Accessibility for disabled gamers isn't something that any dev can afford to ignore in 2020, but as a small indie it can feel hard to justify. Nobody wants to exclude players, but how do you justify working on accessibility when you're self-funding a small indie title? Yet people do. The industry leaders in the field of accessibility are solo indies. So how is this possible? This talk will show how you can be one of them, with ways to avoid missing out on players without breaking the bank. What kind of features you should prioritise and why, tools to help with the heavy lifting - in general, ways to optimise how to minimise cost as time while ensuring as many people will be able to enjoy your game.

Takeaway:

• Why accessibility matters to small companies
• Accessibility considerations that take little or no time, money & expertise
• Third party tools to do some of the work for you
• How to engage with the community without a user research team - Time saving workflow considerations

Whilst making games is fun, the legal side of game development tends to be less so. Despite being a crucial part of the development process, many smaller developers do not have a clear understanding of the law surrounding game development and rarely have the budget to instruct lawyers (particularly where they are a newer studio). This can cause serious issues for developers when it comes to securing investment or publishing agreements later down the line, often resulting in their intellectual property being transferred to another party or losing major rights in relation to their companies. The Indie Lawyer is the persona of Richard Burnham, a video game lawyer from Lee and Thompson LLP in London and a game developer at Aura Games Limited who is extremely passionate about educating indie developers about how best to protect their interests. This Crash Course In Video Game Law extends his YouTube series and is designed to give developers key points to keep in the back of their mind when developing their games in order to protect their legal interests from the get go.

Takeaway:

• Legal knowledge
• Steps required to protect their games/intellectual property
• How to structure their game studios legally

Kelly Vero will take you on a journey through the evolution of games through emergent advances detailing challenges and issues surrounding technology (and personnel) to the edge of learning. In today’s climate we face an overwhelming need to develop faster and ship quicker. How can Digital Twins support game technology from payment solutions to art asset development without affecting our product development cycles and life cycles? This is a must attend for research & development, tech leads, art devs and producers.

Takeaway:

• You will understand the changes affecting the games industry in emerging tech
• VR will no longer be a dirty word – we can make games faster using twinning
• Developing on the bleeding edge, seeing the future and creating it through tech which lives in your studio now.
• All attendees get a free Twin – well worth the attendance for anyone’s money!

Driving Diversity will discuss the business case for building diverse and inclusive studios and demonstrate why this is integral to the future success of the games industry. Khally will discuss some of the key challenges of catalysing change and provide actionable steps for what we can all do, as companies and individuals, to promote and support D&I within our workplaces and the wider industry. Using case studies, the talk will aim to inspire attendees to make changes within their own organisations.

Takeaway:

• The business case for building diverse and inclusive studios
• The challenges of creating more inclusive organisations and a more diverse industry Actionable steps that can be taken to support and promote diversity and inclusion on individual and studio level
• Case studies showcasing the steps that studios have taken to promote and support diversity that delegates can use to inspire change within their own organisations

Aiden will be talking about his experience putting a game on steam, his mistakes, and shortcomings and what you can do to avoid them. He will also talk about best practices from when you should think about Steam to how to set up the store page.

Takeaway:

• How to put a game on Steam
• Is your game right for Steam?
• When is the best time to put a game on steam best practises when setting up a store page

Over the last 10 years Ben Murch has founded 2 Indie Studios and created 7 games. Before that, he worked in the AAA games space at Rebellion, EA Criterion, and Codemasters. This talk takes 26 lessons learned the hard way, and wraps them up in an easy-to-remember alphabetical format. From publishing original IP, to correct conference etiquette. Meeting childhood heroes, to maintaining a home life. Cutting corners on cost, to... well you get the idea. Share in the highs, wallow in the lows, and possibly learn some tips for your own company.

Takeaway:

• How to create new IP and publish it yourself.
• How to survive when things don't go your way.
• How to work with license holders on collaborative projects.
• How to make the most out of very limited resources.