Playfish sign for State of Independence

Jeferson Valadares from social gaming developer Playfish is to speak at the forthcoming State of Independence conference in York.

Acquired by EA in 2009, Playfish rose to prominence with Facebook hit Who Has The Biggest Brain? and have produced a number of other successful casual titles such as Hotel City and Pet Society.

Valadares heads Playfish's London studio and was previously creative director at EA Mobile and development director for Digital Chocolate's Sumea Studio in Finland.

"Social gaming is widely acknowledged to be the next wave in gaming, therefore it's only natural that people that have experience in the industry would be interested in moving to that space," said Valadares.

"However, lessons learned in those spaces do not necessarily translate directly to this space; many assumptions have to be challenged. That said, it's not all brand-new, so some of the core, online and casual mantras can be applied," he added.

"This presentation is intended as an introduction to social games and rough guide on what to pack from your past experience when moving to this fresh new frontier, and is based on personal experience."

The conference is due to take place at York Racecourse on Thursday of this week. Further information can be found at the official website.