MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
This year’s Interface line-up has been bolstered by the addition of Green Man Gaming, Curve Digital and Soedesco.
The companies join major UK publishing names already confirmed for the event, including Sega, Channel 4, Plug In Digital and KISS, who are all looking to find the next independent hit.
Green Man Gaming has its own publishing arm and launched its Finishing Finance Facility at the end of last year to assist developers with financial support.
Soedesco is the publisher behind titles such as Awesomenauts Assemble, Ether One, Teslagrad and Tower of Guns.
Meanwhile, Curve has brought major indie releases including Dear Esther, Stealth Inc, OlliOlli and Thomas Was Alone to market.
Alongside this marketplace where indies can meet with potential publishers, Interface also boasts a host of informative speakers, plus panel discussions and keynote presentations focusing on the key issues facing the games development industry.
Speakers confirmed for the event include indie pioneers Mike Bithell and The Chinese Room’s Dan Pinchbeck, Team17 MD Debbie Bestwick and Unity’s Andy Brammall, as well as Revolution, Playtonic and Edge Case Games on The 6m Panel, and a quartet of PR experts.
Interface will take place at St Mary’s Church, Marylebone, London on Thursday, May 5th. The event centres around a private one-to-one meeting system that gives developers the chance to pitch their titles to publishers actively looking for games to bring to market.
A number of publishing houses have already signed up – and there are more big names to come. You can find out more and sign up here.
For sponsorship opportunities contact Conor Tallon or Charlotte Nangle.
On the day, attendees curate their own experience – typically a day will be a mixture of taking in conference sessions and keynote talks, pre-arranged one-to-one pitching meetings (arranged by us) and ad hoc meetings/product demonstrations at the exhibition. The entire day is designed to bring all aspects of the videos games industry together through an array of methods.
The conference schedule for Interface 2016 is as follows:
09:30
Registration & Coffee & Networking
10:00
Conference Welcome
10:10
Opening Keynote Discussion: The 6m Panel
Thomas Bideaux, ICO Partner
Chris Mehers, Edge Case Games
Charles Cecil, Revolution
Andrew Robinson, Playtonic
Leading crowdfunding experts who have together raised more than 6m via the likes of Kickstarter discuss the merits and dangers of this method of raising money.
10:45
Going Global
Sander Den Boer, Euromonitor
The games industry is an international business. So Euromonitor discusses the other markets in the world where you may want to look at expanding.
11:10
Panel Discussion: Is your game actually ready?
Andy Robson, Testology
Edd Buffery, Testronic
Loreto Sanz Fueyo, Universally Speaking
Orad, MoGi Group
So you’ve made a wonderful game and it’s ready for launch… but is it really? Will it pass certification? Have you checked for bugs and spelling? How do you make sure your game is good enough for the consumer? QA specialists discuss the challenges they frequently face and how you can avoid them.
11:45
Coffee, Networking & Exhibition Visit
12:00
Indie Studio Surgery
Dan Pinchbeck, The Chinese Room
Your questions about starting-up and running a small game company answered by Dan Pinchbeck, studio head of successful UK studio The Chinese Room. He’s actually a doctor too, so the analogy holds (OK, so his doctorate is in first-person shooters but it still counts, right?).
12:25
Working With Tax Breaks
Andy Tomlinson, UKIE
Anna Mansi, BFI
Moses Nyachae, Saffery Champness
Three experts in UK Games Tax Relief discusses how to make the most out of the Government’s support for games developers
12:55
Lunch, Networking & Exhibition Visit
14:00
Panel Discussion: Self Publishing Is Dead?
Jason Kingsley, Rebellion
Garry Williams, Sold Out
Martin Mathers, Rising Star
David Clark, KISS
Colin McDonald, All 4 Games
Leading publishers and developers discuss the merits, and pitfalls, of using publishers when releasing a game
14:35
Made With Unity Masterclass
Andy Brammall, Unity
The firm will discuss how using analytics during QA and even in Early Access can aid developers in fine-tuning their game and improve their design process.
15:00
How to sell your game to an investor/publisher
Debbie Bestwick, Team17
One of the most experienced and influential indie games leaders offers her tips, advice and support for small developers on how to pitch and sell their games to potential partners.
15:25
Coffee, Networking & Exhibition Visit
16:00
The PR Power Panel
Caroline Miller, Indigo Pearl
Lauren Dillon, Premier PR
Stefano Petrullo, Renaissance PR
Tracey McGarrigan, Ansible Communications
Leading PR experts from Indigo Pearl, Premier PR, Renaissance PR and Ansible Communications will discuss working with the media, utilising video and how best to use social media. We will also discuss pitfalls for studios to avoid when trying to sell their game
16:35
Closing Keynote: 10 surefire ways to maybe do interesting stuff that could work, possibly
Mike Bithell
The creator of Volume and Thomas Was Alone discusses his influences when creating his hit indie games.
17:00
Closing Comments & Takeaway Tips
Developers in attendance last year included Digital Tales, Honey Tribe Studios, Input Mobile, RedBreast Studio, Fat Pebble, Chilled Mouse, Viewpoint Games, Sigtrap, Milky Tea, The Project Factory, Torque Studios, R Control, MoonJump, Pixlebomb, Universally Speaking, The Hero That Ran, Wish Studios, Pixel Spill, Giftgaming, Fat Fish Games, RedSix Games, Cupboard Games, Fourth State, UpDownLeftRight, RGBird Games, Sliding Pixel, Kurly Entertainment, LYTE, The Dangerous Kitchen, Gunkatana, Antstream, Large Visible Machine, Oxford Audio Post Production, FlySoftworks, Playback Interactive, Distinctive Developments. For more information, check out the Interface website here.
