Day 1: 07.09.2021
Day 2: 08.09.2021
Małopolska Region Stage
BOOMBIT Stage
PixelAnt Games Stage
SoftServe Stage
09:45-10:00
The Digital Dragons 2021 Conference opening 09:45-10:00
The Digital Dragons 2021 Conference opening
10:00-10:45 David Jaffe
Movie Games 10 Key Video Game Biz Lessons From A Joyfully Apathetic Once Famous Video Game Designer
#ProductionAndManagement He was at the top, he was at the bottom, he knows all the industry’s secrets. You don’t want to miss his humorous, sometimes sarcastic and always accurate insights!
#ProductionAndManagement He was at the top, he was at the bottom, he knows all the industry’s secrets. You don’t want to miss his humorous, sometimes sarcastic and always accurate insights!
11:00-11:45 David Jaffe, Maciej Miąsik & Anya Combs
Panel discussion: How to reforge failures into valuable experience
#ProductionAndManagement
Every good game developer, every publisher, every investor has experienced failure or defeat at some point of their career.
What did it teach him/her? How can we reforge such experience for our benefit?
#ProductionAndManagement
Every good game developer, every publisher, every investor has experienced failure or defeat at some point of their career.
What did it teach him/her? How can we reforge such experience for our benefit?
12:00-12:45 Pascal Luban
The Game Design Studio Games that make you think
#GameDesign Could games be more than enjoyable entertainment? Could games enrich us in the way that great literature, movies or music does? This is already happening with titles like This War of Mine.
Discover why and how games will make us think, cry, ponder on our humanity and make us better beings.
#GameDesign Could games be more than enjoyable entertainment? Could games enrich us in the way that great literature, movies or music does? This is already happening with titles like This War of Mine.
Discover why and how games will make us think, cry, ponder on our humanity and make us better beings.
10:00-10:45 Danuta Psuty
Flying Wild Hog What story tells your level
#GameDesign Every time I sit down to work on a level I ask myself: “What will the player learn about the game and it’s universe in this area?”
Storytelling is my favourite tool of choice and I would like to share my love for it by presenting interesting ways to use it to my fellow level designers.
#GameDesign Every time I sit down to work on a level I ask myself: “What will the player learn about the game and it’s universe in this area?”
Storytelling is my favourite tool of choice and I would like to share my love for it by presenting interesting ways to use it to my fellow level designers.
11:00-11:45 Lena Marcinoska-Boulangé & Monika Górska
Wardyński&Partners Of ghosts and candies – how to register a title of a video game as a trademark
#Business&Marketing
The title of a video game can be a most important asset of a gamedev company. Choosing and registering a video game title is not as straightforward as it would seem. There are various aspects and hurdles to overcome as evidenced by “ghost” and “candy” cases, Dungeons vs. Dungeons & Dragons judgement, Iron Maiden vs. Ion Maiden dispute, the Red Cross case.
You will learn how to choose a title and succeed in registering it as a trademark and what are the consequences of the lack of registration.
#Business&Marketing
The title of a video game can be a most important asset of a gamedev company. Choosing and registering a video game title is not as straightforward as it would seem. There are various aspects and hurdles to overcome as evidenced by “ghost” and “candy” cases, Dungeons vs. Dungeons & Dragons judgement, Iron Maiden vs. Ion Maiden dispute, the Red Cross case.
You will learn how to choose a title and succeed in registering it as a trademark and what are the consequences of the lack of registration.
12:00-12:45 Christian Fonnesbech
Leverage Partnership Building IPs and Franchises
#Business&Marketing
Beloved IPs & franchises make game companies sustainable. For successful developers, IP accounts for more than half the company’s total value. But how do you build this value? Christian Fonnesbech will share the creative and business related foundations of building long-term IPs.
#Business&Marketing
Beloved IPs & franchises make game companies sustainable. For successful developers, IP accounts for more than half the company’s total value. But how do you build this value? Christian Fonnesbech will share the creative and business related foundations of building long-term IPs.
10:00-10:45 Damian Jaśkowski
11 bit studios All you need to know about Chinese social media
#Business&Marketing
Hidden behind the Great Firewall of China, beyond the reach of Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, are over 660 million Chinese players. With their eyes fixed on their phones, they share posts on Weibo, watch videos and read bullet comments on Bilibili, and message their friends on WeChat. And if you want to reach out to them, you need to follow suit! Get to know Chinese social media and learn how to use them to your best advantage.
#Business&Marketing
Hidden behind the Great Firewall of China, beyond the reach of Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, are over 660 million Chinese players. With their eyes fixed on their phones, they share posts on Weibo, watch videos and read bullet comments on Bilibili, and message their friends on WeChat. And if you want to reach out to them, you need to follow suit! Get to know Chinese social media and learn how to use them to your best advantage.
11:00-11:45 Paweł Rohleder & Piotr Kościuk
PixelAnt Games Let frustration go – how a multi-project environment can get your programming career unstuck?
#ProductionAndManagement So, you are a programmer with 5+ years of experience in the game development industry, feeling stuck with your specialization or narrow, repetitive, tiresome scope of responsibilities? Or perhaps you’ve been working on a single franchise or genre for years and you’re becoming desperate for a change?
This talk will go through a case study of an experienced engineer who made such a change. We will discuss how he benefits from co-development work in a multi-project environment whilst learning from experts with 30+ years of gamedev experience and working with high-profile game industry partners.
…And maybe, just maybe, this talk will inspire you to make your own change?
#ProductionAndManagement So, you are a programmer with 5+ years of experience in the game development industry, feeling stuck with your specialization or narrow, repetitive, tiresome scope of responsibilities? Or perhaps you’ve been working on a single franchise or genre for years and you’re becoming desperate for a change?
This talk will go through a case study of an experienced engineer who made such a change. We will discuss how he benefits from co-development work in a multi-project environment whilst learning from experts with 30+ years of gamedev experience and working with high-profile game industry partners.
…And maybe, just maybe, this talk will inspire you to make your own change?
