GFB – S01E01: Publishing

Game Funding Bootcamp 08.02.2022.
Time 5 PM
Language English
Location Online
Price 50 EUR / Free for SGA members
APPLY NOW!

GFB – S01E01: Publishing

We are starting the Game Funding Bootcamp with a theme that is in strong focus of all those who have expressed interest in participating in this program: PUBLISHING! Find out what the models of cooperation between developers and publishers look like, how it works in mobile and in the PC world, how some of the largest global companies are working on it, and what are the specific experiences of our members in our first GFB module!

Game Funding Bootcamp is a new initiative of SGA that aims to address these challenges, and through a series of lectures and workshops that will be realized in the period between February and April 2022 to teams and companies from Serbia and the region, present various potential sources of funding, with the participation of domestic and international experts and a number of partner organizations.

As part of the first module dedicated to the topic of PUBLISHING, on Tuesday, February 8, at 5 pm, we will deal with cooperation with publishers and their role in financing projects and teams. We will take a peek into the world of PC / console publishing, as well as the world of mobile publishing, together with some of the leading global companies and SGA partners, such as Epic Games or Voodoo. In addition to various publishing stories, we will hear about Epic MegaGrants, which is dedicated to supporting development projects that use Unreal Engine as its platform, which was launched almost two years ago by Epic Games, and has so far financially and professionally supported numerous projects around the world.

In addition to the insights that our partners will offer and numerous examples, the emphasis will be on the first-hand experiences that our members have had in their work and business so far.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the lecturers, as each visit will be accompanied by a moderated Q&A session.

LECTURERS:

The specificity of the program is the participation of representatives of SGA members, actors of the domestic gaming industry who have already had direct experience with certain models of financing their projects and the challenges they bring, but also other partners who can make a great contribution to understanding the topic or clarifying some practical aspects. The first module will be joined by:

Rocco Scandizzo (Head of Unreal Engine Games, EMEA region @ Epic Games)
Vrinda Batra (Publishing Manager @ Voodoo)
Adam Kovač (Solutions Specialist @ 3Lateral / Epic Games)
Nenad Tomić (CEO @ Mad Head Games)
Igor Simić (CEO & Creative Director @ Demagog Studio)
Nemanja Divjak (CEO @ Tummy Games)

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested participants (company representatives, interested individuals and professionals) should fill out the form on this page, including details of their company, or the company through which they would pay their registration fee. The deadline for applications is Sunday, February 6th by the end of the day. 

PAYMENTS:

All program modules are FREE for all regular SGA members, i.e. those who are paying Start, Pro or Premium membership packages (maximum two people per team/company).

Associate members of the SGA (Free membership) can attend 2 out of the 5 modules of their choice (one person per team/company) – free of charge.

Teams and companies from the Western Balkans can register one person free of charge, while each additional person is charged. These specific “scholarships” are provided by the Reconomy project.

The full price is 50 EUR per person, per module. Payments can be made on the basis of invoices issued by the SGA. SGA can only accept payments from legal entities (companies, organizations or registered entrepreneurs), by bank transfer or PayPal.

*      *       * 

The GFB program will be implemented through several hours of hybrid sessions (live and online) which will be organized every two weeks starting from February 8, 2022. Each of them will be dedicated to one of the mentioned funding models, and this is the schedule that awaits you:

08.02. – Publishing: PC and mobile (online)
22.02. – Public funds in the EU and Serbian (online)
08.03. – Crowdfunding (hybrid)
22.03. – Investments (hybrid)
05.04. – M&As (hybrid)
19.04. – Pitching + Negotiation skills practical workshop (live in Belgrade)

The SGA will promote each of the thematic modules separately, and you will be able to apply for them according to your specific interests or needs.

Game Funding Bootcamp program is implemented in cooperation with a number of SGA partners, including Help! Serbia (within the RECONOMY project), Swiss Entrepreneurship Program, Deloitte Serbia, Karanović & Partners and others, as well as numerous SGA members who will share their experiences so far. with interested game creators from across the region.

