GDC Europe and Gamescom - which is more useful?
In 2013, we attended a large European conference - GDC Europe and Gamescom . There were so many impressions that we were able to put them on record just now. If you want to know what it is and determine whether participation in these events can be useful for you, we present this article to your attention.
GDC Europe Exhibition Area
Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an international conference for developers and publishers of computer games, as well as for other companies one way or another connected with the gaming industry. Initially, this conference was held in America, but with the development of the gaming industry and the further growth of interest in GDC games, they began to be held in other countries. Since 2009, this event came to Europe and became known as GDC Europe. Now the European Conference of Game Developers is taking place in Cologne, Germany, in parallel with the annual international exhibition of computer games Gamescom.
Demid Tishin, Natalya Novikova and Julia Pavlova had the pleasure of representing All Correct at GDC and visiting the Gamescom exhibition. Now, eyewitnesses to these large-scale gaming industry actions are happy to share their impressions and opinions.
')
Demid Tishin , CEO:
“The conference simultaneously involved several rooms in which round tables and reports are held. In parallel, a small exhibition is held where publishers and game developers are looking for staff, and companies operating in the gaming industry offer their services. This includes development, programming, design, localization, and testing of games, as well as their promotion and start-ups. There, each company can place its stand, to which visitors can approach for acquaintance and exchange of contacts. Of course, the conference can be useful for game developers not only to get acquainted with suitable publishers, many of whom came to the conference in search of talented developers. It is worth remembering that, first of all, this conference is aimed at raising qualifications and sharing experience with colleagues.
GDC Europe Report
A Gamescom - an event that is arranged directly for the players. During it, users can try out new gaming products, take part in championships. In addition, there you can purchase fan paraphernalia and meet people in costumes of characters from their favorite games. In short, there is not boring. However, this event is not only entertaining - at Gamescom there is a business zone with stands, and it is even more than at GDC. Also, on the days of these two events, parties are organized during which people have the opportunity to meet and socialize in an informal setting. I think that a beginning developer does not make sense to spend money on a stand - it is enough to exchange business cards with potential business partners at parties and bypass the GDC and Gamescom exhibitions. However, when we went there, there was one awkward moment: the information about the parties was not specially organized. There was no electronic board with announcements about this, so the information about the parties could simply not be reached. But some people came up and handed out flyers. In any case, if you fail to get to all the parties of interest, at least you will not miss GDC-night, information about which is in the program.
If the novice developer decided to put up his stand, then his attractive design and the use of fun handouts, such as badges, for example, would be extremely important. You can arrange some contests, give an opportunity to play games, in general, try to make sure that the stand is not ignored. Although it is very dependent on the place. A stand placed in the corner is likely to lose, even if it is very interesting.
If you ask about the appropriateness of visiting these events by the developer, you can say that in order to acquire new contacts it is enough to get to Gamescom. After all, all publishers come there because they care about users, which means that you can make acquaintances there. Well, a visit to the GDC will be useful for further training. ”
Natalya Novikova , Director of Localization Services Production:
“If we talk about the specifics of these two events, it should be noted that GDC is more than a b2b conference, and Gamescom is something like a show. At the GDC conference they are looking for business partners, there are publishers, developers and other people from the gaming field. Gamescom also has a business section, but the event is mainly organized for the end users of the games, so it is more focused on entertainment. In general, there is great, bright, colorful and cool.
The GDC conference and the Gamescom exhibit can help a novice game developer to meet the right people, especially if the developer already has some product or something to demonstrate. In the ideal case, there you can meet a publisher who is interested in your game. In a less successful case, you can make some useful contacts that will help in the future. If you are a person who just wants to gain experience in the gaming industry, then at these events there are every opportunity to become an employee of one of the major gaming companies. At the Gamescom exhibition, designers were invited and invited them to show their work, and then those who were impressed were offered an internship followed by employment at the company. ”
Yulia Pavlova , Sales Manager:
“I believe that a developer living in Russia should begin with a visit to Russian conferences. In my opinion, publishers and other necessary people are easier to find in Russia, easier to agree with them. Russian conferences are not as large as international ones, so it is easier to schedule a meeting here. There are usually fewer participants, however, there is an opportunity to meet well-known world publishers. And at major international conferences and exhibitions, such as GDC and Gamescom, finding someone is very difficult.
It seems to me that all conferences in the gaming industry have such a feature, which consists in the fact that people are not in the mood for live communication and networking. They sit buried in their devices, and communicate mainly within the network. And I believe that the key to success in building partnerships is live communication. Therefore, I want to advise novice developers to communicate more and rehearse the presentation of their product in Russia, before going to a conference at an international level.
As for the establishment of useful acquaintances, I am not sure that a major publisher will immediately approach the developer standing at his own stand and start telling something. I think the developer should be ready to talk about his product, despite the fact that the latter is not yet complete. I was struck by the developers who took the business card and were in a hurry to leave after hearing questions about their products. ”
As can be seen from the above, our employees have slightly different impressions of visiting GDC and Gamescom. We hope that these differences most objectively reflect the picture of what is happening at the events in question, and allow you to form your own opinion about the appropriateness of attending the GDC conference and Gamescom exhibition. We also hope that the article’s material will be useful if the reader decides to take part in the next conference.
