Develop:Brighton 2021 organisers Tandem Events are happy to announce the final keynote for this year’s conference. A panel of pioneering studio heads will explore the significant challenges facing their studios today, how they navigated the pandemic and what the future holds.

Vlambeer founder Rami Ismail, Hi-Rez Studios’ Veronique Lallier and Silent Games’ Sally Blake will take part in the panel, hosted by Jonathan Smith, industry veteran, and Head of Production and Strategic Director at TT Games.

In this interactive session, the group will also talk about what new initiatives they have introduced since the pandemic, and what lessons they've learned both from the pandemic and generally from their experience of running a games studio today.

“The pandemic brought huge challenges to people from all walks of life, and businesses had to evolve to survive,” Jonathan Smith says. “Creative and resilient, games studios have adapted in ways that will have an impact on how we work long into the future. I am excited to be joined by some of the industry's brightest minds to discuss a topic close to all our hearts.”

This final keynote joins others from Team17’s Debbie Bestwick, Insomniac Games’ Ted Price, Oddworld Inhabitants’ Lorne Lanning and Bennie Terry III and another recently announced panel about creativity in indie game development hosted by Mike Bithell.

Now in its 16th year, Develop:Brighton takes place at the Hilton Brighton Metropole from Tuesday 26 to Thursday 28 October 2021, promising a thrilling fun-filled three days by the sea.

The conference will offer insightful keynotes, diverse roundtables and sessions offering practical advice and inspiration to help game makers make better games.  

“We are thrilled to be hosting the first major opportunity for the industry to reconnect after more than a year apart,” says Andy Lane, Managing Director at organisers Tandem Events. “I am looking forward to reconnecting with some old faces, meeting some new ones and learning more about how these incredible developers have continued to grow and innovate over the past year.”  

More than 100 speakers have now been announced across nine tracks. These include representatives from Ubisoft, KONAMI, SEGA, Improbable, Rebellion, Splash Damage, Creative Assembly, Polystream, Atomhawk and more.

The full programme can be viewed here: https://www.developconference.com/whats-on/2021-conference-programme  

Included among these are newly-announced sessions from:

• The Evolution of the Player Interface
  Andrew Oliver & Philip Oliver, Panivox
• Don't Panic: Scaling Your Team Without Losing What Makes You, You
  Jonny Hopper, Glowmade
• Why Does Everybody Want a Flipping Metaverse?
  Dave Ranyard, Dream Interactive
• Console Development in Unity
  James Stone, Unity Technologies
• How a Traditional Artist Got into Game Development: The Art & Process of Making Silt
  Tom Mead, Spiral Circus, Art
• Ultimate Golf! How Miniclip Successfully Launched and Grew a Hit New Mobile Free-to-Play Sports Game
  Jamie Carson, Miniclip
• Community-Driven Development 101
  Russ Clarke, Payload Studios
• Delete Your Video Game Website (and other sensationalist advice)
  Dan Thomas, Etch Play
• The 3 Best and Worst Technical Audio Systems from The Ascent
  John Tennant and Joe Thom, Sweet Justice Sound

Develop:Brighton will also see the return of Meet@Develop – the conference’s networking platform -  and numerous afterhours social and networking events including the Develop:Star Awards on the Wednesday evening.  

For those unable to travel to Brighton, a digital pass is also available.  

For the latest on tickets, speaker announcements and The Develop:Star Awards 2021, visit: www.developconference.com and follow @DevelopConf on Twitter.  

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About Develop:Brighton conference & expo 

The Develop:Brighton conference is where the European developer community comes together to learn from each other and share experiences, be inspired by world-renowned experts and gurus, get up-to-date with the latest development tools and techniques, make new contacts and catch up with old ones. 

With a programme that is shaped by some of the industry's key figures, the conference touches all levels of the development community from the largest studios to the smallest indies; from development directors to programmers. 

About The Develop:Star Awards 

Taking place alongside the conference, the new Develop:Star Awards will recognise the very best of the game development community. The achievements of developers and success of great games and creativity will be celebrated across 18 categories, including one ultimate ‘Develop Star’. This award will honour an extraordinary game developer for outstanding achievement and contribution to the industry. 

Twitter: @developconf 

LinkedIn: Develop-Brighton 

Facebook: developconference