Develop Conference 2009

Tandem Events today announces the line-up of keynote speakers for each of the tracks at this year’s Develop Conference.

Subjects include: Art - a look at the art of LittleBigPlanet; Audio – making a run-time studio for game audio; Business - moving from boxed product to online games; Design - MMO development and working with licensed properties; Production - agile project management. Companies taking part are Media Molecule, Microsoft Studios, Nokia, Traveller’s Tales, Mythic Entertainment, Hansoft and Ubisoft.

David Jones - creator of legendary titles Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, and founder of Realtime Worlds one of the most successful developers in Europe - will give the overall conference keynote.

”The concept of individual track keynotes was successfully introduced at last year’s event in recognition of the increasing sophistication of the varying disciplines within games development,” commented Andy Lane managing director of Tandem Events.

“This year, there will also be a keynote presentation dedicated to mobile games development - a look at personalised content from Nokia and two keynote addresses for the brand new Evolve conference – a guide to the future of casual gaming and how to succeed with digital distribution.”

Taking place on Tuesday 14 July, Evolve will focus on how to develop games for new platforms including mobile devices, iPhone and XBLA, new technologies and growing markets like social and casual gaming.

The following keynotes have been confirmed:

• EVOLVE KEYNOTES

Resetting the Game

David Perry, creative director, Acclaim Games

David Perry is one of the few luminaries in the business and commonly gets in trouble for speaking his mind, so get ready for a no-bull guide to the future.

In 1993 Perry founded Shiny Entertainment, with him at the helm, Shiny earned both critical and commercial success, forging a reputation as a relevant, forward-looking, innovative force that's constantly pushing the boundaries of the gaming world.

The Long Tail and Games: How digital distribution changes everything. Maybe.

David Edery, Independent Consultant

You've heard it all before: digital distribution and the Long Tail are going to fundamentally change the way that platform holders, publishers, and developers do business. This lecture will explore the current realities of the Long Tail, and how you can succeed given those realities.

Formerly the Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager for Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service, David is now an independent consultant focused on the business and design of online and digitally-distributed games.

• ART KEYNOTE

The Art of LittleBigPlanet - A Big Medley

Kareem Ettouney and Mark Healey, Co-founders, Media Molecule

Kareem and Mark will touch on a broad range of subjects, from the desire for LittleBigPlanet to be a collage of visuals mixing the ancient with the contemporary; how the look and functionalities of LittleBigPlanet are highly integrated; and how cutting-edge visual technology was used to serve the vision of user-generated content.

LittleBigPlanet was Media Molecule’s first release and got a rapturous reception from both reviewers and gamers. It has won numerous awards including eight game "Oscars "at the recent Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences ceremony including Game of the Year.

• AUDIO KEYNOTE

The Runtime Studio in your Console: The Inevitable Directionality of Game Audio

Guy Whitmore, Director of Audio, Microsoft Game Studios

Guy explains why in order to effectively react and adapt to a non-fixed game timeline, audio content must be authored and kept in smaller component parts until runtime, when they are assembled and mixed.

Guy and his audio team have assisted in the audio production of many major franchises including Fable, Gears of War, Forza, Project Gotham Racing, Banjo-Kazooie, Age of Empires, and Halo.

• BUSINESS KEYNOTE

Out of the Box(ed Product): Thinking for an Online Age

Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer, Mythic Entertainment

Jeff will speak about the challenges developers face as they move beyond the box product and single player models and into online and multiplayer models, sharing lessons learned from Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online.

Jeff is responsible for managing the overall strategic direction of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Mythic's hit MMO role-playing game, including all design and production of the game.

• DESIGN KEYNOTE

Building LEGO Worlds - online, offline, and everything in between

Jonathan Smith, Development Director, Traveller’s Tales

This session will draw upon audience and user-testing research, market analysis, and lots of specific LEGO gameplay examples. It will be relevant for anyone interested in online gaming, MMO development, working with licensed properties, or a younger audience.

A former games journalist and editor at Future Publishing, now at TT Games Jonathan was responsible for the production of LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game and is currently working on a number of new titles. He is also on the Advisory Board for the Develop Conference.

• MOBILE KEYNOTE

Moving games to a new beat: The development of Nokia's Dance Fabulous

Mark Ollila, Director of Technology & Strategy and Head, Nokia

Mark explains how the developer of Dance Fabulous incorporated a phone owner's music collection into its rhythm action gameplay and hooked into N-Gage Arena's passionate community of users to reach an untapped audience.

Mark is leading the Nokia games publishing effort including award winning titles such as Hooked On: Creatures of Deep, Dirk Dagger and the Fallen Idol, One as well as cross-platform sensation Reset Generation.

• PRODUCTION KEYNOTE

Bridging The Gap Experiences Learned with Agile Project Management across Multisite, Multicultural and Multilingual Project

Lisa Charman, Associate Producer, Ubisoft and Patric Palm, CEO and Co-founder Hansoft

This session will give an overview of common challenges faced when implementing an agile method in a large organization, based on both Ubisoft and Hansoft’s own experiences.

Lisa has over nine years experience in the video games industry, holding various roles in Quality Assurance, First Party Relations and Production.

Hansoft is a tool used for collaborative scheduling, agile and lean methods, bug tracking and workload coordination, so Patric discusses project management and QA best practises on a daily basis with his international clients.

Notes to editors:

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 1200 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.

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.