12:00-12:45 David Chang with guests
Tyr Advisors and others Perspectives on the Polish Game Market
#Business&Marketing
The Polish games industry is the hottest place in the world at the moment. We will talk about the circumstances that brought Poland to this point, what lessons can be learned from other markets that have gone through the same transformation, and what can be done to establish Poland as a key player in the global scene long term.
#Business&Marketing
The Polish games industry is the hottest place in the world at the moment. We will talk about the circumstances that brought Poland to this point, what lessons can be learned from other markets that have gone through the same transformation, and what can be done to establish Poland as a key player in the global scene long term.
10:00-10:45 Dominik Majchrzak
AR Digital - Awaken Realms group How much does it cost (not) to make tools when developing a game
#Programming&Technology Our technical leader will share his experience of tools they’ve made while developing Tainted Grail. How much time was saved by making custom ingame or in-engine tools for automation, validation and testing the game? What are our recommendations for making tools for small/medium teams?
#Programming&Technology Our technical leader will share his experience of tools they’ve made while developing Tainted Grail. How much time was saved by making custom ingame or in-engine tools for automation, validation and testing the game? What are our recommendations for making tools for small/medium teams?
11:00-11:45 Christopher Hamilton
Genvid Technologies Expanding the Audience – The Rise of Massive Interactive Live Events (MILEs)
#Business&Marketing
Millions of people watch livestreams every day. In this session, we will explore the opportunity to unleash the power of the cloud and these popular live streaming platforms to enable brand new experiences that can reach and monetize these massive audiences today.
We will also take a retrospective look at Rival Peak, a collaboration between Facebook, Pipeworks Studios, DJ2 Entertainment and Genvid Technologies and the highlight lessons learned and best practices for creating MILEs.
#Business&Marketing
Millions of people watch livestreams every day. In this session, we will explore the opportunity to unleash the power of the cloud and these popular live streaming platforms to enable brand new experiences that can reach and monetize these massive audiences today.
We will also take a retrospective look at Rival Peak, a collaboration between Facebook, Pipeworks Studios, DJ2 Entertainment and Genvid Technologies and the highlight lessons learned and best practices for creating MILEs.
12:00-12:45 Olaf Morelewski
CrazyLabs Level Funnel for Professionals – How Can Your Game Remain Profitable Over Time?
#Mobile&F2P Gone are the days when hyper-casual hit games would make it to the top, only to disappear within a couple of weeks. Olaf Morelewski, Senior Game Product Owner at CrazyLabs, will discuss the method behind superb A/B testing, the leading techniques you need to follow in order to optimize your level funnel, and various ways to maintain your peaks and reduce your drops – not only in hyper-casual.
#Mobile&F2P Gone are the days when hyper-casual hit games would make it to the top, only to disappear within a couple of weeks. Olaf Morelewski, Senior Game Product Owner at CrazyLabs, will discuss the method behind superb A/B testing, the leading techniques you need to follow in order to optimize your level funnel, and various ways to maintain your peaks and reduce your drops – not only in hyper-casual.
13:00-15:00
BREAK 13:00-15:00
BREAK
15:00-15:45 Ryan Burns
Ubisoft Bordeaux One-Liners: Maintaining Variety in Open-World Games
#GameDesign Open-world titles offer players countless hours of gameplay within worlds that are growing larger. How do we ensure that we are offering engaging experiences from the first minute to many hours later?
The ‘one-liner’ is a pre-production technique that you can use to keep yourself on-course through development and safeguards against locations that overlap.
This presentation offers techniques to develop strong one-liners and offers strategies on how to carry them forward through development.
#GameDesign Open-world titles offer players countless hours of gameplay within worlds that are growing larger. How do we ensure that we are offering engaging experiences from the first minute to many hours later?
The ‘one-liner’ is a pre-production technique that you can use to keep yourself on-course through development and safeguards against locations that overlap.
This presentation offers techniques to develop strong one-liners and offers strategies on how to carry them forward through development.
16:00-16:45 Mariusz Gąsiewski
Google Mobile F2P in 2022. What can we expect based on recent data and trends?
#Mobile&F2P I will share my projections for F2P in 2022 (based on external and internal Google data points). Presentation will focus on showing trends in gaming genres, business and monetisation models.
#Mobile&F2P I will share my projections for F2P in 2022 (based on external and internal Google data points). Presentation will focus on showing trends in gaming genres, business and monetisation models.
17:00-17:45 Michał Korniewicz
Anshar Studios What to expect and how to talk to your sound person: Developer’s Guide to the Audio
#ArtInGames
Hiring a composer or sound designer is risky business. You know nothing about their craft, it’s hard to judge their work and they speak a weird language. We’ll tear down some myths about game audio and make sense of what to look for when you seek a developer – sound designer relationship that will make your game sound beyond awesome.
#ArtInGames
Hiring a composer or sound designer is risky business. You know nothing about their craft, it’s hard to judge their work and they speak a weird language. We’ll tear down some myths about game audio and make sense of what to look for when you seek a developer – sound designer relationship that will make your game sound beyond awesome.
18:00-18:45 Piotr Michalak
Black Drakkar At the rendering courtroom
#ArtInGames
In your game graphic card renders up to 60 frames per second, each filled with 2 million pixels. It is an enormous amount of computation.
Imagine it told the way it was made in “Il était une fois… la vie” – every shader, texture, every lights source, mesh, etc… is a Persona – imagine a courtroom, a judge is running the case against a single pixel on the conviction of being not drawn. Each participant in pixel color is a witness. The judge have to decide who matters.
#ArtInGames
In your game graphic card renders up to 60 frames per second, each filled with 2 million pixels. It is an enormous amount of computation.
Imagine it told the way it was made in “Il était une fois… la vie” – every shader, texture, every lights source, mesh, etc… is a Persona – imagine a courtroom, a judge is running the case against a single pixel on the conviction of being not drawn. Each participant in pixel color is a witness. The judge have to decide who matters.
19:00-19:45 Michał Pękała
Maruta Wachta Sp. J. To clone or not to clone? – Legal take on making similar video games
#GameDesign
How often do you see a new game ripping off the success of its competition and wonder: how is it possible to make clones and not infringing on third parties’ rights?
It happens all the time… and it is completely legitimate!
