First Digital Dragons speakers announced

05 lipca 2021

September 7 and 8 as an online event and – a surprise from the organisers – September 9 off-line at the Kraków Technology Park! These are the dates of this year’s Digital Dragons, the leading games sector business conference in the Central Europe. Worth saving them in your calendar even now. Lectures, discussion panels, business meetings, the Golden Dragon Ticket to the Poland Prize for the best foreign indie studio, and the Digital Dragons Awards presentation gala.

The Digital Dragons take off on 7 September, and we already know the first speakers. David Jaffe, currently of Movie Games, is more of an institution than of a single man: working in the game dev business since the 1990s, he is a developer of such cult series as Twisted Metal and God of War. At our conference, he will discuss how to turn a failed project into a practical experience helpful for the future. Other speakers include Darren Korb, a composer and scriptwriter, who will focus on videogames music. Danuta Psuty (Flying Wild Hog), an acclaimed level designer, will speak about development of riveting locations and levels in games so as to absorb the players, and let them discover and influence the plot. Pascal Luban (The Game Design Studio) will shed some light on the contribution of games to culture, and Christian Fonnesbech (Leverage Partnership) will fall back on his developer and publisher experience to explain certain points in brand building strategy.

There are altogether 48 lectures and discussion panels planned, with themes ranging from game design, via programming, art in games, and business, to marketing. The calls for expert presentations are still open. Organisers are particular about the high level of the content and adjustment of the presentations to the current needs of the sector. You can submit your suggestions here.

The online arm of the Digital Dragons Conference held on 7 and 8 September will include the Expo Zone and an option to arrange virtual meetings. However, the organisers decided to take advantage of the opportunity and organise an accompanying meeting in the real world. The agenda was extended to accommodate the additional (third) day of the conference, devoted to networking and long-expected face-to-face business meetings at the Kraków Technology Park. Plans for 9 September also include a stream of discussion panels devoted to the women’s game dev. Leadership the women’s way is the preliminary motto for the third day agenda.

The Golden Ticket is this year’s novelty: a fast track that allows admission of the best foreign indie team directly into the Poland Prize acceleration programme. Acceleration is an opportunity to develop with the game dev sector’s best publishers and investors, but also means funds for product development with a selected partner amounting to even as much as €70,000! The programme is addressed to foreign teams, and finances setting up a company in Poland. The teams and crews eager to take advantage of the fast track are welcome to apply for pitching during the conference. All the information and the registration form will soon be available on the Digital Dragons website.

Last year’s edition of the Digital Dragons conference, held for the first time online, attracted 2900 participants, including 1100 companies from 65 countries. Hallmark Polish and foreign names were present among the representatives of the digital entertainment sector. The two competitions organised, the Indie Celebration and the Digital Dragons Indie Showcase, attracted 366 projects from 30 countries, and the media coverage reached more than 1.5 million people. Whether online or off-line, the Digital Dragons is the event that makes it possible to start relationships between businesses from the East and the West. This year, the organisers count on a similar level of attendance and invite you to face-to-face meetings on the third day of the conference.

Opening of the box office is slated for August!

Partners:

Małopolska Region is the Main Partner of the event: the regional authorities implementing a range of projects that serve innovation and economic development of Małopolska, and its attractiveness for investors. Małopolska is a perfect location for running business, particularly based on new technologies.

Kraków Technology Park (KPT) has contributed to the development of proper conditions for the development of entrepreneurship for 20 years. For 10 years it has managed the Technology Incubator for IT start-ups. The KPT inspires the start-up community by organising numerous events including workshops, hackathons, and conferences that help to verify business concepts. Besides these, it runs KPT ScaleUp acceleration programme. Companies may count on the support of seed funds, tax reliefs offered by the Polska Strefa Inwestycji (Polish Investment Zone) programme, and preferential office space rental conditions. The KPT is particularly focused on Industry 4.0 and the video games industry. It is the leader of the hub4industry consortium aiming to provide comprehensive support for companies wishing to implement Industry 4.0 solutions. The KPT also organises Digital Dragons – the leading games industry event in Europe. The KPT also works with the international EIT Digital, which aims to drive the digital transformation in Europe.