The seventeenth edition of the Nordic Game conference will take place in Malmö, Sweden on 27-29 May, so it’s a great pleasure to already reveal some of the first speakers for this year’s show.
In terms of the Nordic Game event you have anticipated and many of you already paid for – gathering thousands of industry attendees from the Nordic region and across the globe for exhibitions, award ceremonies, face-to-face meetings and social events – to the extent that it doesn’t happen in May, it will take place in the fall at NG20+ on 25-27 November in Malmö, Sweden.
The NG20 program will once again deliver that trademark Nordic Game blend of international speakers and our local Nordic heroes, sharing knowledge and engaging the audience to together explore the most important issues and trends in game development today.
Here’s a quick look at what’s in store for you at NG20:
Kris Piotrowski, Creative Director, CAPY Back to the Grindstone: CAPY’s Puzzle Game Evolution Grindstone did not appear out of anywhere. The design sensibilities of the puzzle mechanics of Grindstone were the result of a clear lineage of game design at CAPY; beginning with Critter Crunch and then continuing through Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. Similarly, the cartoony art direction of Grindstone built on years of visual design work from an older unreleased project and then Super Time Force. Kris Piotrowski’s presentation traces how CAPY’s puzzle game designs and art direction evolved slowly over many years, eventually coalescing and blossoming into Grindstone.
Amy Dallas, CEO/Co-founder, ClutchPlay Games Team Leadership and the Four Tendencies In this session, Amy Dallas will talk about applying Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies framework in team environments to anticipate how individual team members might respond to internal and external expectations, as well as some strategies for improving team efficiency and overall happiness while reducing stress and burnout.
Jan Klose, Managing Director, Deck13 The Surge 2: Bringing an IP to the Next Level Developing a unique IP just below the AAA segment can be very challenging. Jan Klose explains the choices made and resulting consequences in the process of creating a successor to the critically-acclaimed action-RPG The Surge.
Loukia Kyriakidou, Artist and Animator A Practical Guide to Character Diversity As a part of popular media, it’s important for games to be inclusive and for their characters to reflect their audiences. But this is easy to forget as deadlines and budgets often take priority. Loukia Kyriakidou will talk about implementing diversity in effective, practical terms.
The image above from left to right (top): Kris Piotrowski, Amy Dallas. From left to right (bottom): Jan Klose, Loukia Kyriakidou.
This May at NG20 you can also look forward to the return of the popular Impact Sessions, revitalised Champions of Mobile program, brand new Post-Mortem track and exciting partner talks from Unity, Microsoft and Amber – and much, much more.