During the speech we will discuss how to approach making clones without risk of copyright infringement. Where to put emphasis during the development process and what are the legal dos and don’ts in the overall development process.
#GameDesign
How often do you see a new game ripping off the success of its competition and wonder: how is it possible to make clones and not infringing on third parties’ rights?
It happens all the time… and it is completely legitimate!
During the speech we will discuss how to approach making clones without risk of copyright infringement. Where to put emphasis during the development process and what are the legal dos and don’ts in the overall development process.
15:00-15:45 Rafał Sadowski
freelancer Creating NPCs’ perception system from the ground up
#Programming&Technology Guide on how to create a sensory manager for NPCs from scratch with many practical pieces of advice, ranging from tips related to design aspects of such a feature to technical insight related to implementation and optimization.
#Programming&Technology Guide on how to create a sensory manager for NPCs from scratch with many practical pieces of advice, ranging from tips related to design aspects of such a feature to technical insight related to implementation and optimization.
16:00-16:45 Zbigniew Woznowski
Reality Games 350 videos, 50M views, 500k downloads from Influencer deals
#Mobile&F2P Case study – results from 350 influencer deals
#Mobile&F2P Case study – results from 350 influencer deals
17:00-17:45 Jakub Kubalski
SSW Pragmatic Solutions Spaczyński, Szczepaniak sp.k. Legal implications of AI use in the gamedev industry
#Business&Marketing
The presentation will focus on:
– the importance of raw data;
– IP ownership towards intermediary results of AI/ML algorithms’ operation, e.g. training datasets, training models;
– IP ownership towards any results of AI/ML algorithms’ operation;
– regulatory framework on liability, ethics, and distribution requirements.
#Business&Marketing
The presentation will focus on:
– the importance of raw data;
– IP ownership towards intermediary results of AI/ML algorithms’ operation, e.g. training datasets, training models;
– IP ownership towards any results of AI/ML algorithms’ operation;
– regulatory framework on liability, ethics, and distribution requirements.
18:00-18:45 Tanja Loktionova
Values Value Professional Burnout, You Have No Power Here
#ProductionAndManagement COVID-19, a series of lockdowns, remote work and too much stress have caused a burnout pandemic. If we multiply it with game industry peculiarities, the situation would seem really gloomy. However, it is possible to recover. Tanja will share how employers and employees can make it together.
#ProductionAndManagement COVID-19, a series of lockdowns, remote work and too much stress have caused a burnout pandemic. If we multiply it with game industry peculiarities, the situation would seem really gloomy. However, it is possible to recover. Tanja will share how employers and employees can make it together.
19:00-19:45 Aleksander Kauch
11 bit studios More than finding bugs
#ProductionAndManagement Quality Assurance is often seen as a quick way into the industry heading towards other specializations. It’s often perceived as just playing and looking for bugs. But QA can be so much more than that with a change of perspective of the rest of the team and – of course – QA specialists. During the development of Frostpunk 11 bit’s new project the role of QA have evolved – deep integration of testers very early, quality feedback etc. proved to be invaluable for us and I will present how it works.
#ProductionAndManagement Quality Assurance is often seen as a quick way into the industry heading towards other specializations. It’s often perceived as just playing and looking for bugs. But QA can be so much more than that with a change of perspective of the rest of the team and – of course – QA specialists. During the development of Frostpunk 11 bit’s new project the role of QA have evolved – deep integration of testers very early, quality feedback etc. proved to be invaluable for us and I will present how it works.
15:00-15:45 Mateusz Bochenczak
AppsFlyer Building a MarTech Stack: What you need to know
#Mobile&F2P
Developing great games is one thing. Measuring the results and managing the growth are another. Mateusz from AppsFlyer will lead you through MarTech components and UA Reporting tools you need to be successful in growing your business
#Mobile&F2P
Developing great games is one thing. Measuring the results and managing the growth are another. Mateusz from AppsFlyer will lead you through MarTech components and UA Reporting tools you need to be successful in growing your business
16:00-16:45 Stephanie Bouchard
Stockholm Syndrome AI Game AI 4 N00bz
#GameDesign Are you a Game Designer taking on your first Game AI system and you don’t really know where to start? Are you a programmer writing very elegant code for a boss fight leaving the player a bit indifferent? Are you a producer attempting to make some critical cuts in a series of assets while trying to maintain a maximum of bang for your bucks? Join me as we explore the basics of game AI systems and the quick tricks and hacks to convince your boss and your players you TOTALLY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING
#GameDesign Are you a Game Designer taking on your first Game AI system and you don’t really know where to start? Are you a programmer writing very elegant code for a boss fight leaving the player a bit indifferent? Are you a producer attempting to make some critical cuts in a series of assets while trying to maintain a maximum of bang for your bucks? Join me as we explore the basics of game AI systems and the quick tricks and hacks to convince your boss and your players you TOTALLY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING
17:00-17:45 Ben Ackland
aag.dev / Spaceport Alpha Let your players speak (to your game)
#GameDesign Speech recognition and AI voices are making it possible to interact with games and communicate with players in new ways. Why consider voice as an interface? It’s accessible and natural; it doesn’t require eyes on screen, and it’s independent of hands on controllers. I’ll take you through my journey of prototyping an audio adventure game using these technologies, reflecting on what I’ve learned so far to help you consider this for your own projects.
#GameDesign Speech recognition and AI voices are making it possible to interact with games and communicate with players in new ways. Why consider voice as an interface? It’s accessible and natural; it doesn’t require eyes on screen, and it’s independent of hands on controllers. I’ll take you through my journey of prototyping an audio adventure game using these technologies, reflecting on what I’ve learned so far to help you consider this for your own projects.
18:00-18:45 Oleksandr Drazhevsky
Ubisoft Rendering Watch Dogs
#Programming&Technology
Rendering open-world London with wide variety of weather conditions and full time of a day cycle poses a number of challenges to rendering engine. Not only the rendering systems should reach high visual quality results in all scenarios but they also must run in strict execution time constraints. This talk provides an overview of all rendering features (including ray-tracing pipeline) which form a frame in WD Legion and optimization techniques used to fit everything in tight performance budgets.
