allport, Blitz Games

• Online Games, Virtual Worlds and MMO’s: Raising Money and Making Money

Paul Flanagan, Ariadne Capital

• Usability Testing for Videogames

Jason Avent, Disney and Graham McAllister from Sussex University

• Gold Blend: Audio Code and Design Working Together for the Perfect Flavour

Steve Emney & Ciaran Rooney, Disney Black Rock Studio

• How to Staff and Manage a Flexible, Scalable Development Facility

Simon Gardner, Climax Studios

• How to Communicate with Artists

Arran Green, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

• Painting With Sound: The Future of Procedural Audio

Andy Farnell

• The Edge Panel: Architecture and Games

Alex Wiltshire, Edge Magazine

Notes to editors:

About David Jones

David was the founder of the highly successful developer DMA Design, and is the creator of two of gaming's most successful franchises, Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings, which, along with over 15 other hit titles have combined sales of over 100 million across dozens of formats. David formed Realtime Worlds in 2002, now employing over 200 staff to become one of the biggest, and most successful, independent developers in Europe. The company has attracted over US$70 million in investment from the world's leading venture capital firms and launched its first title, Crackdown, on Xbox 360 in 2007. Crackdown broke records for demo downloads, sold 1.5 million copies, and also picked up multiple prestigious awards including BAFTAs, Game Developer Choice, and Develop Industry Excellence awards. RTW is currently working on All Points Bulletin ( www.apb.com).

About the Develop Conference: The fourth Develop Conference will take place at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton, UK, from 14-16 July 2009. It attracts around 1100 game developers from over 30 different territories and has become firmly established as the leading conference for European games developers.

Delegates can apply for conference passes at www.developconference.com. Discounts are available on all passes purchased before 10 June 2009. The Expo pass is free of charge.

Evolve - a new addition to the programme for 2009 - will focus on how to develop games for new platforms including mobile, iPhone and XBLA, new technologies and new markets like social and casual gaming. It opens with three tracks on the Tuesday – Coding & Production, Art & Design and Business – then individual sessions within the main conference programme on the Wednesday, which are cross-discipline and have a more general appeal.

Running alongside Evolve will be GAMES:EDU, a one-day conference, which brings together the UK's foremost educators from across all disciplines to connect directly with developers and games producers, to exchange ideas and perspectives.

To find out more about sponsorship or participating in the Develop Conference, please call Andy Lane on +44 (0) 20 7405 4500 or contact him at andy@tandemevents.co.uk

About Tandem Events: Tandem Events has over 20 years of experience in organising market-leading exhibitions, conferences and events across a number of industry sectors, including the Develop Conference, Develop Evolve, GAMES:EDU, Games Marketing Forum, Casual Games Forum and Games Grads. For more information, please visit www.tandemevents.co.uk