Rocco Scandizzo,
Head of Unreal Engine Games EMEA, Epic Games
About the lecturer

Rocco Scandizzo is Head of Games’ Engine Business Development for EMEA at Epic Games, in charge of engine business development for the region.

Formerly the Director of Business Development for Tencent America, his two decades of experience in the video game industry also come from working for developers, publishers, and agencies such as Activision Blizzard, CAA and Vivendi Games. Always with a focus on production, new business development, and developer relations.

Rocco has a PhD in economics from the University of Rome, Tor Vergata, and an MBA in marketing from the Kelley School of Business, IU.

Vrinda Batra,
Publishing Manager, Voodoo
About the lecturer

Vrinda Batra joined Voodoo’s Publishing Team as a Publishing Manager in 2019. She works closely with partner studios around the world to publish hit hyper-casual games. In the last few years, Vrinda has worked on several top hits including Slice it All!, Castle Raid, Tower Run and Stack Colors, which all hit #1 on the iOS US App Store.

Adam Kovač,
Solutions Specialist, 3Lateral
About the lecturer

He received his high school education at the 9th Gymnasium in Belgrade, after which he enrolled at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences with the idea of ​​dealing with (operational) management. Although he was then interested in optimizing the work process, he began his career in a combination of circumstances in financial consulting at the international company EY. There, he made analyzes and reports that help with the acquisitions of larger companies (SBB, Imlek, Knjaz Milos, Bambi…).

One of them was a turning point. While working on the acquisition of 3Lateral by Epic Games he met the 3Lateral team. Today, it is in this company that it helps clients choose the right technology solutions, helps the growth of local startups and creative communities, and deals with marketing and public relations.

Adam also has a great love for mentoring. During his studies and career, he mentored more than 100 students of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in groups, and individually (1 on 1) about 30 students and team members.

Nenad Tomić,
CEO, Mad Head Games
About the lecturer

Nenad Tomic is the Co-founder and today the CEO of Mad Head Games. He was involved in the development of games together with his inseparable colleagues, with whom he sailed into the video game development waters around 2007. Their involvement in computer games has come a long way – from working on their first projects, through outsourcing, to gaining maturity and founding Mad Head Games as a company and making many successful games.

Their team is located in Novi Sad and Belgrade, and its members are from all parts of Serbia – Belgrade, Novi Sad, Karlovac, Senta, Indjija, Zrenjanin – but also from America, China and other countries in the region. In 2020, MHG was acquired by Saber Interactive, as part of the Embracer Group, and in 2022 they continue to expand their capacities and team, and release their new PC game Scars Above.

Igor Simić,
CEO/Creative Director, Demagog Studio
About the lecturer

Igor Simić (born 1988) graduated in film direction and philosophy from Columbia University in New York. His short films were shown and awarded at film festivals, but also in art institutions such as Kunsthalle Mainz, Ulm Museum, Château de Montsoreau, Art Institute of Chicago, Hygiene Museum. His short film Melancholic Drone won first prize at the LOOP Barcelona festival in 2016. He is represented by the Anita Beckers gallery in Frankfurt. This year, Igor will exhibit at the Biennale in Lyon. Simić is a mentor within the Berlinale Talents and Sarajevo Film Festival Innovation Forum.

As Creative Director, Simić is the co-founder of Demagog Studio, which is best known for the game Golf Club: Nostalgia (originally Golf Club: Wasteland), which was promoted by Apple in 2018 and sold over 250,000 copies on PC and consoles. Demagog went on to develop two more games set in the same universe: The Cub, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022, and Highwater, released for Netflix in 2023. Currently, Demagog Studio is in production on its fourth game in the same universe, Gaia Sunrise.

 

 

Nemanja Divjak,
CEO, Tummy Games
About the lecturer

Nemanja used his rich entrepreneurial experience and presence on the Internet from an early age to start the startup Fliiby with his brother, back in 2007. A few years later, he expanded his career in the world of startups as a co-founder of startup Publit.io and game dev studio Tummy Games.

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