#Programming&Technology
Rendering open-world London with wide variety of weather conditions and full time of a day cycle poses a number of challenges to rendering engine. Not only the rendering systems should reach high visual quality results in all scenarios but they also must run in strict execution time constraints. This talk provides an overview of all rendering features (including ray-tracing pipeline) which form a frame in WD Legion and optimization techniques used to fit everything in tight performance budgets.
19:00-19:45 Adam Sawicki
AMD Efficient Use of GPU Memory in Modern Games
#Programming&Technology Performance in games depends not only on shaders, but also on proper use of CPU and GPU memory. This talk presents the current state of access to memory resources through DirectX 12 and Vulkan API, including new hardware feature: Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR). It gives specific recommendations for optimization. It ends with an outlook on directions for faster asset loading on new generation platforms.
#Programming&Technology Performance in games depends not only on shaders, but also on proper use of CPU and GPU memory. This talk presents the current state of access to memory resources through DirectX 12 and Vulkan API, including new hardware feature: Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR). It gives specific recommendations for optimization. It ends with an outlook on directions for faster asset loading on new generation platforms.
15:00-15:45 Darren Korb
Composer/Audio Director for Supergiant Games Secrets of “Hades” and more – a musical journey with Darren Korb
#ArtInGames What are the secrets of a renowned computer game music composer? How does a musical illustration to a game come to life? Why is it so important in creating the environment of the gameplay?
The author of music for such games as Hades, Pyre and Bastion. Not only is he a master of creating moods and musical images but also an innovator, who constantly seeks new tunes and dimensions in music. His game soundtracks are cherished among fans and sell well as stand alone albums.
#ArtInGames What are the secrets of a renowned computer game music composer? How does a musical illustration to a game come to life? Why is it so important in creating the environment of the gameplay?
The author of music for such games as Hades, Pyre and Bastion. Not only is he a master of creating moods and musical images but also an innovator, who constantly seeks new tunes and dimensions in music. His game soundtracks are cherished among fans and sell well as stand alone albums.
16:00-16:45 Tadeusz Zieliński
Novatek Discussion panel: How to gamify a writer, or “he didn’t take the money upfront”
#ProductionAndManagement Michał Gołkowski, Tadeusz Zieliński and their guest are going to explain how to marry gaming and literature.
Michał Gołkowski is a Polish science-fiction and fantasy writer, best know from his Sin Collector and Sibirpunk. For more than a year he has been actively working on moving the worlds he created to gaming.
Together with industry veteran Tadeusz Zieliński and their experienced guests, they will explain the problems and advantages of working in a system in which the author is taking part in the game development process.
#ProductionAndManagement Michał Gołkowski, Tadeusz Zieliński and their guest are going to explain how to marry gaming and literature.
Michał Gołkowski is a Polish science-fiction and fantasy writer, best know from his Sin Collector and Sibirpunk. For more than a year he has been actively working on moving the worlds he created to gaming.
Together with industry veteran Tadeusz Zieliński and their experienced guests, they will explain the problems and advantages of working in a system in which the author is taking part in the game development process.
17:00-17:45 Grzegorz Regliński
TAPNICE How ideas are shaped into mobile games
#Mobile&F2P Grzegorz will show how one of the most important games of his life, Dancing Line, was created. He will take you through the ideation process and the different phases of the development process, which took his project from a simple idea for a music game to a global hit. And then he will talk about how this experience shaped his approach to new mobile game projects.
#Mobile&F2P Grzegorz will show how one of the most important games of his life, Dancing Line, was created. He will take you through the ideation process and the different phases of the development process, which took his project from a simple idea for a music game to a global hit. And then he will talk about how this experience shaped his approach to new mobile game projects.
18:00-18:45 Benjamin Charbit
Darewise Entertainment 4 Months For A Game: How To Self-Publish Quickly As A Small Studio
#GameDesign At Darewise, we set out to prove that there was another way to create and distribute a high-quality game as a small developer w/ limited budget. Most of all, we wanted to get our game online quickly (4 months) so we could iterate on it thanks to direct user-feedback using Open Development. Having a small team, little resources, and no publisher, we couldn’t have done it 5 years ago, but we could do it now. Yet we managed it, by being smart, relying on our agility, and getting the right partners.
#GameDesign At Darewise, we set out to prove that there was another way to create and distribute a high-quality game as a small developer w/ limited budget. Most of all, we wanted to get our game online quickly (4 months) so we could iterate on it thanks to direct user-feedback using Open Development. Having a small team, little resources, and no publisher, we couldn’t have done it 5 years ago, but we could do it now. Yet we managed it, by being smart, relying on our agility, and getting the right partners.
19:00-19:45 Michał Dębek
Try Evidence How science helps developers build games people actually want
#Business&Marketing What game genres do gamers miss the most today? What game genres will they ask for in the near future? What games are gamers fed up with and what games would they like to see more of? What game settings will soon be “trending”, what do players expect from specific genres? What plots and characters? What frustrates players and what makes them enjoy games? What makes a game a potential hit? I will discuss all this based on hard data taken from our research of over a thousand console and PC players.
#Business&Marketing What game genres do gamers miss the most today? What game genres will they ask for in the near future? What games are gamers fed up with and what games would they like to see more of? What game settings will soon be “trending”, what do players expect from specific genres? What plots and characters? What frustrates players and what makes them enjoy games? What makes a game a potential hit? I will discuss all this based on hard data taken from our research of over a thousand console and PC players.
Małopolska Region Stage
BOOMBIT Stage
PixelAnt Games Stage
SoftServe Stage
10:00-10:45 Kate Edwards, Sophie Vo, Andreea Medvedovici-Per, Taina Ionita, Ana Pohrib
Various Companies and Teams Discussion panel: Women leadership in Gamedev
#ProductionAndManagement
#Business&Marketing
Why is there still so few women in gamedev? What can be done to change that? How can we and themselves empower each other to be part of and create the future of the industry? Those and many more questions will be answered by experienced women leaders.
