Ico, Inside and Ultima creators to speak at Gamelab 2017

Playdead co-founder Dino Patti and Ico creator Fumito Ueda will join Richard Garriott in speaking at the Gamelab conference in Barcelona next month, and GamesIndustry.biz has 10 free tickets to give away to our readers.

Both Fumito Ueda and Dino Patti are fresh off critically acclaimed projects with unusually long development cycles: Ueda was the main designer of The Last Guardian, which launched in 2016 after seven years in production; Playdead's Inside also launched last year, six years after the release of the Danish studio's debut title, Limbo.

Patti departed Playdead after more than a decade in July last year. Ueda, meanwhile, is already dropping hints at the structure of his next game, and more could well follow at Gamelab.

Other speakers attending Gamelab this year are Remedy's Sam Lake and CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, instrumental figures behind some of the biggest games the industry produces. Independent voices are also well represented, in the form of interactive narrative specialist Emily Short and Papa & Yo creator Vander Caballero, who is currently working on a VR project, Cali.

This year will also see Ultima creator Richard Garriott receive the Spanish Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Honorary Award. Previous recipients include Hideo Kojima, Will Wright and Peter Molyneux.

GamesIndustry.biz has 10 free Gamelab Conference Passes to give away to our readers for this year's event. If you want to apply, send an email stating your name, your job title, and your company to matthew.handrahan@gamesindustry.biz, with the subject line "Gamelab 2017 Tickets." The offer closes on Friday May 26.

Gamelab takes place at the Hesperia Tower Hotel in Barcelona from June 28 to 30. For more information, visit the official website.

GamesIndustry.biz is an official media partner of Gamelab. We will be covering the event, with our hotel and travel costs paid for by the organiser.