EUROPE'S DEVELOPMENT ELITE DESCEND ON BRIGHTON
SURVEY OF SPEAKERS IDENTIFIES 2006 AS A PIVOTAL YEAR FOR THE
INDUSTRY, BUT MANY ARE WARY…
The Develop Conference and Expo, set to become the largest
event of its kind in Europe, is about to descend on Brighton
with an impressive list of big name speakers and exhibitors. In
all, there will be 70 speakers taking part in 47 sessions
across three days. Speakers include Mark Rein, Phil Harrison,
Chris Deering, Peter Molyneux, Ken Perlin, Tim Harrison, Jamie
Macdonald, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Marty O'Donnell, Andrew Oliver,
Miles Jacobson, Gary Penn, Jonathan Smith, Paulina Bozek, and
Ernest Adams. The conference has six tracks covering coding,
design, art, audio, business and next wave. There are also
around 40 companies taking part in the Expo that is running
alongside the conference, and is free to attend for industry
professionals. In a survey of speakers, organiser Tandem Events
has discovered that 2006 is set to be a pivotal year for the
development community, and for some developers, it will be a
make or break year for their studio. "The survey highlighted
that 2006 is requiring a number of senior managers to make some
crucial decisions. Over half of the respondents said that
strategic directions taken in 2006 will have fundamental
implications to the long term future of their businesses,"
commented event director, Andy Lane. The effects and costs of
next gen development obviously played a major part in the
respondents' concerns, but the vast majority were upbeat about
the future of the industry as a whole. "Many of the sessions at
the Develop conference have been designed to help the industry
focus on the fundamental topics that are affecting the industry
and give developers an alternative input into their decision
making process. What's really impressive is that over 85% still
found the industry exciting to be in, and wouldn't change their
jobs," Lane continued. "There simply aren't that many
industries where that level of passion exists." In addition to
the main conference there will be an IGDA workshop, a Develop
Mobile conference, The Develop Industry Excellence Awards, a
Serious Games Workshop, GamesEdu - a day long event dedicated
to the educational community involved with games related
courses - and an ATI Developer Day in partnership with
Microsoft and Intel. The Develop Conference and Expo is
sponsored by Sony Studios, Philips amBX, Autodesk and Nokia.
Full details are at www.developconference.com NB Press passes
to the conference are available to bona fide journalists who
write about interactive entertainment. You may be asked to
supply proof of published articles.