#ProductionAndManagement
#Business&Marketing
Why is there still so few women in gamedev? What can be done to change that? How can we and themselves empower each other to be part of and create the future of the industry? Those and many more questions will be answered by experienced women leaders.
11:00-11:45 Isaac Phoenix
P.O.L.L.E.N. Games The Three Dimensions of Story
#ArtInGames
The Three Dimensions of Story is a new approach to story structure. It deconstructs and reconstructs what has come before to give you a complete look at all the tools available in order to best communicate your ideas, experiences, and emotions to the audience. This is essential for narrative designers, but helpful for the entire team, as story doesn’t just come through the writing, but also through the art, sound, and mechanics of a game.
#ArtInGames
The Three Dimensions of Story is a new approach to story structure. It deconstructs and reconstructs what has come before to give you a complete look at all the tools available in order to best communicate your ideas, experiences, and emotions to the audience. This is essential for narrative designers, but helpful for the entire team, as story doesn’t just come through the writing, but also through the art, sound, and mechanics of a game.
12:00-12:45 Patryk Scelina
Sonic Atoms Budgeting Indie Game Music Production Demystified
#ArtInGames
How much does it cost to make one minute of music? Almost every game developer once was a one-man band, who created games from the ground up. That person knows how to create a prototype, how to code and even how to create visual assets. But when it comes to audio and especially music, it often goes beyond one’s abilities. No wonder why many producers struggle with planning and budgeting music for their game. Let’s change that and talk about one of the most inconvenient matters: money!
#ArtInGames
How much does it cost to make one minute of music? Almost every game developer once was a one-man band, who created games from the ground up. That person knows how to create a prototype, how to code and even how to create visual assets. But when it comes to audio and especially music, it often goes beyond one’s abilities. No wonder why many producers struggle with planning and budgeting music for their game. Let’s change that and talk about one of the most inconvenient matters: money!
15:00-15:45 Frederic Raducki
BOOMBIT Storytelling aspects of level design in mobile hyper-casual games
#GameDesign
Fred will showcase how in a game with barely any text he introduced different elements and environments to convey a sense of story and progress, while keeping the buildsize and performance for mobile devices, remembering about the low-end tier of phones.
#GameDesign
Fred will showcase how in a game with barely any text he introduced different elements and environments to convey a sense of story and progress, while keeping the buildsize and performance for mobile devices, remembering about the low-end tier of phones.
16:00-16:45 Lev Kommisarchik
Anzu.io How Can Developers Leverage In-Game Advertising to Power Up for The Future of Gaming
#Business&Marketing
The global games market will generate over $175BN in 2021. But despite the growing popularity of gaming, many developers still struggle to build sustainable revenues. Different monetization models have achieved various degrees of success, but none have proven to be a revenue-generating unicorn.
#Business&Marketing
The global games market will generate over $175BN in 2021. But despite the growing popularity of gaming, many developers still struggle to build sustainable revenues. Different monetization models have achieved various degrees of success, but none have proven to be a revenue-generating unicorn.
17:00-17:45 Gonçalo Martins
BOOMBIT How multi-channel automation can deliver a 156% growth
#Business&Marketing Automatic sub-source bidding, creative optimization, campaign control and performance forecasting are key to the success. The solution is simple: automate all UA processes and combine them with one tool that we would build in-house. As soon as we started implementing it at Boombit, the impact of our decision and efforts was very clear: thousands of manual tasks had been eliminated and our revenue rose by 156% in the first 5 months. I will show you step by step with real cases how we made it!
#Business&Marketing Automatic sub-source bidding, creative optimization, campaign control and performance forecasting are key to the success. The solution is simple: automate all UA processes and combine them with one tool that we would build in-house. As soon as we started implementing it at Boombit, the impact of our decision and efforts was very clear: thousands of manual tasks had been eliminated and our revenue rose by 156% in the first 5 months. I will show you step by step with real cases how we made it!
18:00-18:45 Serhat Marasligil
BOOMBIT 20 Tips to Kickstart Your Hypercasual Career
#GameDesign As it is true for all games, hypercasual game development is easy to learn and difficult to master. But, with a tried & tested list of unspoken tips, overlooked rule of thumbs, and straight-up secrets from the industry, anyone can kickstart their Hypercasual career pretty easily.
From the colors to finding ideas, from lowering costs to making sure you don’t get bad reviews, this speech will cover a wide range of topics that any newcomer needs to know and start mastering.
#GameDesign As it is true for all games, hypercasual game development is easy to learn and difficult to master. But, with a tried & tested list of unspoken tips, overlooked rule of thumbs, and straight-up secrets from the industry, anyone can kickstart their Hypercasual career pretty easily.
From the colors to finding ideas, from lowering costs to making sure you don’t get bad reviews, this speech will cover a wide range of topics that any newcomer needs to know and start mastering.
19:00-19:45 Ranko Trifkovic
Red Viking Academy HOW vs WHAT Choices in Games: The case of Audio Games
#GameDesign
Interactive fiction is sprinkled all over the genres, there are pure IF games, visual novels, while dialogues and choices are staples of many RPGs and even strategy and tactic games. Writing choices can go wrong quickly with the need to keep the narrative focused while providing interesting branching variations. I’ll showcase the crafting of choices for audio games which has a lot to teach on how to start writing immersive, gripping, relevant, and exciting choices.
#GameDesign
Interactive fiction is sprinkled all over the genres, there are pure IF games, visual novels, while dialogues and choices are staples of many RPGs and even strategy and tactic games. Writing choices can go wrong quickly with the need to keep the narrative focused while providing interesting branching variations. I’ll showcase the crafting of choices for audio games which has a lot to teach on how to start writing immersive, gripping, relevant, and exciting choices.
10:00-10:45 Kamil Kufel
BOOMBIT One tool to rule them all – combining data from MMP, mediation and UA channels in one place
#Programming&Technology Kamil will talk about the current state of data analysis tools for mobile games, and how he created a framework for accurate reporting of UA activities that lead to the development of internal tools for automatic bid deployment in networks.
#Programming&Technology Kamil will talk about the current state of data analysis tools for mobile games, and how he created a framework for accurate reporting of UA activities that lead to the development of internal tools for automatic bid deployment in networks.
