From Gamasutra: It’s that time again: The annual SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference is nigh, and that means conference organizers have released a video preview (embedded above) of some of the technical papers that will be presented at SIGGRAPH 2016 in Anaheim this July.
Read more at Gamasutra
Casual Connect USA 2016 is getting ever-closer to kicking off in San Francisco. With the approach of this major game industry conference is a growing list of events, both official and unofficial, for networkers, coders, partiers and those in between in and around the main event. If more Casual Connect-affiliated events turn up on our radar, we’ll be sure to add them to the list, so this post should not be considered a done deal. With further ado:
Badge Pickup Party hosted by Upsight
WHEN: 6-9 p.m.
WHERE: Golden Gate A, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission St
WHAT: An official sponsored pre-event warmup before Casual Connect USA 2016, with a chance to grab your badge early, then meet and greet fellow attendees at the official venue.
REGISTRATION: https://www.facebook.com/events/295404050806929/
Casual Connect 2016 Mini-Summit and Networking Mixer
WHEN: 4-9 p.m.
WHERE: Jillian’s, 175 Fourth St.
WHAT: Free for mobile publishers and $350 for non-publishers, this half-day event includes exclusive content from Facebook and the BLU Market and several other players in the mobile space, complete with hosted bar and appetizers afterward.
REGISTRATION: http://mobilegrowthfellowship.com/events/casual-connect-2016-mini-summit-networking-mixer/
Official Casual Connect City Hall Party hosted by AdColony and Amazon Appstore
WHEN: 8-11:59 p.m.
WHERE: San Francisco City Hall, Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place
WHAT: Come here for the glitz and glamour you’d expect an official party held in the soaring marble arches and spaces of San Francisco City Hall. The majority of bona fide Casual Connect USA 2016 attendees will find their way to this event.
REGISTRATION: https://www.facebook.com/events/582575735249878
The Hangover Station hosted by the Rubicon Project
WHEN: 9-11 a.m.
WHERE: Yerba Buena Foyer, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission St.
WHAT: Some will feel the aches and pains of pushing midnight with their partying. This breakfast with fellow attendees just might be cure for whatever is ailing.
Skillz eSports tournament and open bar
WHEN: 4-7 p.m.
WHERE: Jillian’s, 175 Fourth St.
WHAT: It’s an open bar! It’s a mobile eSports tournament for prizes! What more could a Casual Connect-goer want? While you ponder the answer to that, there’s this event that covers exactly those two things.
REGISTRATION: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skillz-esports-tournament-and-open-bar-tickets-26507053310
Tenjin’s Casual Connect Networking Hour
WHEN: 4:30-6 p.m.
WHERE: Juniper Room, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission St.
WHAT: Join mobile attribution, aggregation, analytics company Tenjin for a happy hour (and a half) in the midst of the Casual Connect action.
REGISTRATION: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mobilemonday-silicon-beach-vrar-gaming-messaging-improve-power-and-performance-of-your-apps-tickets-26165931004
Chile @ Casual Connect
WHEN: 5-6 p.m.
WHERE: Presidential Suite, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission St.
WHAT: Take a brief detour to the Presidential Suite at the Casual Connect venue, meet Team Chile and enjoy empanadas and pebre — and no doubt a spectacular view.
Chartboost Casual Connect Party
WHEN: 6-9 p.m.
WHERE: San Francisco
WHAT: For mobile game devs, this post-Casual Connect day 2 event brings the arcades set to “free play”, skee-ball, food and drinks and all the chat with game developers you could ever want. Now, for the catch: like an arcade speakeasy (if there is such a thing), this event is password protected and you need a password to sign up.
REGISTRATION: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chartboost-casual-connect-party-tickets-26289325079
Casual Connect Bowling Party by Appnext
WHEN: 6:30-9:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Yerba Buena Bowling Center, 750 Folsom St.
