The Playing Narratives program, whose second, regional cycle ends at the end of November, took 30+ participants from Serbia, North Macedonia, Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina on an eight-month journey through the development of video games, getting to know the industry and leading experts from Serbia, Germany and France.

The whole process of informal and practical education in the field of video games is intended for young creative professionals or students who want to step professionally into the world of game development, gain invaluable experience and new knowledge, and take their first steps in the industry. This year, the work was organized both through online sessions and through two bootcamp programs, while the first one was organized in Novi Sad back in May.

After an intensive program of lectures and workshops, the participants were divided into 8 project teams before the summer (as opposed to 5 in the first cycle), and continued to work as a team on their concepts for different video game projects. This year, the emphasis is on a socially engaged approach, so the expectation is that each of the teams in some way addresses some of the many pressing challenges we are facing as a civilization, under the general thematic framework of Tainted Nowness.

The participants knew from the start that they would have to polish, articulate and present these projects in English before the international jury by the end of autumn. The best project will receive unique opportunities for further development, but most teams will also receive support in various ways to turn their ideas into reality, if they have the motivation to do so.

When it comes to the preparation of the pitch itself, the participants work on the basis of a set structure, while on a couple of occasions they had the opportunity to share their initial presentations with mentors who provided valuable feedback. Their presentations will be limited to six minutes, and in such a short period of time they should convey the basic idea and sensibility of the games they have developed, as well as a series of specific data about the games.

Presentation skills – whether it is an internal presentation at a meeting, speaking in front of hundreds of people at a conference, or speaking to a single but valuable investor – are one of the essential skills that will help any game creator get their game off the ground, and they will be the main topic of the first day of the autumn Playing Narratives bootcamp.

Through a workshop adapted for our program, participants will deal with the content of their presentations, both at the delivery level and at the visual level, but also with the presentation and public speaking skills themselves. In the second part of the workshop, the pitch situation in front of the audience will be simulated, while we will also analyze the recordings of the final preentations from the last year’s cycle. One of our leading trainers for public speaking will help us with that – Relja Dereta!

After the workshop, participants will have the privilege of visiting the Belgrade studio of one of the leaders of the global game development – Ubisoft, and feel the atmosphere of the studio itself, as well as get acquainted with the logic and way of working of one of the largest teams in our ecosystem, and one of the few which works on AAA titles that reach players around the world.

This program is for Playing Narratives participants only, and is not open to the public. Thank you for your understanding.