Women in Games

Develop:Brighton goes Digital for 2020

Attend from home, attend for free, supply your own ice cream!

The much-loved annual seaside event has had to make a few changes for 2020 – as have we all. Now taking place on the 2nd to the 4th of November, the event has gone digital and changed its name to match, but it’s still packed with opportunities, interactions and learnings for the industry.

Yes, we’ll all miss mingling in the bar, wandering along the beach and eating one too many free ice creams. However, on the plus side you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home and the whole thing is free. So turn up the heating at home, expense a big tub of ice cream and make the best of it!

Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events explains: “We’re making the whole thing free to ‘attend’ this year as we wanted to support the development community as much as possible, so developers from the UK and across the globe will all be able to access the talks and expo.”

“We’re obviously disappointed not to be having a physical event this year but at the same time we’re hugely excited about Develop:Digital. We’ve got a great lineup of talks covering all our usual tracks across all three days, together with some live panels and an inspirational keynote from Todd Howard.”

And a very topical catch Howard is as well, with Bethesda having just been propelled into the spotlight (even more than usual) by the Microsoft acquisition. Howard, and a couple of other standouts, are detailed to right.

“On top of that, there’s a virtual expo where exhibitors can interact with visitors in real time,” Lane continues. “And on Wednesday the Develop:Star Awards will recognise and reward the best games and talent within the industry.”

We’re looking forward to the event, and we hope to ‘see’ you all there in November.

DEVELOP BRIGHTON: DIGITAL DETAILED

THE CONFERENCE

Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard will deliver the conference’s headline keynote on Monday 2 November at 5pm GMT. Tuesday’s keynote will be delivered by Dominic Robilliard, Creative Director at Sony Interactive Entertainment America. Develop:Brighton Digital’s third keynote session is a live panel – Running a Game Studio –All You Need to Know. Studio heads will discuss their experiences and there will also be a live Q&A with attendees.

Speakers also include representatives from Ubisoft, Mediatonic Games, Frontier Developments, Media Molecule and Splash Damage. The conference will consist of four sessions for each of the eight tracks: Design, Art, Audio, Business, Coding, Mobile, Indie, Discoverability. Sessions run from 10am to 6pm GMT and will be streamed online through ReAttendance. Access to the conference and expo is completely free, but registration will be required to access the website and its many features. All confirmed speakers can be found via the website.

THE EXPO

The Reattendance website will also house this year’s expo. Here, users will be able to browse virtual booths set up by our exhibitors. The booths will be staffed live by representatives ready to answer any questions attendees might have. Any companies wishing to exhibit at Develop:Brighton Digital should reach out to hello@tandemevents.co.uk.

REGISTRATION

Go to: www.developconference.com

THE AWARDS

The Develop:Star Awards will take place virtually at 5pm GMT on Wednesday 4 November, at the conclusion of the conference and expo. The broadcast, MC’d by Strictly Come Dancing’s legendary Alan Dedicott, will be streamed through ReAttendance as well as the Develop:Brighton YouTube channel. Seventeen awards will be given out, celebrating the best of the video game development community. This year’s Develop:Star will be awarded to Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard at the conclusion of the event.

For more information and the latest updates about Develop:Brighton Digital and the Develop:Star Awards, visit developconference.com and follow @DevelopConf on Twitter.

Three to watch at Develop: Brighton Digital

TODD HOWARD, GAME STUDIOS DIRECTOR, BETHESDA

Todd Howard, the Bethesda veteran needs little introduction. Having directed acclaimed titles across both the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series over his long career. Howard is currently directing Starfield, Bethesda’s first new gaming universe in over 25 years

DOMINIC ROBILLIARD, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA

Creative Director of Pixelopus, who most recently directed the multiple award winning and two time BAFTA nominated Concrete Genie for PS4. He previously worked on The Getaway series and the (sadly) cancelled Star Wars 1313.

LYDIA ANDREW, SENIOR AUDIO DIRECTOR, UBISOFT

With almost 20 years of experience at EA and Ubisoft across multiple titles and genres – including Battlefield, Harry Potter and Assassin’s Creed – she has immense experience to share and is currently heading up audio on the upcoming Immortals: Fenyx Rising.