WHAT: Game on at the bowling alley! This invite-only event includes food, drinks and taking on the lanes with those bowling ball-thingies, with other folks in the game development space.
REGISTRATION: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/casual-connect-bowling-party-by-appnext-tickets-26265117674
Secret Level Unlocked: AppsFlyer, Mixpanel, and Mobile Dev Memo
WHEN: 8 p.m. to midnight
WHERE: Hawthorn, 46 Geary St.
WHAT: Just about a block north of the Marriott, Mobile Dev Memo, AppsFlyer and Mixpanel have come together to throw a bash at one of San Francisco’s cooler bars. Appetizers, drinks, DJ beats and “an exclusive group of the best and brightest in mobile gaming” are on the menu. However, this event may be a tough ticket to come by, because it is on waitlist and has been for a while.
REGISTRATION: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/secret-level-unlocked-appsflyer-mixpanel-and-mobile-dev-memo-cc-sf-tickets-26256160884
Official Casual Connect Day 2 Party hosted by Tapjoy and SoftLayer
WHEN: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
WHERE: Ruby Skye, 420 Mason St.
WHAT: The official day 2 destination for where the night owls, hardcore networkers and club enthusiasts among the game developers and publishers will go, after the first second day of Casual Connect USA 2016.
REGISTRATION: https://www.facebook.com/events/741125299359776/
Amazon Developer Day
WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission St.
WHAT: Hear how bestselling apps monetize their games even when their apps are not open. Learn how to create influencers from your player community. Listen to developers talk about how they monetize their brand and IP to build their revenue ecosystem. Free registration, no Casual Connect pass required, with food, drinks and giveaways covered.
REGISTRATION: https://www.modev.com/amazon-dev-day-casual-connect-sf
Indie Prize Awards 2016
WHEN: 1-2 p.m.
WHERE: San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission St.
WHAT: The official celebration of indie game development at Casual Connect conferences around the world, except this year it does not precede the official conference party and is on the afternoon of the last day of the conference.
REGISTRATION: https://www.facebook.com/events/985584644891261/
[Updated July 14th, 2016] Added Chile @ Casual Connect and Skillz events
[Updated July 18th, 2016] Added Tenjin event
From GamesIndustry.biz: Kevin Chou will discuss cracking the static top-grossing chart at San Francisco event this month
Kabam CEO Kevin Chou will discuss the lack of movement at the summit of the top-grossing mobile charts at Casual Connect USA later this month.
Last year, Chou described a future for mobile in which the biggest games could bring in revenue of $1 billion every year. However, while earnings on that scale may well come to pass, it seems increasingly likely that the first games to get there are already at the top of the charts: Clash of Clans, Candy Crush and Game of War: Fire Age have dominated the upper reaches on both iOS and Android for several years already, and will likely continue to do so.
“We will meet this challenge by marshalling all of our time and talent on Fewer games on which we will concentrate Bigger global resources for distribution with Bolder thinking about how we manage long term franchises,” Chou said at the time. “I know Kabam has the industry’s best talent and leadership team to do it.”
Chou will explore the topic further in an onstage interview, and he will be joined on the Casual Connect bill by a number of other prominent mobile CEOs: Glu Mobile’s Niccolo de Masi, Super Evil Megacorp.’s Kristian Segerstrale, Colopl NI’s Jikhan Jung and SGN’s Chris DeWolfe.
VR will also be a common topic on Casual Connect’s agenda, with Playful Corp.’s Paul Bettner, Unity Technologies’ Clive Downie and Skydance Interactive’s Laralyn McWilliams all speaking on the subject, as part of both panels and in dedicated sessions.
Other prominent speakers include FIG’s Justin Bailey, Hi-Rez Studios’ Todd Harris, N3twork’s Neil Young and Skydance Interactive’s Laralyn McWilliams.
Casual Connect USA will take place in San Francisco from July 18 to 20. For more information, visit the website.
