Ludicious 2017 adds summits on serious games and new technologies

The Ludicious games festival will add a third day to the schedule for its event next January, allowing for two brand new summits exploring serious games and new game technologies.

The new content will be organised in partnership with two universities in Switzerland, where Ludicious is based: Zurich University of the Arts will curate a summit on serious and applied games, featuring sessions themed around the title "Interactive Experiences: Crossing Boundaries for Serious Reasons"; the ETH Game Technology Center will run a programme called "Game Technology: Inspiring the Future," which will explore subjects like the emergence of virtual and augmented reality, AI and machine learning. Both summits will take place on the first day of Ludicious: January 26, 2017.

The second day will be dedicated to the business of games, and this year will see the introduction of the Ludicious Business Accelerator. The ten Swiss developers selected for the accelerator will be able to pitch their games to a panel of experts drawn from the global games industry, and participate in a matchmaking event designed to provide them with opportunities for commercial development. The Ludicious Business day will also feature a full programme of speakers, including Execution Labs' Jason Della Rocca and Gamelab founder Eric Zimmerman.

The Business day will culminate with an awards ceremony, where winners of both an International and a Student Competition will be announced. The two competitions received 303 entries, a 30% increase over the 2016 event. The nominees drawn from those entries are listed below, and all will be exhibited throughout the Ludicious games festival's three days.

The nominees for the International Competition are:

• - A Normal Lost Phone by Accidental Queens (France)
• - Candle by Teku Studios (Spain)
• - Ellipsis by Salmi Games (Germany)
• - Fresco by Yannick Gerometta (France)
• - God is a Cube: Nanomachines Rising by Marc Kruzik (France)
• - Hue by Fiddlesticks Games (United Kingdom)
• - Lance A Lot by Rocket Hammer (Sweden)
• - Oniri Island by Tourmaline Studio (Switzerland)
• - Reigns by Nerial (United Kingdom)
• - SwapTales: Leon! by Witty Wings (France)
• - Twisted Lines by Megagon Industries (Germany)

The nominees for the Student Competition are:

• - 3 Nights in Chicago by the Clean Sneak Rascals (NYU Game Center, USA)
• - Castle Hustle by Team Castle Hustle (ZHdK, Switzerland)
• - Interrogation by Critique Gaming (Romania)
• - Lily - Colors of Santa Luz by students from ISART DIGITAL (France)
• - Nocturnal Hunt by Wolf Pack (Games Academy Berlin, Germany)
• - ShadoWalker by students from ISART DIGITAL (France)
• - ViSP - Virtual Space Port by Ngoc Hoang Tran, Sandro Heuberger, Timo Falcke (Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, Germany)

Ludicious will be held in Zurich, Switzerland from January 26 to 29, 2017. Tickets are still available at Early Bird rates, and GamesIndustry.biz readers can get a further 15% off by using the code: "LudiciousGI16"

For more information, follow the link.

GamesIndustry.biz is a media partner for Ludicious 2017. Our travel and accommodation costs will be provided by the organiser.