11:00-11:45 Anna Vagner
Donut Lab Successful TikTok Gaming Account: Myth? No, reality!
#Mobile&F2P
The popularity of TikTok is growing every day! And, since this application is visited mostly by young people, it is simply a Klondike to attract its target audience to mid-core or casual projects! However, not all is so simple. TikTok lives by its own rules and in order to achieve success, you need to think outside the box – and we did it.
#Mobile&F2P
The popularity of TikTok is growing every day! And, since this application is visited mostly by young people, it is simply a Klondike to attract its target audience to mid-core or casual projects! However, not all is so simple. TikTok lives by its own rules and in order to achieve success, you need to think outside the box – and we did it.
12:00-12:45 Michał Gembicki
Klabater Tools and methods of evaluation video game project commercial potential a.k.a How many units will my game sell?
#Business&Marketing I will list and explain how one can evaluate a possible commercial potential of their video game projects upon various data. Usually, developers know well how to budget their production, and estimate costs appropriately. Still, they lack tools and knowledge of how to evaluate the revenues and estimate sales. I will share with the audience tips and tricks I am using on a daily basis to understand what level of revenue I can achieve with my games.
#Business&Marketing I will list and explain how one can evaluate a possible commercial potential of their video game projects upon various data. Usually, developers know well how to budget their production, and estimate costs appropriately. Still, they lack tools and knowledge of how to evaluate the revenues and estimate sales. I will share with the audience tips and tricks I am using on a daily basis to understand what level of revenue I can achieve with my games.
13:00-15:00 Golden Ticket Pitching Battle
15:00-15:45 Martin Mittner
Tiny Hydra Min/Maxing Your Production: Eliminating Bottlenecks Through Custom Tools
#ProductionAndManagement
“The right tool for the right job” is an idiom that has never been more true. As an industry, we waste literally millions of hours every year on repetitive tasks that could be eliminated through the careful development of custom tools. In this talk, Martin Mittner will explain the value of Custom Tools, how to measure the return on investment for Custom Tool Development, and how to identify bottlenecks in your pipeline.
#ProductionAndManagement
“The right tool for the right job” is an idiom that has never been more true. As an industry, we waste literally millions of hours every year on repetitive tasks that could be eliminated through the careful development of custom tools. In this talk, Martin Mittner will explain the value of Custom Tools, how to measure the return on investment for Custom Tool Development, and how to identify bottlenecks in your pipeline.
16:00-16:45 Bartłomiej Nizio
Orbital Knight Building Destruction On Mobile With Unity ECS
#Programming&Technology
Although Unity ECS is still in preview, it’s possible to develop a fully functional game with it.
During our adventure to produce a physical destruction simulation game for smartphones, we’ve encountered lots of benefits but also challenges to the ECS approach. I will share with you our tips and tricks for using ECS physics and what we did to make building destruction smooth on mobile.
For the most part it will be technical, but I will try to make it fun. See you there!
#Programming&Technology
Although Unity ECS is still in preview, it’s possible to develop a fully functional game with it.
During our adventure to produce a physical destruction simulation game for smartphones, we’ve encountered lots of benefits but also challenges to the ECS approach. I will share with you our tips and tricks for using ECS physics and what we did to make building destruction smooth on mobile.
For the most part it will be technical, but I will try to make it fun. See you there!
17:00-17:45 Krzysztof Pachulski
Epic Games Modular Gameplay in Unreal Engine 5 – an in-depth look at Game Features #Programming&Technology Unreal Engine 5 introduces some great new modular gameplay features. They allow the developers to create bits of gameplay in such a way, that the game is completely agnostic of their existence. In this talk, I’ll cover some of the basics, but I’ll focus on diving deep into an example project I’ve created to showcase the system.
18:00-18:45 Anastasia Liakh
TikTok How to TikTok for Gaming?
#Mobile&F2P
Indroduces TikTok’s unique take on gaming and sets up how high engagement with joyful content leads to discovery and end goal achievements for our clients. Explores gaming on TikTok – why and how it’s inclusive to empower a unique experience for all, shows how audience is engaging with games and brands to shape a new culture.
#Mobile&F2P
Indroduces TikTok’s unique take on gaming and sets up how high engagement with joyful content leads to discovery and end goal achievements for our clients. Explores gaming on TikTok – why and how it’s inclusive to empower a unique experience for all, shows how audience is engaging with games and brands to shape a new culture.
19:00-19:45 Konrad Średziński
BOOMBIT Community-driven approach to mobile game development
#Mobile&F2P It is common knowledge that the mobile gaming and console/PC game communities are totally different, and especially in the former case, they barely exist. This is not true. In his talk about creating, building up, and working with mobile game communities for Tiny Gladiators and Hunt Royale Konrad will go into such topics as gathering feedback from your players, implementation of their ideas and wishes in a mobile projects with millions of downloads, as well as management in the time of crises.
#Mobile&F2P It is common knowledge that the mobile gaming and console/PC game communities are totally different, and especially in the former case, they barely exist. This is not true. In his talk about creating, building up, and working with mobile game communities for Tiny Gladiators and Hunt Royale Konrad will go into such topics as gathering feedback from your players, implementation of their ideas and wishes in a mobile projects with millions of downloads, as well as management in the time of crises.
10:00-10:45 Andrzej Lichnerowicz
Polish Demoscene Chronicles Art of limits and randomness
#ArtInGames
Video games and demoscene have been tightly coupled since the 1980s. Of all mediums, they are both digital natives and offer an unparalleled canvas to express unique visions. In this talk we’ll quickly go over the early days of both to explore how – even these days – the demoscene’s focus on randomness, platforms (the systems’ underlying computing), and their limits relates to creative expression and can be be the driving force within the creative process.
#ArtInGames
Video games and demoscene have been tightly coupled since the 1980s. Of all mediums, they are both digital natives and offer an unparalleled canvas to express unique visions. In this talk we’ll quickly go over the early days of both to explore how – even these days – the demoscene’s focus on randomness, platforms (the systems’ underlying computing), and their limits relates to creative expression and can be be the driving force within the creative process.
