More speakers will be announced soon!
Speakers
Kim BelairCEO, Sweet Baby Inc.
Kim Belair is a writer, narrative designer and the CEO of Sweet Baby Inc. – Part of the games industry since 2013, she's written for projects including Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Neo Cab, Sable, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and many, many more. Beyond her narrative work, Kim is an advocate for representation and inclusion in games, and for generally making things better for workers in an unfair industry.
Sweet Baby Detected: Representation and Innovation in Narrative Development
Sweet Baby Inc. is a narrative development company, tackling everything from scriptwriting and narrative design to creative direction and casting support. But if you've heard of them recently, it's likely because of the ongoing hate campaign focused on SBI's commitment to diverse perspectives and their work in cultural consulting. But what does it really mean to try to support diversity and inclusive storytelling, and how do we practically apply it to game and narrative development-- without falling into the trap of tropes, checklists or boring tokenism? And how does a team weather a storm of online trolls and misinformation while pushing ahead with both their work and values intact? Listen to Sweet Baby Inc. CEO Kim Belair talk about her experiences and methodologies, and get deeper insight into the world of both narrative and authenticity in a conversation with long-time collaborator Bernice Chauly, Senior Writer & Cultural Advisor at Avalanche Studio Group.
Bernice ChaulySenior Writer & Cultural Advisor, Avalanche Studios Group
Bernice Chauly is a writer and cultural advisor on Contraband, currently in development with Avalanche Studios and Xbox. She has worked in the creative industries for over 30 years as artist and author, creating a body of work that has straddled the personal and political. An advocate of education and human rights, she believes in the potential of the games industry in being inclusive to all, and in giving voice to making better games.
Sweet Baby Detected: Representation and Innovation in Narrative Development
Sweet Baby Inc. is a narrative development company, tackling everything from scriptwriting and narrative design to creative direction and casting support. But if you've heard of them recently, it's likely because of the ongoing hate campaign focused on SBI's commitment to diverse perspectives and their work in cultural consulting. But what does it really mean to try to support diversity and inclusive storytelling, and how do we practically apply it to game and narrative development-- without falling into the trap of tropes, checklists or boring tokenism? And how does a team weather a storm of online trolls and misinformation while pushing ahead with both their work and values intact? Listen to Sweet Baby Inc. CEO Kim Belair talk about her experiences and methodologies, and get deeper insight into the world of both narrative and authenticity in a conversation with long-time collaborator Bernice Chauly, Senior Writer & Cultural Advisor at Avalanche Studio Group.
Christofer SundbergFounder & Chief Creative Officer, Liquid Swords
A veteran of the video game industry, Christofer Sundberg is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Liquid Swords, the studio he started in 2020. He spent the previous two decades at Avalanche, which he also co-founded, where he was the brains behind the Just Cause franchise. During his time in the industry, he’s made a name for himself as an outspoken advocate for putting quality and care into games, rather than buzzwords and broken promises. These days, you’ll find Christofer in the Liquid Swords studio creating the team’s first groundbreaking AAA+ action epic. He can’t wait for you to play it.
How to Blow up Everything and Be The Last Man Standing
From the Caribbean to the Wastelands, Christofer Sundberg has seen it all. Blowing up expensive stuff, open world exploration, beating big bosses – in business as in game design. Just Cause, Mad Max, Hunter: Call of the Wild, Rage 2… you have played the games. Now meet the man behind them in a fireside with Per Strömbäck.
Lydia AndrewStudio Head of Creative, EA DICE
Lydia Andrew is a Game Audio Director with over 25 years of experience in sound. Starting in location sound recording in 1994, moving into sound post-production for film and television in 1999 and into games in 2002. She has worked for EA UK, Ubisoft and EA Dice across multiple titles and genres, working in all aspects of game audio creation and integration. Originally from the UK, she has worked in France, Canada and now Sweden. Her current role is Studio Audio Director for DICE Stockholm.
We Are All Game Developers First - Working Outside a Strict Discipline Delineation Model
We are most importantly game developers and players. As developers, we always want to improve the player experience. But how can we work towards a model where your discipline is the area of craft expertise but not the only reason you are in the room?
This session highlights how we can leverage all of our expertise and life experience to work together more seamlessly to get better results.
