Unmissable Events at Devcom 2023

The global gaming industry will gather in Cologne, Germany, for a week of conferences and exhibitions, kicking off with the Devcom Developer Conference. Held at the familiar Koelnmesse venue, the event features over 200 speakers across more than 130 sessions, covering all aspects of game development, publishing, and industry growth. We've curated a selection of the most compelling sessions, and you can also explore the full program here. The Devcom organizers have confirmed that the program is currently as finalized as possible, although some session timings may be subject to last-minute adjustments due to technical issues. Anna Brandberg, Lead UX Designer at The Outsiders/Funcom, will deliver the opening keynote at 10am in Congresssaal, focusing on how developers can enhance their player-centric designs using examples from prominent game franchises. At 11:30am in Stage 1 - Europasaal, game designer Paul Toderas will host a panel discussing the making of last year's acclaimed Return To Monkey Island, featuring: - Ron Gilbert, writer, designer, programmer, and series creator - Dave Grossman, writer, designer, and director - Rex Crowle, art director - Zoe Nguyen Thanh, game artist - David Fox, game designer John Johanas, Game Director at Tango Gameworks, will share insights into the development of Hi-Fi Rush at 12:30pm in Stage 1 - Europasaal, including how the team revamped its game design philosophy to work backwards. At 1:30pm in Stage 5 - Offenbachsaal, Incredibuild's Regev Yativ will host a panel exploring the challenges studios face during development, infrastructure bottlenecks, and strategies to overcome these, featuring: - Terranance Cohen, Senior Engine Programmer at Insomniac Games - Ari Arnbjornsson, Evangelist at Epic Games - Brian Cox, Lead Programmer at NetEase Games Shanghai Games Industry Africa's Vic Bassey will invite panelists to discuss the realities, opportunities, and evolving landscape of Africa's growing game development scene at 3pm in Stage 5 - Offenbachsaal, featuring: - Nick Hall, Executive Director at Africa Games Week - Limpho Moeti, Business Development Manager at RocketRide Games - Hugo Obi, CEO and Founder of Maliyo Games - Thomas Shiva, Founder, CEO, and President of Digital Realm Entertainment and Enter Africa Org Erik Peterson from Valve will discuss how Steam connects players with games they're likely to enjoy and provide tips for game makers to reach their target audience at 5pm in Stage 7. At 10am in Stage 11 - Nördliches Sitzungszimmer, Andromeda Entertainment's Ashley 'Ashleyriott' Blake will host a panel on tackling online toxicity and exploring moderation solutions, including AI-powered ones, featuring: - Mike Pappas, CEO and Co-Founder of Modulate - Kaila Jarvis, Xbox Commercial Services Specialist at Microsoft - Dennis 'Thresh' Fong, CEO of GGWP - Ouassima Belmoussi, Project Officer at Helpwanted Cedric Babouche, Director and Art Director at Un Je Ne Sais Quoi, will take attendees through the development process of the stunning Dordogne, from initial sketches to final renders, at Stage 3 - Offenbachsaal. Arden Osthof, Narrative Designer, will analyze games offering more gender-expansive options for player-created characters, identifying what works and what pitfalls to avoid, at Stage 11 - Nördliches Sitzungszimmer. Sho Sato, CEO of Ludimus, will discuss proposals for international collaboration in growing new developer ecosystems in different regions, drawing on his work with the IGDA, at 1:30pm in Stage 9 - Kongresssaal 1. At 2pm in Stage 8, Fellow Traveller's Chris Wulf will moderate a panel session on the relationship between indies and publishers, featuring: - Marie-Anne Hachey, COO of Threaks - Jasper Barnes, Head of Game Scouting at Team17 - Rami Ismail, indie developer Isaque Sanches, Senior Game Designer at Ubisoft RedLynx, will explore common reasons why prototypes don't reflect the envisioned game and provide tips on how to avoid this at 3pm in Stage 1 - Europasaal.