Evolve London

Neil Young, CEO of ngmoco, one of the most successful mobile social games companies of all time, will give a rare insight into the secrets of his success and outline his vision for the future of the games industry at this Wednesday’s Evolve in London Conference.

Neil Young’s keynote presentation ‘What We’ve Learned, How We’ve Evolved and Why We Did It’ will reveal the valuable lessons learned by ngmoco during the company’s meteoric rise. He will also provide delegates with a fascinating glimpse into the company’s future plans and reveal his vision for the future of the games industry.

This Wednesday marks the launch of Evolve in London – a sister event to Evolve, which debuted to wide acclaim at Develop in Brighton in 2009. The conference, which takes place at De Vere West One on Portland Place, will bring together leading development pioneers and trendsetters who, by sharing their experiences and expertise, will help delegates to embrace this fast-changing market.

Companies speaking at Evolve include Playfish, Microsoft Research, ustwo, INENSU, Hand Circus, enteraction, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Hello Games, Bigpoint, Tenshi Ventures and Wonderland. And attending organisations include Black Rock Studio, Oberon Media, Relentless Software, Blitz Games Studios, Exient, SEGA, Microsoft, BBC Worldwide, Activision, Rock Star Leeds, Triviala, RealtimeUK, Macmillan Publishers, Codeworks, Rebellion, Tequila Mobile, Eurocom Developments, The Guardian, Supermassive Games, Rare, KWP, Easy Interactive, Biodroid Productions and Codemasters.

“The concept, content and quality of speakers at the annual Evolve conferences at Develop in Brighton have been really well received by the industry,” commented Andy Lane, managing director of organiser Tandem Events.

“But innovation in this industry moves much faster than most, and delegates have told us they can’t wait 12 months to catch up: waiting a year puts them behind. This is why we’re introducing the one-day Evolve in London event on Wednesday.

“Delegates can look forward to two world class keynotes from Playfish’s Kristian Segestrale and ngmoco’s Neil Young plus an additional eight sessions and valuable networking opportunities. I guarantee they will leave inspired, knowledgeable but most of all prepared for change and equipped to thrive as a development studio.”

The conference programme is outlined below. To buy a delegate pass to Evolve please visit www.evolveconference.com. The conference will close with a networking drinks reception at De Vere One.

Evolve Conference Programme:

KEYNOTE: What We've Learned, How We've Evolved & Why We Did It

Neil Young, CEO & Founder, ngmoco

From zero to the leading mobile social games company in just over 2 years - Find out what ngmoco has learned, how we've evolved & pivoted our company around that learning ahead of the market. We'll share why we did it, what we're doing next and what we think the road ahead for the games industry looks like.

KEYNOTE: Social Gaming: After the Revolution

Kristian Segerstrale, GM and Co-founder, Playfish

Early social games have spawned a billion dollar industry that’s gone mainstream. Discover how social games will continue to evolve, what is driving this evolution and why it’s not too late to get a piece of the action.

What inspires me (tbc)

Simon Oliver, HandCircus and Sean Murray, Hello Games

As We May Game

Richard Banks, Senior Interaction Designer, Microsoft Research in Cambridge

Richard will give insight into the potential of the future of digital interaction - what new experiences may soon be possible, or simply desirable, in the future. Expect examples from Microsoft Research, new technologies and emerging experiences.

Risk and Reward – Social Gaming for Brands and Media Owners

Andy Rogers, Managing Director, enteraction

Social gaming is a high-risk industry but for those who get it right, the rewards are huge. From the developer behind Corrie Nation, discover how brands are looking at this space and how this may change over the next 12 months.

How to Thrive as a Modern Game Studio (Panel)

Oli Christie, Neon Play; Mills, ustwo; Simon Oliver, Hand Circus; Matthew Wiggins, Wonderland

What lessons have the pioneers in the digital marketplace learned about how to develop and maintain games in a business environment where publisher advances are all but unknown, shelf-lives are unbounded, and the competition is practically limitless?

SingStar Product Development: Harnessing Ideas From the Community

Kevin Mason, Principal Designer and Dave Ranyard,

Game Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Covering music games on console (the year of dance,) social networks and smartphones, this talk looks at what’s new in music games and what’s next.

Music Games: What’s New/What’s Next?

Paulina Bozek, CEO, INENSU

The market is searching for a new manifestation of music plus game. This session looks at what’s new in music games and what’s coming up – covers console, social networks and smartphones.

The New Video Games Industry Cycle

Ian Baverstock, Partner, Tenshi Ventures

Find out how can games companies compete in an era of massive disruption - where the hot hardware platform of yesterday is replaced by the coolest new social network platform of the hour.

The Future Isn’t Written Yet: What’s Next in Games? (Panel)

Chair: Will Freeman, Develop Magazine; Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish; Sean Murray, Hello Games; Simon Guild, Bigpoint; Neil Young, ngmoco

Join a peerless panel of luminaries from across the cutting edge of social and digitally distributed gaming to debate the next big developments in the field. Plus your own questions to the gurus.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About Evolve in London:

Following its success running alongside the Develop in Brighton Conference for two years, the Evolve Conference will take place as a stand-alone event at DeVere West One, 9-10 Portland Place, London on Wednesday 8 December 2010.

Evolve in London is a daylong conference focusing on how to develop games for new platforms, new technologies and new markets. The programme will explore emerging platforms, new business models and the integration of Internet services and user-generated content. It will help game developers tackle the issues arising from emerging platforms and digital marketplaces, connected gaming, user-generated content, and the crossover between games and Internet services.

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 Evolve in London on 8 December 2010, Develop in Brighton, Develop in Liverpool, Evolve in Brighton, GAMES:EDU, Games Marketing Forum and Games Grads.

www.tandemevents.co.uk

For press passes and information, please contact Ali Fearnely at Tandem Events – ali@tandemevents.co.uk

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