Read more at GamesIndustry.biz
To help you plan attendance for this month’s game industry conferences, conventions, festivals and other events, we post a consolidated list of events each month. View the complete July event list below!
Click here for the main calendar view.
July 1-3: RTX (Austin, USA)
1-4: Anime Expo (Los Angeles, USA)
4-10: Castle Game Jam (Orebro, Sweden)
7: App Promotion Summit London (London, UK)
8-10: Anime Midwest (Orebro, Sweden)
12-14: Develop: Brighton (Hilton Brighton Metropole)
13-14: Mobile Game Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
14-16: Christian Game Developers Conference (Portland, USA)
18-20: Casual Connect USA (San Francisco, USA)
20-24: Gam3rCon (San Diego, USA)
21-24: Radius Vienna (Wien, Austria)
21-24: San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego, USA)
23-24: GEXCon (Fredericksburg, USA)
24-28: GAMES (Maastricht, Netherlands)
24-28: SIGGRAPH Anaheim (Anaheim, USA)
26-28: Serious Play Conference (Chapel Hill, USA)
28-31: ChinaJoy (Shanghai, China)
29-31: Resonate (Glasgow, Scotland)
This list is obtained from the main calendar. Did we miss an event? Let us know!
There’s never a shortage of games industry or fan events on either the West Coast or the East Coast. Although, there’s something of a void by comparison in the heartland of the United States. As of today, one new fan festival has had its hat officially tossed in the ring to give gamers in the Midwest something to cheer about.
The XPO Game Festival is going to debut September 23-25, 2016, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Expect a classic three-day weekend expo that will include games, tournaments, panels, cosplay contests, and more.
Acknowledging the need for a noteworthy games event within the brackets of the coasts, Ray Hoyt, president of VisitTulsa and Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture, said in a press release: “XPO was created so that America’s Heartland can have its very own game festival. Both local and visiting game enthusiasts, as well as developers, deserve a place to meet and connect with industry leaders from all over the country. XPO is the perfect opportunity to do just that while celebrating the vibrant atmosphere of Tulsa.”
A few noteworthy details about the XPO Game Festival itself:
XPO Game Festival 2016 is a festival for gamers, developers, industry leaders, and personalities to come together and celebrate video game culture. Featuring a dedicated tabletop gaming area, retro gaming lounge, a VR play area, laser tag arena, and pre-festival events such as film screenings, the XPO Game Festival should cover a lot of the bases eventgoers who love or create games expect.
If the thrill of competition is in your blood, a $10,000 Rocket League tournament produced by LegionBattles is baked into the schedule, too. Learn about the game industry from some top speakers at the festival’s many panels and workshops. Or if you prefer to try something completely different, put your teamwork skills to the test at The Escape Tulsa — a special event that few have experienced.
It’s not a games event these days without an area to showcase indie game devs, and XPO will be no exception. Attendees be able to play hidden gems and mainstream indie titles alike as well as chat with the developers. Studios will be handpicked by XPO organizers to showcase some of the brightest talents in the industry.
Not just one but three afterparties, featuring live music, will be held on-site at the event venue, the Cox Business Center. For some the networking and celebrating with fellow fans and industry influencers is not just the afterthought, but one of the main reasons to attend an event like this, so this should please some folks for sure.
But, what about registration if you want to go, you might ask? Until August 1, early bird passes are available for $35/day or $65 for the weekend. After August 1, weekend passes will bump up to $75. Tickets and passes will include admission to afterparties on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Afterparties alone (without any other event access privileges), are $20/night or $50 for a weekend pass. Online registration is expected to begin this week.
For up-to-date information about the first edition of XPO, check out the official XPO Game Festival website.