Led by the Studio Head of Creative at DICE, the idea behind this model of working has grown out of long-time experience in audio, but also from working in depth with almost every other discipline.
David FilipeEngineering Manager, Resolution Games
Pen and Paper RPG on a Shiny Helmet?: Bringing Demeo to Apple Vision Pro
Leveraging Unity's latest tech stack, we brought Demeo, an immersive tabletop role-playing game from Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Flatscreen to the Apple Vision Pro Spatial Computing while maintaining cross-platform support and all the characteristics that define Demeo as a social game. What is PolySpatial? What tools to use? The considerations to have between bringing an existing project to Apple Vision Pro versus starting a new one.
Amanda MöttönenSustainability Consultant & Partner, U&We
Play, Create, Calculate – The Why and How of Tracking and Reducing Your Climate Impact
This session focuses on the games industry's impact on climate change and how companies can reduce their carbon footprint. We will introduce a new tool that helps studios calculate and reduce their emissions. We’ll also listen to a studio's experiences in implementing greener policies, offering practical advice and inspiration for others to start making sustainable changes. Join us to learn how the industry can work towards a more sustainable future! Sustainability consultants from U&We present the newly released toolbox for calculating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from game development, as part of the Vinnova funded project, Sustainability in new digital industries (Susindi). They will talk about why tracking your carbon footprint is important, and how you can do it with different levels of ambition and resources. Understanding the emissions of your own organization and in the value chain leads to the next part: identifying actionable steps to reduce your carbon footprint.
Anna LarssonSustainability Consultant & Partner, U&We
Play, Create, Calculate – The Why and How of Tracking and Reducing Your Climate Impact
This session focuses on the games industry's impact on climate change and how companies can reduce their carbon footprint. We will introduce a new tool that helps studios calculate and reduce their emissions. We’ll also listen to a studio's experiences in implementing greener policies, offering practical advice and inspiration for others to start making sustainable changes. Join us to learn how the industry can work towards a more sustainable future! Sustainability consultants from U&We present the newly released toolbox for calculating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from game development, as part of the Vinnova funded project, Sustainability in new digital industries (Susindi). They will talk about why tracking your carbon footprint is important, and how you can do it with different levels of ambition and resources. Understanding the emissions of your own organization and in the value chain leads to the next part: identifying actionable steps to reduce your carbon footprint.
Sara PonnertDEI & Sustainability Manager, Avalanche Studios Group
Play, Create, Calculate – The Why and How of Tracking and Reducing Your Climate Impact
This session focuses on the games industry's impact on climate change and how companies can reduce their carbon footprint. We will introduce a new tool that helps studios calculate and reduce their emissions. We’ll also listen to a studio's experiences in implementing greener policies, offering practical advice and inspiration for others to start making sustainable changes. Join us to learn how the industry can work towards a more sustainable future! Sustainability consultants from U&We present the newly released toolbox for calculating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from game development, as part of the Vinnova funded project, Sustainability in new digital industries (Susindi). They will talk about why tracking your carbon footprint is important, and how you can do it with different levels of ambition and resources. Understanding the emissions of your own organization and in the value chain leads to the next part: identifying actionable steps to reduce your carbon footprint.
Raunaq Singh SokhiGame Designer, EA DICE
Raunaq Singh Sokhi works as Game Designer and Product Owner, specializing in Game Modes on Battlefield 2042. Other titles he has worked on include theHunter: Call of the Wild, Trials Frontier, CastleVille, and Go Home!. Through his career, Raunaq has had a hand in Systems, Quest Design, Level Design, and Creature and Character Mechanics. Today, he takes on design leadership, mentorship, and educational collaborations as his next projects, while maintaining focus on Game Mode Design.
Tetrilemmas of Game Making
Game making, like many other things, is not always black or white. Most decisions we make affect different elements of the game and the team.
Join a Game Designer and a Software Engineer from DICE to learn how we measure things, not in black or white – but not looking in multiple dimensions. This impacts how we set up goals and what “success” looks like from different perspectives.
We want to raise the conversation for people to look at decision making in any creative field as multi-faceted and hopefully take that back to their own teams to drive more interesting discussion about what success looks like to their teams.