GDC Europe Exhibition Area
Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an international conference for developers and publishers of computer games, as well as for other companies one way or another connected with the gaming industry. Initially, this conference was held in America, but with the development of the gaming industry and the further growth of interest in GDC games, they began to be held in other countries. Since 2009, this event came to Europe and became known as GDC Europe. Now the European Conference of Game Developers is taking place in Cologne, Germany, in parallel with the annual international exhibition of computer games Gamescom.
Demid Tishin, Natalya Novikova and Julia Pavlova had the pleasure of representing All Correct at GDC and visiting the Gamescom exhibition. Now, eyewitnesses to these large-scale gaming industry actions are happy to share their impressions and opinions.
')
Demid Tishin , CEO:
“The conference simultaneously involved several rooms in which round tables and reports are held. In parallel, a small exhibition is held where publishers and game developers are looking for staff, and companies operating in the gaming industry offer their services. This includes development, programming, design, localization, and testing of games, as well as their promotion and start-ups. There, each company can place its stand, to which visitors can approach for acquaintance and exchange of contacts. Of course, the conference can be useful for game developers not only to get acquainted with suitable publishers, many of whom came to the conference in search of talented developers. It is worth remembering that, first of all, this conference is aimed at raising qualifications and sharing experience with colleagues.
GDC Europe Report
A Gamescom - an event that is arranged directly for the players. During it, users can try out new gaming products, take part in championships. In addition, there you can purchase fan paraphernalia and meet people in costumes of characters from their favorite games. In short, there is not boring. However, this event is not only entertaining - at Gamescom there is a business zone with stands, and it is even more than at GDC. Also, on the days of these two events, parties are organized during which people have the opportunity to meet and socialize in an informal setting. I think that a beginning developer does not make sense to spend money on a stand - it is enough to exchange business cards with potential business partners at parties and bypass the GDC and Gamescom exhibitions. However, when we went there, there was one awkward moment: the information about the parties was not specially organized. There was no electronic board with announcements about this, so the information about the parties could simply not be reached. But some people came up and handed out flyers. In any case, if you fail to get to all the parties of interest, at least you will not miss GDC-night, information about which is in the program.
If the novice developer decided to put up his stand, then his attractive design and the use of fun handouts, such as badges, for example, would be extremely important. You can arrange some contests, give an opportunity to play games, in general, try to make sure that the stand is not ignored. Although it is very dependent on the place. A stand placed in the corner is likely to lose, even if it is very interesting.
If you ask about the appropriateness of visiting these events by the developer, you can say that in order to acquire new contacts it is enough to get to Gamescom. After all, all publishers come there because they care about users, which means that you can make acquaintances there. Well, a visit to the GDC will be useful for further training. ”
Natalya Novikova , Director of Localization Services Production:
“If we talk about the specifics of these two events, it should be noted that GDC is more than a b2b conference, and Gamescom is something like a show. At the GDC conference they are looking for business partners, there are publishers, developers and other people from the gaming field. Gamescom also has a business section, but the event is mainly organized for the end users of the games, so it is more focused on entertainment. In general, there is great, bright, colorful and cool.
The GDC conference and the Gamescom exhibit can help a novice game developer to meet the right people, especially if the developer already has some product or something to demonstrate. In the ideal case, there you can meet a publisher who is interested in your game. In a less successful case, you can make some useful contacts that will help in the future. If you are a person who just wants to gain experience in the gaming industry, then at these events there are every opportunity to become an employee of one of the major gaming companies. At the Gamescom exhibition, designers were invited and invited them to show their work, and then those who were impressed were offered an internship followed by employment at the company. ”
Yulia Pavlova , Sales Manager:
“I believe that a developer living in Russia should begin with a visit to Russian conferences. In my opinion, publishers and other necessary people are easier to find in Russia, easier to agree with them. Russian conferences are not as large as international ones, so it is easier to schedule a meeting here. There are usually fewer participants, however, there is an opportunity to meet well-known world publishers. And at major international conferences and exhibitions, such as GDC and Gamescom, finding someone is very difficult.
It seems to me that all conferences in the gaming industry have such a feature, which consists in the fact that people are not in the mood for live communication and networking. They sit buried in their devices, and communicate mainly within the network. And I believe that the key to success in building partnerships is live communication. Therefore, I want to advise novice developers to communicate more and rehearse the presentation of their product in Russia, before going to a conference at an international level.
As for the establishment of useful acquaintances, I am not sure that a major publisher will immediately approach the developer standing at his own stand and start telling something. I think the developer should be ready to talk about his product, despite the fact that the latter is not yet complete. I was struck by the developers who took the business card and were in a hurry to leave after hearing questions about their products. ”
As can be seen from the above, our employees have slightly different impressions of visiting GDC and Gamescom. We hope that these differences most objectively reflect the picture of what is happening at the events in question, and allow you to form your own opinion about the appropriateness of attending the GDC conference and Gamescom exhibition. We also hope that the article’s material will be useful if the reader decides to take part in the next conference.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/208658/
All Articles