From Gamasutra: We perused Gamasutra for interesting E3 news and came across this fascinating article by Simon Carless, EVP of UBM Tech’s Game Network. He had these six takeaways to say about where E3 is headed in the next few years:
1. E3’s value is transitioning to be video/streaming-centric.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, what with the rise of YouTube & Twitch. But it’s clear that E3’s value to the big game platforms, publishers & devs is for games to make announcements at the pre-show press conferences, and then appear on both their own streaming shows and others during the week.
So for example, a notable Sony game would kick off with a trailer at the Sony press conference on Sunday, then appear on Sony’s ‘live from E3 stream’ sometime on Tuesday to Thursday, while also appearing separately on the GameSpot stream, the official Twitch stream, the YouTube Gaming stream, etc, etc.
This multiplies the press value of E3, while getting the word out to lots of parallel audiences. It also becomes much more of a direct messaging-centric play to the Internet as a whole. The ‘written word’ and talking to the traditional online press for non real-time write-ups matters too. But I think it matters notably less than it used to, particularly because games are inherently a moving graphics medium.
2. E3 is becoming about publishers/platform holders talking to their own audiences directly.
The fact that EA and Activision opted to no longer have their own booths for E3 seems to be related to just this point. These publishers can talk to their audience directly just as well by holding offsite events and press conferences like EA Play, without needing to have space on the show floor. EA also internationalized its consumer outreach by having EA Play in London as well, making it more geographically diverse.
(And of course, these publishers still support E3 co-organizer and industry association ESA by being a member and funding government lobbying and other pro-industry outreach. It’s just a reallocation of funds.)
Plus, it’s not opting out of E3 week. EA and Activision can still get their games on the streams of the platform-holders and third-party editorial sites anyhow, and into the booths of the platform-holders. (There were EA games at the show, just within the Sony booth, for example.) So these publishers are participating, but redirecting funds to more direct marketing – and posting their own videos and running streams, too.
And yes, publishers like Ubisoft and Take-Two were still happy to be on site, so it’s not the case that everyone finds exhibiting at E3’s Expo to be unhelpful. It’s just not mandatory, and it definitely used to be, if you were a serious (console/core) game publisher.
Read more at Gamasutra
The 2016 Intel Buzz Workshop series is in full swing. The London event was just wrapped earlier in June, and on the immediate horizon is the Seattle version. On the table is a daylong event filled to overflowing with esports, virtual reality, crowdfunding, platforms, and even machine learning. In other words, the event addresses some of the topics that game developers and gamers in 2016 have come to expect from a game development event. Here are a few of the features worth keeping in mind when navigating the Intel Buzz Workshop Seattle 2016.
Unique Content: Virtual reality, development platform and eSports talks and panels are always current and relevant in the PC game development space. They’re in this workshop, too. However, there are a few talks that are less common but bring a more unique angle that programmers and developers may take a shine to.
George Dolbier, CTO at IBM North American Interactive Media, is conducting a talk on machine learning. What’s machine learning? Hit up a Google News search and see how much of this branch of artificial intelligence is, or will be, touching daily life. Machine learning also will become more of a big deal in game development. Whether adding conversational interfaces, providing better player behavior modeling, or improving game design, machine language platforms will be another means to make games more fun, engaging and natural to play, to loosely quote the talk description. Expect this session to include examples of how machine learning will play (and already is playing) a part in game development.
While a game optimization talk might not be your cup of tea (unless you’re an engineer interested in performance, of course), Intel’s Seth Schneider is going to do a live demo on an indie game, with Intel’s Graphics Performance Analyzers tools to demonstrate how they can optimize a game on the fly. Rule of thumb: Talks can sometimes be dry, but a live demo designed to prove how your game performance can be improved, is almost always more interesting, since it’s theory and concepts in action, with visible results.
Casual Connect Indie Prize 2016 Partnership: Just announced with the Casual Connect USA team, the winner of the indie developer showcase, as judged by the expert panel, will also win a guaranteed slot at Casual Connect USA’s Indie Prize showcase and contest. Indie Prize participation includes a full conference pass to Casual Connect USA 2016 and accommodation at the conference hotel. On top of the hardware and promotion prizes, there’s a lot of potential winning.
