The biggest names in global gamedev, led by Swen Vincke, CEO of Larian Studios, who received the Digital Dragons Award statuette for the legendary Baldur's Gate 3, met in Krakow for another edition of one of the biggest B2B events for the games industry in Europe. Digital Dragons Conference, which was record-breaking in many respects, has just concluded.
Three days filled with specialist lectures delivered by almost 200 speakers, three thematic summits, over 2600 guests from almost every corner of the world - the capital of Małopolska became the capital of the games industry for a few days. Organised by the Krakow Technology Park, Digital Dragons Conference once again showed that Poland is attracting more and more attention from the world's biggest industry tycoons for a reason.
The biggest players
This is proven by the presence of leading game development and technology companies - such as Activision, the main sponsor of the conference, Larian Studios, Intel and Dell. Alongside them, the biggest players on the domestic market, including Techland and 11 bit studios, have had their stands in the exhibition area.
We place particular emphasis on the relational aspect of our event. Alongside an extensive content programme, it is a key element of the conference - meetings in the Business Networking Zone are becoming more and more popular every year. The event integrates developers, publishers and investors, enabling the exchange of experience and inspiration, as well as the establishment of key business relationships.
Anna Krampus-Sepielak, Head of Digital Dragons Hub
This year's edition of the conference also featured a record-breaking programme - 195 panelists prepared a total of 132 programme topics. That is why the organisers have decided, for the first time in the history of the event, to plan it over three days and invite the guests not only to the ICE Congress Centre, made available courtesy of the City of Krakow, but also to the nearby Park Inn by Radisson hotel, where three thematic summits were held - Legal Summit powered by Rymarz Zdort Maruta, Game Design Summit powered by Anshar Studios & Fool's Theory and Games Marketing Summit.
Masters of the game
- This is probably the coolest looking award that we won so far – said Swen Vincke, CEO of Larian Studios, just after receiving Digital Dragons Award statuette in Best Foreign Game category for resurrecting the legendary RPG brand in the form of the hit game Baldur's Gate 3. The winners in the Best Polish Game category were the creators of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty from CD PROJEKT RED studio.
In addition, six other awards were presented. The Cyberpunk DLC also won in the Best Polish Narrative category, Inkulinati was recognised for best visuals, The Invincible for sound, and Against the Storm for game design. The best mobile game of 2023 was Hero Legacy: Adventure RPG, and the Special Recognition Award went to Marta Fijak.
Starting of a new game
Digital Dragons Conference is a space not only for industry leaders, but also for young, aspiring developers. More than 70 such studios presented in the Indie Zone - a special space where indie game developers sought to gain the attention of the media, publishers and investors.
40 of them have competed in Indie Showcase, a competition that singled out the most promising independent games. There was also room for representatives of gamedev environments from selected countries from around the world (including Chile, Indonesia and Georgia) in National Showcase and for graduates of Digital Dragons Incubator & Accelerator. The games presented at the conference can be viewed on Steam.
The selected indie studio projects were also appreciated by leading studios. Activision awarded four special prizes, and CD PROJEKT RED handed over a powerful computer received the day before from AMD (as a prize for winning the Best Polish Game category) to the PJ Games team.
Indie Showcase results:
I place – Frozengem Studio, Dungeons of the Amber Griffin
II place – HiKing Mind, Follow the meaning
III place – Crunching Koalas, LABEL THIS Studio, The Gap
Community Vote – HiKing Mind, Follow the meaning
National Showcase Award – MadMoa, Dumbriel: Magnificent Adventure in Hell
Also noteworthy is Digital Dragons Arena, a pitching platform for indie studios from all over the world that sought to gain the attention of potential business partners.
Played!
Digital Dragons Conference was not only about learning and working, but also about networking in a looser, club atmosphere. Guests at the event visited the Stara Zajezdnia and Forty Kleparz to network at Badge Pickup Party powered by Creepy Jar and Digital Dragons Party powered by Activision. VIP pass holders also visited the Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in MNK Sukiennice and the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology. For the second time, there was a meeting designed for women in the games industry, and for the first time, a Polish Gamedev Roundtable with representatives of companies and central and local government authorities.
Digital Dragons Hub
Digital Dragons is a comprehensive ecosystem of support for the games industry prepared by the Krakow Technology Park, which, apart from the conference, offers, among other things, classes for beginner gamedev adepts (Digital Dragons Academy), incubation and acceleration programmes or the organisation of the largest Polish game jam - KrakJam.
MAIN PARTNER
Województwo Małopolskie 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. Evidence of that is the number of new ventures growing every year, including dynamically developing tech start-ups. Thanks to the massive support given to entrepreneurship and the optimal utilization of EU funds and other public funds, Województwo Małopolskie positively stands out among other voivodships.
MAIN SPONSOR
The Main Sponsor of Digital Dragons Conference 2024 is Activision.
Activision is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products whose mission is to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment and deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together.
KRAKOW – HOST CITY
Krakow is a modern metropolis with over a million people working in it. Krakow is 140 thousand students, 23 universities, over 200 international corporations employing nearly 80 thousand people in sectors such as finance, IT, services, research and development, business analytics. We base the development of the city, among others on intelligent management and strengthening the sector of modern services and research and development. That is why we focus on innovation and effective cooperation between science, business and local government.
