I attended the Develop Conference for the first time which was hosted in Brighton this week. For those who don't know about Develop, it is a conference set on the seafront that brings a few thousand (~2000 in 2016) developers from all parts of the gaming community from indies to some of the most famous faces. There are a number of presentations from developers and others who work in the industry, along with an expo and plenty of spaces to network.
I was talking to a friend who was also attending for the first time, about the different presentations we saw and what we generally thought about the conference. I really enjoyed my time there, but after our conversation, I started to think about how good Develop was compared to the other conferences I've attended. I'm no way an expert critic on conferences but I have attended at least one each year for the last few years, from small regional sized conferences to the largest in the world. Develop is defiantly up near the top of the list for me, it doesn't beat GDC in my mind but it is the best conference I've attended in the UK. In fairness I think trying to compare Develop to GDC is a little unfair, just on the scale alone GDC this year saw 26,000 attendees. |
I really enjoyed my time at Develop and there were some great presentations given, which I feel I should at least mention briefly. "Perfectionism and Plateaus: Finding Balance in a Competitive Industry" by Adriana Pucciano, was the best presentation I saw on Wednesday morning. Criterion Games "Tears of Joy in Star Wars VR: Creating Battlefront's X-wing VR Mission" presentation was interesting to see from a design point of view of how to design a VR experience whilst staying true to the Star Wars license. Plus I'm a Star Wars fan. There were many other presentations I enjoyed and walked away with great information, such as the presentation given by Alex Moyet, however I want to keep this post short so can't talk about all of them.
Finally, I would say to anyone who hasn't gone to Develop and is thinking about going to a conference, especially if you are in the UK, I would make sure it is on your list of considerations. It doesn't matter if you are a student or from the smallest indie studio to the largest game studio, Develop has a whole range of good stuff to offer.
Finally, I would say to anyone who hasn't gone to Develop and is thinking about going to a conference, especially if you are in the UK, I would make sure it is on your list of considerations. It doesn't matter if you are a student or from the smallest indie studio to the largest game studio, Develop has a whole range of good stuff to offer.