11:00-11:45 Guglielmo De Gregori
Studio V Mockup and Prototyping: quick solutions for effective pre-production
#GameDesign Prototyping is the most natural way for a game designer to convey its vision to the rest of the team. Thanks to tools such as Blueprints, Bolt, and even non-engine solutions (such as Tabletop Simulator), a game designer today is able to quickly provide the rest of the team with a playable version of its idea. Combined with a little bit of draftsmanship and Photoshop showcase, I will show the audience how a game designer can really go a long way when it comes to effectively communicate its idea.
#GameDesign Prototyping is the most natural way for a game designer to convey its vision to the rest of the team. Thanks to tools such as Blueprints, Bolt, and even non-engine solutions (such as Tabletop Simulator), a game designer today is able to quickly provide the rest of the team with a playable version of its idea. Combined with a little bit of draftsmanship and Photoshop showcase, I will show the audience how a game designer can really go a long way when it comes to effectively communicate its idea.
12:00-12:45 Johnny Monsarrat
Monsarrat Inc. What Comes After Pokémon GO in AR Gaming
#Programming&Technology Pokémon GO is great, but it’s not great for storytelling or player interactivity.
Now for the first time, outdoor games can be computer administrated, at a time when the world has a crisis of loneliness.
Johnny Monsarrat, who pioneered MMO gaming, shares his vision with audience interactivity and stunts!
#Programming&Technology Pokémon GO is great, but it’s not great for storytelling or player interactivity.
Now for the first time, outdoor games can be computer administrated, at a time when the world has a crisis of loneliness.
Johnny Monsarrat, who pioneered MMO gaming, shares his vision with audience interactivity and stunts!
15:00-15:45 Mark Barlet
The Able Gamers Charity Why you should put accessibility in your game, and how to do it
#GameDesign There is a huge untapped market of players who are disabled. We will talk about the population of people with disabilities, the unique experiences that video games bring to this group, and a way to integrate accessibility into your workflow, with an overview of the AbleGamers Accessible Player Experience design patterns.
#GameDesign There is a huge untapped market of players who are disabled. We will talk about the population of people with disabilities, the unique experiences that video games bring to this group, and a way to integrate accessibility into your workflow, with an overview of the AbleGamers Accessible Player Experience design patterns.
16:00-16:45 Katarzyna Olszewska
Axis Studios Visual storytelling – how to create a great cutscene
#ArtInGames Creating a good cutscene is a demanding and complicated process. Good knowledge of visual storytelling and cinematic techniques are crucial to tell a story in every game. By analysing the best cutscenes from AAA fames we will take a look at the designing process and variety of visual storytelling techniques. Focusing on cutscene production from script til final cut we will talk about all creative, organizing and technical aspects.
#ArtInGames Creating a good cutscene is a demanding and complicated process. Good knowledge of visual storytelling and cinematic techniques are crucial to tell a story in every game. By analysing the best cutscenes from AAA fames we will take a look at the designing process and variety of visual storytelling techniques. Focusing on cutscene production from script til final cut we will talk about all creative, organizing and technical aspects.
17:00-17:45 Artur Szymański
Simteract Houdini in games development – big worlds generation on a budget
#ArtInGames We will present two cases of Houdini use in our upcoming projects.
– Generating game ready terrain from simple data (no satellite heightmaps)
– Generating instance based buildings from OSM data
#ArtInGames We will present two cases of Houdini use in our upcoming projects.
– Generating game ready terrain from simple data (no satellite heightmaps)
– Generating instance based buildings from OSM data
18:00-18:45 Michał Dąbrowski
Daftmobile Sp z o.o. Multiplayer: This Is The Way
#Programming&Technology Developing multiplayer games is hard. At the start of every multiplayer project most studios approach it based on intuition, single player or web related experience. We’ll tell you about different networking multiplayer approaches and architectures by exploring them: from the simplest to more advanced solutions. We’ll also talk about some non-trivial advantages and limitations of each discussed approach, so that you can make an informed decision when creating your next multiplayer game.
#Programming&Technology Developing multiplayer games is hard. At the start of every multiplayer project most studios approach it based on intuition, single player or web related experience. We’ll tell you about different networking multiplayer approaches and architectures by exploring them: from the simplest to more advanced solutions. We’ll also talk about some non-trivial advantages and limitations of each discussed approach, so that you can make an informed decision when creating your next multiplayer game.
19:00-19:45 Alina Soltys
Quantum Tech Partners Hyperactivity in Gaming M&A & Fundraising: Who’s buying & investing and what makes an attractive company
#Business&Marketing
This talk will cover the hyperactivity in the M&A market, standout deals, the hot fundraising environment, valuation dynamics and what makes companies more attractive to drive higher outcomes. Alina will share predictions of where markets are trending and future areas that are driving interest/attention from investors and larger corporations. Also, some do’s and don’ts when you are considering your own acquisition.
#Business&Marketing
This talk will cover the hyperactivity in the M&A market, standout deals, the hot fundraising environment, valuation dynamics and what makes companies more attractive to drive higher outcomes. Alina will share predictions of where markets are trending and future areas that are driving interest/attention from investors and larger corporations. Also, some do’s and don’ts when you are considering your own acquisition.
10:00-10:45 Michał Napora
32-33 Perceptions matter: Small things that you can do to make your game stand out
#Business&Marketing
I’m sure that you, either subconsciously or consciously, judged the people around you. “That girl’s hair is colorful. She’s probably an extrovert” or “That guy’s shirt has a stain. He must be a messy person”. Those are some of the mental shortcuts that we create about people even before we meet them.
People make that same judgment about your game too. The way you appear to them will be reflected in their attitude towards you. In other words, impressions form perceptions. And perceptions matter.
#Business&Marketing
I’m sure that you, either subconsciously or consciously, judged the people around you. “That girl’s hair is colorful. She’s probably an extrovert” or “That guy’s shirt has a stain. He must be a messy person”. Those are some of the mental shortcuts that we create about people even before we meet them.
People make that same judgment about your game too. The way you appear to them will be reflected in their attitude towards you. In other words, impressions form perceptions. And perceptions matter.
