For the Win! conference is announced as the new meeting point for the European gamedev community, and is being held in Belgrade for the second time on May 25th and 26th, organized by the SGA. Over the course of two days, close to 300 professionals, students and all those who have a role within the ecosystem of video game development will gather in several locations (Bitef Theater, Kinoteka, Kolarac, Nova Iskra…), in order to connect and exchange experiences, as well as initiate new joint initiatives.
Speakers and delegates will represent more than 15 countries, including our entire region, Turkey, Romania, Finland, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, Great Britain and the USA. FTW! is a unique conference in that it is free of charge, but can be attended by invitation of the organizer or one of the partners. However, those interested in getting involved can contact SGA (via the e-mail sga@sga.rs), while a special Shift 2 Games program will be open to students of faculties with which SGA cooperates and who have departments and courses relevant to game development.
On the special landing page dedicated to the event you can now have a look at the first names of speakers, already about 30 of them, while the complete program and agenda will be announced around May 10.
Special attention is drawn by the keynote speakers whose lectures on May 25th at the Bitef Theater will serve as an ideal introduction to the main conference program on the following day at Kinoteka. We will have the opportunity to hear three different views on the latest trends in the game development system form three industry “heavyweights”:
Michael Sanders is the vice president for creative technologies at the legendary company Activision/Blizzard/King and he is coming from LA to Belgrade to get to know the regional scene and will be talking about creative convergences between film, gaming, and other areas; Denise Farrelly, manager of applications and gaming at Google for the EMEA region will present the latest trends that this global company has identified through its platforms that support a large part of the world’s mobile gaming market; Jo Twist, who will soon step down from the CEO position in the British association UKIE, will share with us the best experiences in building an environment for the healthy development of the gaming industry.
And that’s just the beginning! At the Gamecamp x AppHub program, lecturers are coming from leading companies such as Google (Play, Ads, AdMob), Outfit7, Pixel Federation, GameDesire, Helio, and Nordeus. You’ll have the opportunity to hear about the latest industry trends, Google’s latest product enhancements, and tons of best practices in UA, monetization, user experience, and more. You’ll have numerous opportunities to connect with some of the best talent the global app and game development scene has to offer.
Presentations and panels on the topics of the relationship between education and industry, provision of external services in the gaming industry, AA/AAA productions and much more await you on the smaller “stage”. Representatives of Serbian faculties will also have a chance to participate in the conference for which the SGA, in cooperation with the British Council, is organizing a special workshop aimed at mapping out the next steps in improving cooperation between the academic sector and the creative-tech industry. At the same time, representatives of gaming industry associations from Turkey, North Macedonia, Finland, Belgium, Croatia, Romania, Montenegro and Serbia will have the opportunity to gather in person and exchange valuable experiences.
There is no doubt that during these two days, Belgrade will indeed become the epicenter of the gaming industry in this part of Europe, and open numerous new opportunities – for cooperation and new projects, but also for joint learning and direct networking of professionals from numerous countries.
In case you are curious, have a look at last year’s atmosphere.
The event is realized with the support of numerous partners, including the companies Google, Outfit7, 3 Lateral/Epic Games i Two Desperados, as well as organizations such as The British Council, USAID, SwissEP, MEDIA Creative Europe Desk Serbia, Serbia Innoveates, ICT Hub, Venture an Idea and the supercluster Creative Tech Serbia. The main media partner is Netokracija.
