D.I.C.E. EUROPE 2014 SCHEDULE

D.I.C.E. Summit Registration

D.I.C.E. Summit Registration

Go-Karting Tournament
Sponsored by Nexon

D.I.C.E. Happy Hour

Opening Remarks

Martin Rae
President
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

Conference Opening Keynote

Finding Inspiration from Within:
Unlocking the Power of Microsoft Studio’s Creative Jam Process

Phil Harrison
Corporate Vice President
Microsoft 

Phil Harrison lifts the lid on Microsoft Studios to highlight the creative energy that abounds across its European Studios. Microsoft’s focus on fostering the ideas of its own employees beyond the limits of their title and position with its “Creative Jams” process has not only set up a unique corporate culture, but is also helping to shape the next generation of Microsoft games and experiences. The D.I.C.E. audience will receive a unique glimpse into projects created by the Microsoft teams, through sharing ideas that didn’t make it into production and why these can be just as important to a Studio as the games that are made…

D.I.C.E. Opening Night Party
Sponsored by Wargaming

Altitude 360
Millbank Tower
21 - 24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP

D.I.C.E. Summit Registration

Breakfast

Welcome Remarks

Martin Rae
President
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

Wednesday Morning Keynote

Kitchen Meets World

Min Kim
CEO
Nexon America 

The proliferation of online audiences and services throughout the world has created a global opportunity for game developers. Online games have entered the mainstream and their communities are massive. However, global success will demand a new perspective on product, service, and customer experience. Min draws parallels to the restaurant business to examine the challenges of serving a global audience.

Speaker 3

Designing Living Fiction

John Hanke
VP of Product
Google's Niantic Labs 

Flint Dille
Creative Lead
Google's Niantic Labs

John Hanke and writer Flint Dille will focus more deeply on the storytelling aspect and reveal more about how the Ingress platform has enabled and Niantic has designed a new way to approach narrative and developing a living story/universe. The storytellers will show the complex and ongoing writing that surrounds the players through comic books, videos, and other information being delivered by the game and web. They will demonstrate how the players take a part in forming the reality and pushing the story forward, through special in-universe media like Ingress Report that uses real player events to report on the in-game story, or YouTube programming like Ingress Obsessed that intersects with the game, and even ways real world brands can become a part of real world gaming. In a sector where deep storytelling is considered cut scenes, rendering capability and dialogue trees, Niantic will offer a fresh perspective on narrative. A local player event in London will be designed to demonstrate how players interact with the storyline and change it, by playing in the real world and how the news gets fed back to the larger game community.

Speaker 4

When Localization Becomes Cultural - Reaching Global Audiences Effectively In a Gaming World Without Borders

Andrew Sheppard
COO
GREE International

When you say localization - everyone's first thought is TRANSLATION! But in this era of global game distribution, developers and marketers have to do more than just translate a game in order for it to succeed. In this presentation, Sheppard will dive deep on "hyperlocalization", the associated operational and technical challenges it presents, and the very real business opportunity before us.

Networking Break

Speaker 5

Trust and Ballz: Walking the Creative Tightrope

Ted Price
CEO and Founder
Insomniac Games 

Ted Price’s talk will illustrate - through some of his mistakes - what he believes to be a few key elements of creative leadership in the games industry. Ted will share the process he have gone through to give other creative leaders ideas on how to keep teams motivated and empowered under the stress of production and having to come up with new ideas and solu­tions every day.

Speaker 6

Virtual Reality: A New World to Explore

Dave Ranyard
London Studio Director
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Earlier this year, Sony unveiled Project Morpheus, a prototype virtual reality (VR) system, to much excitement and critical acclaim. Ranyard runs Sony’s London Studio, recently gaining significant praise for developing ground breaking experiences for Project Morpheus (The Deep & VR Luge). In this talk, Ranyard will discuss the excitement, challenges and opportunities in today’s world of VR.

Speaker 7

Mind the Gap - Igniting People’s Sense of Wonder

Jonathan Morin
Creative Director
Ubisoft Montreal 

Working on Watch Dogs made Jonathan realize that no matter how big the game is, or how many people are involved, or in how many countries, often the biggest borders you’ll face are hidden in an inevitable“gap” between two minds.