11:00-11:45 Łukasz Januszkiewicz
SoftServe Higher Order Ambisonics – a different approach to Spatial Audio
#ArtInGames Higher Order Ambisonics is another spatial audio technology that significantly differs from channel-based or object-based techniques. Instead of speaker signals or sound objects, Ambisonics represents the whole soundfield as a set of components called Spherical Harmonics. This speech covers the fundamentals of Higher Order Ambisonics, including ways of creating and rendering such audio content, and explains all major pros and cons of using the technology.
#ArtInGames Higher Order Ambisonics is another spatial audio technology that significantly differs from channel-based or object-based techniques. Instead of speaker signals or sound objects, Ambisonics represents the whole soundfield as a set of components called Spherical Harmonics. This speech covers the fundamentals of Higher Order Ambisonics, including ways of creating and rendering such audio content, and explains all major pros and cons of using the technology.
12:00-12:45 Łukasz Szczepański
Ten Square Games Outcome based roadmaps – a way to focused development
#ProductionAndManagement
Outcome based roadmaps will help you to focus on what you want to achieve instead of focusing on what you want to do. During this speech you’ll learn how outputs differ from outcomes and how to use the latter to build a roadmap instead of a release plan.
#ProductionAndManagement
Outcome based roadmaps will help you to focus on what you want to achieve instead of focusing on what you want to do. During this speech you’ll learn how outputs differ from outcomes and how to use the latter to build a roadmap instead of a release plan.
13:00-13:45 Michał Pękała
Maruta Wachta Sp. J. To clone or not to clone? – Legal take on making similar video games
#GameDesign
How often do you see a new game ripping off the success of its competition and wonder: how is it possible to make clones and not infringing on third parties’ rights?
It happens all the time… and it is completely legitimate!
During the speech we will discuss how to approach making clones without risk of copyright infringement. Where to put emphasis during the development process and what are the legal dos and don’ts in the overall development process.
#GameDesign
How often do you see a new game ripping off the success of its competition and wonder: how is it possible to make clones and not infringing on third parties’ rights?
It happens all the time… and it is completely legitimate!
During the speech we will discuss how to approach making clones without risk of copyright infringement. Where to put emphasis during the development process and what are the legal dos and don’ts in the overall development process.
15:00-15:45 Krystian Strauss
AdTiming Self-publishing your mobile game, is it suitable for you?
#Business&Marketing Self-publishing is full of surprises and quite unknown for many, which makes it quite scary. However, if you understand the basics of self-publishing and take every task step by step, you might not be that scary at all. Self-publishing should be a balance of keeping the game as developer’s original want to and finding a good way to monetize from it. While the developers are familiar with making game fun and engaging, but optimizing monetization side of mobile game is a difficult challange.
#Business&Marketing Self-publishing is full of surprises and quite unknown for many, which makes it quite scary. However, if you understand the basics of self-publishing and take every task step by step, you might not be that scary at all. Self-publishing should be a balance of keeping the game as developer’s original want to and finding a good way to monetize from it. While the developers are familiar with making game fun and engaging, but optimizing monetization side of mobile game is a difficult challange.
16:00-16:45 Lena Marcinoska-Boulangé & Monika Górska
Wardynski&Partners Dos and don’ts of a license – gamdev essentials
#Business&Marketing At some time during game development you will encounter a license. Whether be it when using an image from a photo bank, when buying a score from a musician or when signing a publishing contract. There is no universal license and even though provisions concerning royalty fees typically receive the most attention, there are certain other aspects of a license that are crucial for a game developer (eg. liability, duration of a license).
#Business&Marketing At some time during game development you will encounter a license. Whether be it when using an image from a photo bank, when buying a score from a musician or when signing a publishing contract. There is no universal license and even though provisions concerning royalty fees typically receive the most attention, there are certain other aspects of a license that are crucial for a game developer (eg. liability, duration of a license).
17:00-17:45 Thomas Gueridon
Playthora Why second-hand markets can increase your retention
#Business&Marketing
We’ll review the pros and cons of opening a second-hand market for Free-to-Play games and Games-as-a-service with concrete examples.
#Business&Marketing
We’ll review the pros and cons of opening a second-hand market for Free-to-Play games and Games-as-a-service with concrete examples.
18:00-18:45 Roxanne Cohen
ironSource How to level up your rewarded video monetization
#Business&Marketing
Are you doing everything you can to make sure your rewarded video strategy is generating the most revenue for your game, while still maintaining a positive user experience? In this talk, Roxanne Cohen, Product Marketing Manager at ironSource, will walk you through the mechanics of rewarded video, tech solutions for improving the user experience, and tips and best practices for building a strategy that maximizes both eCPM and ARPDAU.
#Business&Marketing
Are you doing everything you can to make sure your rewarded video strategy is generating the most revenue for your game, while still maintaining a positive user experience? In this talk, Roxanne Cohen, Product Marketing Manager at ironSource, will walk you through the mechanics of rewarded video, tech solutions for improving the user experience, and tips and best practices for building a strategy that maximizes both eCPM and ARPDAU.
19:00-19:45 Andrey Shumakov
1C Game Studios Chasing your game’s meta
#GameDesign Micro and macro balance in a team-based tactical shooter may not be something that you have to learn about in the day and age of mobile hyper-casual games. But it’s an exciting and challenging experience for the game designer and a roller-coaster of emotions for the game’s core audience. In addition, Caliber’s character roster has reached 48 over two years of live operations. So I’d like to tell a few stories about how we’ve been handling this ever-growing band during the open beta stage.
#GameDesign Micro and macro balance in a team-based tactical shooter may not be something that you have to learn about in the day and age of mobile hyper-casual games. But it’s an exciting and challenging experience for the game designer and a roller-coaster of emotions for the game’s core audience. In addition, Caliber’s character roster has reached 48 over two years of live operations. So I’d like to tell a few stories about how we’ve been handling this ever-growing band during the open beta stage.
20:00-21:30
Digital Dragons Awards gala – watch it live on Polsat Games! 20:00-21:30
Digital Dragons Awards gala – watch it live on Polsat Games! 