Emelie FullerSoftware Engineer, EA DICE
Emelie Fuller is a Software Engineer at EA DICE working on the Battlefield Franchise. She has previously worked on Battlefield titles such as Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042, but also on non-EA titles such as Metal Hellsinger and Dune Awakening. While her primary focus has been on UI development, Emelie has branched out to cover other technical areas such as gameplay and online development, build pipelines and tools, resulting in her taking on leadership responsibilities over the past year.
Tetrilemmas of Game Making
Game making, like many other things, is not always black or white. Most decisions we make affect different elements of the game and the team.
Join a Game Designer and a Software Engineer from DICE to learn how we measure things, not in black or white – but not looking in multiple dimensions. This impacts how we set up goals and what “success” looks like from different perspectives.
We want to raise the conversation for people to look at decision making in any creative field as multi-faceted and hopefully take that back to their own teams to drive more interesting discussion about what success looks like to their teams.
Marléne TamlinHead of Sustainability, Swedish Games Industry
Marléne Tamlin is head of Sustainability at Swedish Games Industry. She has an educational background in ecological economics and environmental science and many years of experience working with sustainable development, democracy and culture and societal issues (and playing games). During 2024 Tamlin is managing a project and writing a report on games and climate.
Sigrid GruenerDeputy Director / Programme Director, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation
Sigrid Gruener is Deputy Director and Programme Director at the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation with a focus on Peacebuilding and heads the Foundation’s Office in New York. In total Sigrid has over 20 years of experience working as a practitioner, trainer, and researcher in the field of development, peacebuilding, and conflict transformation. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked with diverse civil society organisations and as an implementing partner to the UN in Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Timor Leste, Panama, and the U.S. Sigrid holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts from American University’s School of International Service in Washington D.C.
Playing For Peace: Unlocking the Creative Power of Game Devs to Strengthen Young Peacebuilders
Calling all visionary game developers! Are you ready to harness your creativity and the unparalleled engagement power of games to shape a better world? Join us for the Playing for Peace Idea Incubator, where we'll collaborate to design innovative strategies that use gaming to fund and promote young people to build peace across the world.
In this dynamic session hosted by the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation and the United Nations Global Compact, you'll have the chance to:
- Collaborate with a diverse community of forward-thinking developers and peace advocates.
- Explore how game narratives, character journeys, and in-game mechanics can promote values of peace, empathy, and conflict resolution.
- Be part of groundbreaking ideas that merge your passion for gaming with real-world impact, creating opportunities for global good.
- Walk away with concrete, actionable steps, and potential partnerships to turn your creative visions into reality.
Join us for the Playing for Peace Idea Incubator, where we'll kick off a collaboration to design innovative strategies that use gaming to fund and promote young people to build peace across the world.
Read more about Investing and Partnering with Youth for Peace (IPYP) here >
Mikael Linderholm Technical Art Director, Embark Studios
Art Directing Mayhem
Developing THE FINALS not only included building a destruction system in Unreal Engine that can cover everything from small props to large buildings, we also needed it to look good.
We use various approaches to create debris, broken surfaces, soot and smoke to create visual interest and persistent changes in our environments.
Here we look at some of the challenges we encountered and solutions we implemented, what worked well, and what we learned from things that didn't.
Nils LindSenior Setup Technician, Sharkmob
The Sharkmob Workshop, Digital To Physical and Back Again
It started as a solution to a huge 3D printer not being delivered assembled. And turned into a prototyping space for Mocap and Photogrammetry, part of an interface between the games and the real world. A day can be anything from altering a mocap suit to modeling a custom rig for holding the polarizing filters on a camera. Or manufacturing a full-size exosuit. Or making muppet versions of the founders for the Christmas party. Or… pretty much anything you can think of. Nils Lind, Senior Set Up Technician at Sharkmob talks about his odd but happy little workshop.
Anton Johnson Senior Level Designer, King
How to Maintain Player Interest Across Thousands of Levels
This session explores the complex art of level design in match-3games, focusing on Farm Heroes Saga. What's the secret behind keeping players engaged after thousands of levels? How do you navigate the possibilities and create an enjoyable experience? and why is it important to understand the pivotal role progression and flow play in match-3 games? Hear more about the key principles behind one the worlds biggest mobile games.