Amenities: Let’s be honest: A lot of people like to be rewarded for their time and attention at events with a little love from the organizers and sponsors. Apparently, Intel knows this from past events. Expect Intel to be on its game (yes, pun absolutely intended) for the Seattle event as well. Confirmed good stuff for attendees is breakfast, lunch, breaks and a complete-with-adult-beverages reception later on. New bright and shinies (prizes) will be awarded for the winners in the indie game development showcase and judging. Also confirmed: All event attendees will be given a second-generation Tile, or GenTile2, after filling out an event survey at the end of the day.
Hat Tip to a Good Cause: While there is a minimal fee to attend Intel’s Buzz Workshop, it’s donated entirely to the Child’s Play charity. So, there is the side benefit of warm and fuzzy feelings in donating to a well-known charity for kids. Still, if $10 or $20, if registering late, might be a source of chin-stroking uncertainty, there are plenty of codes for half-off registration, including one for Events for Gamers readers (use EFE50 at the Eventbrite registration).
The Intel Buzz Workshop Seattle 2016 takes place 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 22, 2016, at the Impact Hub in downtown Seattle.
Editor’s Note: Events for Gamers is a partner with Intel Buzz Workshop Seattle 2016.
From Pocket Gamer Connects: Planning to sneak through the door at our next PGC on June 28th-29th?
Friend, there’s no need. There are ways to get in without paying that won’t end up with you taking a swim in Vancouver Harbour.
If you’re an indie with a game currrently in development (or recently finished), then entering our Very Big Indie Pitch is a way to ensure you get two free passes for the conference – assuming your game gets picked to be be pitched at the event. (And if not, you still qualify for a discounted ticket.)
Don’t have a game ready to show but you’re a developer looking for work? You read our mind. New for PGC Vancouver is a ‘Careers Zone‘, an area for recruiters and job seekers within the ‘expo’ area that will showcase companies that are hiring across all disciplines.
Successfully signing up to this grants (limited) access to the conference for any mobile game developer currently planning their next career move. Full details, and registration link, here.
If you don’t fit the bill for either of the above, may we humbly suggest you consider coming along anyway? We’ve got a conference agenda packed with some of the industry’s finest speakers, meaning 80+ sessions, fringe events galore, and unrivalled networking spread so thickly over two days that anyone involved in mobile gaming should be lining to dive in.
Here’s the flow
Whether it’s indies and big dev studios, triple-A publishers, investors, and tool providers, or C-level execs, ad networks, monetisation experts, games media, PR reps, and more, Pocket Gamer Connects Vancouver on June 28th-29th will bring a true cross-section of the mobile games together as we roll into Canada this summer.
Need a bullet point refresher?
And those are just the main tracks. There’s plenty of fringe material to keep everyone going:
Want to step into the ring of mobile gaming knowledge? For a limited time PG.biz readers can grab a ticket at 15% discount!
Square Enix released a new E3 2016 trailer for “Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8.” And although fans are pleased with the new trailer, many are still waiting for “Kingdom Hearts 3.”
The game was first revealed at E3 some time ago, and the hope was that more would be revealed at E3 2016.
The trailer for “Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8” shows some great in-game action; at the very end of the trailer, there is a small tease for “Kingdom Hearts 3.” A logo for the game appears with the words “Upcoming announcements this winter.”
Based on the trailer for “Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8,” it doesn’t look like there will be a reveal of “Kingdom Hearts 3” at E3 2016. So, I guess we have to wait until winter to hear more.
From Nielsen.com: In the over-saturated mobile games market, publishers are increasingly willing to pay to get their titles in front of eager players. Whether it be through app store promotions, traditional media or advertising on social media, these platforms are often the first place consumers become aware of new games. If mobile gamers aren’t aware of a game, they can’t consider it, download it or generate buzz around it. So in that regard, awareness becomes the baseline for success at every subsequent step toward a final purchase.
