GamesIndustry.biz’s free video games event for students will feature expert talent from some of the world’s biggest game creators.
The developers of games such as LittleBigPlanet, Total War, Call of Duty: Warzone, Battlefield, Donkey Kong Country, Need for Speed, Her Story, Everwild, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Star Wars, Dreams, Yooka-Laylee, As Dusk Falls and many more will be speaking with students between Wednesday, October 26th and Friday, October 28th. Plus, Eurogamer’s Editor-In-Chief Martin Robinson will be discussing games journalism.
GI Academy Live takes place within a special Discord, and will feature roundtable sessions, keynotes, masterclasses plus the chance to speak with games industry professions one-to-one. The event is completely free, courtesy of our partner Creative Assembly, and students can sign-up here.
The developers encompass disciplines such as game design, audio, VFX, concept art, character design, programming, UI, voice acting, business development, production, community management and writing.
Our keynote speakers include Sam Barlow, the creator of indie hits Her Story, Telling Lies and Immortality. Rare’s Louse O’Connor, who is currently leading the Xbox game Everwild and who has worked big hits such as Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Viva Pinata. Our final keynote will be announced early next week. And Chella Ramanan, who is currently the narrative designer and writer at Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment studio, working on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Here is the schedule so far (UK time zone):
Wednesday, October 26th
Talks
10:00 – 10:45
Keynote Session: ‘An Idea and an Emotion – How I make Games
Speaker: Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid
Sam Barlow delves into the fundamentals of how and why he makes games, highlighting the core relationship with players and focusing on unifying the mechanical aspects and narrative elements of his experiences from Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, via Her Story and Telling Lies, up to his latest title IMMORTALITY.
11:00 – 11:45
Masterclass: Collaboration first: how to get the best from your team
Speaker: Roberto Geroli, Development Director, Creative Assembly
This talk will focus on how processes foster good team culture and encourage cross-team collaboration. Roberto will also give tips on how to be a good team member for any discipline, the foundations for developing your career. He will also explore some real-life case studies.
Roundtable Sessions
12:00 – 13:00
Creative Assembly TBC
13:00 – 14:00:
Room 1: JD Kelly, Freelance Voice Over artist
Room 2: Emei Burrell, Narrative Artist, Media Molecule
Room 3: Liam de Valmency, Lead Creative Programmer, Media Molecule
14:00 – 15:00:
Room 1: Shane Bromham, Principle Level Design, nDreams
Room 2: Mikael Karnell, EA DICE, Craft Director
Room 3: Ioana Iulia Cazacu, Game Designer, Mojiworks
One-To-One Sessions
10:00 – 11:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 3: Eva Lyncy, UI Artist, D3T
11:00 – 12:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 3: Eva Lyncy, UI Artist, D3T
13:00 – 14:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Shane Bromham, Principle Level Design, nDreams
Room 3: Gordon Bell, CTO, Nosebleed Interactive
14:00 – 15:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Sarah Brin, Business Development Manager, Media Molecule
Room 3: JD Kelly, Freelance Voice Over artist
Special Guest
Ted Timmins, Senior Creative Director, Raven Software (Call of Duty: Warzone)
Thursday, October 27th
Talks
Keynote Session: Title TBC
Speaker: Louise O’Connor, Executive Producer, Rare
11:00 – 11:45
Masterclass: How to be a good Technical Animator
Speaker: Agathe Laus-Pillot, Senior Technical Animator, Creative Assembly
In this talk, Agathe Laus-Pillot, will break down the core aspects of the technical animation discipline. It’s an essential area of games development, but one not often spoken about. Agathe will talk about the skills required, the purpose and use of rigs in development and the role Tech Animators play in tool development.
Roundtable Sessions
12:00 – 13:00
Creative Assembly TBC
13:00 – 14:00:
Room 1: Richard Stokes, VFX Artist, XR Studios
Room 2: Edd Coates, UI Lead, Radical Forge
Room 3: Luke Hardwick, Community Manager, Media Molecule
14:00 – 15:00:
Room 1: Josh Atack, Lead Concept Artist, EA Criterion
Room 2: Martin Robinson, Editor-In-Chief, Eurogamer
Room 3: PlayStation London TBC
One-To-One Sessions
10:00 – 11:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 3: Creative Assembly TBC
11:00 – 12:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 3: Josh Atack, Lead Concept Artist, EA Criterion
13:00 – 14:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Mikael Karnell, EA Dice, Craft Director
Room 3: Liam de Valmency, Lead Creative Programmer, Media Molecule
14:00 – 15:00
Room 1: Edd Coates, UI Lead, Radical Forge
Room 2: TBC
Room 3: Daniel Woodward, Learning and Development Manager, nDreams
Special Guest
Caroline Marchal, CEO and Creative Director, Interior Night
Friday, October 28th
Talks
Keynote Session: Title TBC
Speaker: Chella Ramanan, Narrative Designer, Ubisoft
11:00 – 11:45
Masterclass: Designing for intuitive Player Experience with the ‘3Cs’ (Character, Camera, Controls)
Speaker: Bence Kovacs, Senior Designer, Creative Assembly
In this masterclass, Bence Kovacs will talk about how to design to best support a quality player experience. He will look at the key elements of Player Character; how to define what a character can do, Camera; how to design what the player sees and perceives in the world, and Controls; how the player controls the game.
Roundtable Sessions
12:00 – 13:00
Creative Assembly TBC
13:00 – 14:00:
Room 1: Jo Haslam, Design Director, Snap Finger Click
Room 2: Daniel Woodward, Learning and Development Manager, nDreams
Room 3: Jake Gaule, Freelance Audio and Composer
14:00 – 15:00:
Room 1: Kev Bayliss, Character Designer and Artist, Playtonic
Room 2: Stuart Wilson, 3D Environment Artist, XR Studios
Room 3: Sarah Brin, Business Development Manager, Media Molecule
One-To-One Sessions
10:00 – 11:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 3: Creative Assembly TBC
11:00 – 12:00
Room 1: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 2: Creative Assembly TBC
Room 3: Creative Assembly TBC
13:00 – 14:00
Room 1: Louise Andrew, Head of Art, D3T
Room 2: TBC
Room 3: Dan Hutchinson, 3D Artist, D3T
14:00 – 15:00
Room 1: Jake Gaule, Freelance Audio Designer and Composer
Room 2: Emei Burrell, Narrative Artist, Media Molecule
Room 3: Dan Hutchinson, 3D Artist, D3T
Sign up for free right here.
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