“Mind the Gap” is a session that explores the importance of listening to others and challenging your own creativity. In this session, Jonathan will look at how these perception gaps impacted every aspect of his reality: interactions with executives, with the team, with marketing, with the press, and ultimately with how players play. In the end, he feels the hardest borders to cross are the ones we create in our own minds.

Lunch

Speaker Networking Power Hour

Speaker 8

Bridging West to East, Managing the Complexities

Kent Wakeford
COO
Kabam

The growth of the Asian mobile device and mobile game markets is so compelling that Western developers should be making moves into those markets, if they aren’t already. In 2013, Asia had 820 million mobile devices and in the next four years, that is expected to grow to more than 1.9 billion devices. In 2013, Asia’s $7 billion mobile market was twice as big as North America’s mobile game market, and it is expected to grow to $12 billion. The challenge for Western game companies is that Asia is a complex market. Android rules in places like China, but the market is fragmented across many different app stores. In addition, there are many different payment methods. Kabam COO Kent Wakeford will discuss Kabam’s strategic moves and plans to tackle the various challenges that come with breaking into the Asian gaming market.

Speaker 9

The Death of Devolver

Graeme Struthers and Andrew Parsons
Devolver Digital

Graeme and Andrew will focus on The Death of Devolver, which focuses on what the fans mean to them. In this discussion they will ruminate on what could happen when Devolver starts thinking about the people who allow us to exist (the fans) as customers. 

Speaker 10

Hearthstone: Building a Game for Everyone

Jason Chayes
Production Director
Blizzard Entertainment

Jason Chayes will speak on how Blizzard is bringing its core values to the evolving game landscape.

Networking Break

Speaker 11

Opening the Doors of Development

Tameem Antoniades
Co-Founder
Ninja Theory

Traditionally developers and development processes have been hidden behind a wall of marketing and PR constraints. Rare glimpses of the people behind projects are saved for stage demos at industry events, press studio tours or retrospective ‘making of’ videos. However, as the role of community building becomes ever more important in gaining commercial traction, is now the time for developers to finally lift the curtain on game development? Perhaps by offering the community a seat in their studio, from where they can immerse themselves in the people and processes behind the game, not just the game itself, developers can build loyal and highly valuable followings. Will the sharing of videos, art, processes, documentation and technology throughout development ultimately replace traditional information drip feeding, PR embargos and tightly controlled messaging?

Speaker 12

Games Without Gamers

Ken Wong
Lead Designer
ustwo

Ken will discuss how core gamers have supported the games industry and pushed it into new territory for decades, but fresh opportunities and challenges await if designers try to attract new audiences. In creating Monument Valley ustwo sought to create a meaningful, rich experience for audiences beyond the ‘gamer’ by replacing tropes and overused patterns with a focus on user experience.

Speaker 13

Designing Beyond Historical Constraints
Sid Meier’s Civilization Beyond Earth

Will Miller & David McDonough
Co-Lead Designers 
Firaxis 

Civilization games are about the story of humankind. They task the player to guide society through centuries of progress, governing every aspect of its development, and competing for greatness with the famous figures and cultures of history. The world itself is the character; the nations and leaders and great events are the playing pieces. Players get to upend these stories, rewriting history to tell their own story of what might have been. 

Traditionally in Civ the lens is turned backwards, looking at our past and the stories that have already been told. In Beyond Earth, we ask the player to tell a new story – the story of humanity’s future. It’s a future that is unknown, but one we believe is fundamentally bright; a story of aspiration, achievement, and accomplishment, where humanity rises above its differences and leaves our home planet to start again on a new world. Civilization’s appeal is truly global, and our factions come from many continents and nations, reflecting the diversity and history of many peoples. It’s about humanity as a whole, asking the fundamental question: what does it mean to be human? What defines and guides us? What might be the next great defining step for us be? What could, or should, we become? In Beyond Earth, the world of today isn’t the end of the story, only the beginning. Come hear the story of how we designed Civilization: Beyond Earth.

Speaker Networking/ D.I.C.E. Closing Night Reception

Aubaine Restaurant
37-45 Kensington Hight St, London, W8 5ED