While awareness doesn’t guarantee success, it greatly increases a game’s potential for prosperity at every other stage. Mobile titles with higher awareness see exponentially higher ownership, so understanding how mobile gamers become aware of titles is fundamental in the highly competitive mobile games market.
Read more at Nielsen.com
From Nielsen.com: It’s now 2016, and gaming has firmly moved out of the basement and into the living room–and beyond. In fact, more than half of the population in the world’s industrialized countries now identifies as gamers, which has brought a tidal wave of change across the way many of us spend our free time.
Today, gaming is as much an aspect of modern culture as anything else. In fact, as detailed in Nielsen’s 360° Gaming Report, gaming is a top entertainment activity for gamers around the world, taking up about 10% of their leisure time. But as is the case with other consumer behaviors, gaming preferences and trends vary around the globe, which means that marketers need individual strategies to engage them.
The ability to take gaming on the road and integrate it into our daily routines via powerful mobile devices has been significantly influential in bringing gaming into the mainstream over the past few years. In North American and Europe, console and mobile are tied as the most popular gaming platforms, whereas mobile dominates the Chinese market by a wide margin. Comparatively, console remains the top choice in Latin America. Understanding the penetration of each platform across regions is critical for any publisher developing and launching global games.
Read more at Nielsen.com
To help you plan attendance for this month’s game industry conferences, conventions, festivals and other events, we post a consolidated list of events each month. View the complete June event list below!
Click here for the main calendar view.
June 1-2: Augmented World Expo (San Francisco, CA)
June 2-4: Salt Lake Gaming Con (Sandy, USA)
June 2-5: e-gameshow (Cankaya, Turkey)
June 2-5: Phoenix Comicon (Phoenix, USA)
June 3-5: 2D Con (Minnesota, USA)
June 3: We Geek (London, UK)
June 4: Intel Buzz Workshop London (London, UK)
June 4: Kill Screen Fest (New York, USA)
June 7: Games Britannia (Sheffield, UK)
June 7-8: TV of Tomorrow Show (San Francisco, USA)
June 9-10: Games For Change Europe (Paris, France)
June 10-12: Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo (SFGE) (Atlanta, USA)
June 14: EAI Intern. Conference on Games fOr WELL-being (Budapest, Hungary)
June 14-16: E3 Live! (Los Angeles, USA)
June 14-16: E3 Expo (Los Angeles, CA)
June 15-19: Origins Game Fair (Columbus, USA)
June 16: MGF Icons (Los Angeles, USA)
June 16-19: Comicpalooza (Houston, USA)
June 17-19: Indy PopCon (Indianapolis, USA)
June 17-19: Denver Comic Con (Denver, USA)
June 18-19: Let’s Play Gaming Expo (Plano, USA)
June 22: Intel Buzz Workshop Seattle (Seattle, USA)
June 23-24: Games for Change Festival (New York, USA)
June 24-25: Game Happens! (Genova, Italy)
June 24-26: Lyst (Hamar, Norway)
June 24-27: Brains Eden (Cambridge, UK)
June 24-26: TooManyGames (Phoenixville, USA)
June 26-7: BIG Festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
June 28-29: White Nights St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg, Russia)
June 28-29: Pocket Gamer Connects Vancouver (Vancouver, Canada)
June 29: Computer and Games (Leiden, Netherlands)
June 30: Intel Buzz Workshop Seoul (Seoul, South Korea)
This list is obtained from the main calendar. Did we miss an event? Let us know!
Events for Gamers is a game industry event calendar and resource for conferences and conventions from around the world. Events include GDC, SIGGRAPH, Casual Connect, GamesBeat, E3 Expo, PAX, Comic-Con, Computex, and hundreds of others.
Contact Us: contact @ eventsforgamers DOT com
