A relaxed and informal roundtable designed to help you get the most out of your time at the conference. A diverse panel of friendly and experienced devs from across the whole industry spectrum want to help anyone who feels shy, awkward, a little out of place, on the outside, or just unable to really squeeze all the goodness out of this amazing show. You'll feel positive, empowered and fully equipped to have an absolutely smashing time, with tips on how to be productive, tools to network, and commitments from volunteers to be your safety net should things get a little too much! Finally, should you feel like it would help, we'll match people up with Show Mentors to ensure however long you're in Brighton, you go back to your studio feeling invigorated and inspired!

• Shared experiences that will give you some ideas on best practise plus do's and dont's for networking at every event.
• Recommendations for talks to attend and delegates to meet, plus practical help to do so!
• Knowledge of safe and quiet spaces to help manage your experience at the show
• A mentor committed to helping you for the duration of the conference with introductions, meetings, advice, and someone to lean on!

A key question for all studio at the moment - Who is responsible for accessibility? Accessibility in games is more important than ever with leading examples such as The Last of Us 2 setting a new bar of making a game as accessible as possible. But is this just the job of one person or team? Studios and teams need to understand how their role touches on accessibility responsibilities and what actions they should be doing to ensure that their game is playable by the most people at launch. Chris will share tips and insights that show accessibility does not just mean a playable game. You will leave the session with a better understanding of working with others, how you communicate with your community and players and improve your recruitment process for disabled and neurodiverse candidates.

Takeaway: 

• How different roles need to work together to improve accessibility
• How accessibility impacts your games launch and sales
• Improving accessibility in different roles will promote better diversity and inclusion

A frank and open discussion looking at practical ways you can implement change in your games organisation to best support your staff's wellbeing from games industry mental health charity Safe in our world. Case studies from some of our level up partners on what they have been able to implements and the positive impacts it has had on their businesses. A look at behaviour change, available training and the support available to make a start.

• The Safe in our world level up programme, how it can support you and your organisation
• Case studies from other developers and publishers on their activities (some partners will join the roundtable)
• How to get started and actions you can take today to start support your staff's wellbeing

Takeaway: 

• Discover the value of equality, diversity, and inclusion to games businesses.
• Learn how companies have widened their recruitment pools, retained diverse talent, and diversified the contents of their games to inspire change.
• Understand how to make EDI a natural part of your company’s long-term thinking to embed change for the long term.

A relaxed and informal roundtable designed to help you get the most out of your time at the conference. A diverse panel of friendly and experienced devs from across the whole industry spectrum want to help anyone who feels shy, awkward, a little out of place, on the outside, or just unable to really squeeze all the goodness out of this amazing show. You'll feel positive, empowered and fully equipped to have an absolutely smashing time, with tips on how to be productive, tools to network, and commitments from volunteers to be your safety net should things get a little too much! Finally, should you feel like it would help, we'll match people up with Show Mentors to ensure however long you're in Brighton, you go back to your studio feeling invigorated and inspired!

• Shared experiences that will give you some ideas on best practise plus do's and dont's for networking at every event.
•  Recommendations for talks to attend and delegates to meet, plus practical help to do so!
• Knowledge of safe and quiet spaces to help manage your experience at the show
• A mentor committed to helping you for the duration of the conference with introductions, meetings, advice, and someone to lean on!

A roundtable discussion led by Elli Shapiro and Ugonna Nwosu from Out Making Games, a community interest company established to connect and empower the LGBTQ+ community working in the games industry across the UK. Join us for a conversation about sexuality and gender issues in the content, creation and culture of video games. This is a welcoming space to share your stories and learn from the experience of others in a forum for LGBTQ+ games professionals and students to have frank conversations about the challenges they face.

Takeaway: 

We will be leveraging the experiences of the attendees to build takeaways such as... ...an understanding of the concerns of LGBTQ+ individuals working in the games industry ...techniques shared from first-hand experiences of celebrating diversity in workplaces ...tips and tricks for pushing for better in-game representation from within the industry ...building a sense of community and optimism for the future!

It's hard within today's climate to stand out as an individual and not let certain biological traits define who we are, but I would like to empower those within the minority groups to stand out and shine. I will like to share experiences I have had within my time in the Gaming Industry.

Takeaway: 

• Diversity and Inclusion - what to look for when looking to get into the Games Industry
• Letting your uniqueness shine

Come along to the first Women in Games 'coffee (+ cake) break' - in real life at Develop Conference, Brighton!

Hosted by Corporate and Individual Ambassadors of the Year, Hangar 13 and Rebecca Sampson, this special meet up will be a fantastic opportunity to catch up with friends and supporters of Women in Games, old and new, plus there will be the added bonus of tea, coffee, prosecco and cake!

Come raise a glass with us and enjoy some tasty treats in the Osborne Room at Brighton Hilton Metropole, Wednesday 27th October, from 3pm until 5pm, during this year's exciting Develop conference week!

Reserve your place here

Description: As programmers, we tend to find ourselves settling into habits, both good and bad. This roundtable will focus on what we could all be doing to get into better habits, the tips and tricks we've picked up along the way, and what we can all be doing in the future to keep improving our code and to build better games.

Takeaway: 

• Learn which habits are worth breaking and which are worth keeping
• Discover new ways to improve your programming
• Build better infrastructure for your games to make long term support easier

This session will talk about what it is like to work as an artist at a games studio that co-develops games with other studios.
We will discuss what work for hire is really like for an artist, how and why it is growing, and detail the pros and cons of being at a work for hire studio.

Questions that we might discuss - 
What is work for hire and how does it compare to working for a studio with its own IP?
What are the pros of working for a work-for-hire studio and what are the cons?
What might be the differences from an artist's pov in terms of workflows, skillsets, mindsets etc?
Why is co-development growing and what might the future look like? 
 

Takeaway:

• The differences between different types of game development studios.
• Why co-development is becoming far more common in the games industry.
• What the pros and cons are of working at a work for hire studio as an artist.

Community management is a key and ever-evolving role in modern games development. Though it’s become a well-established discipline, the expectations and responsibilities of community management can be broad (and creative, adaptable…and challenging!). From maintaining player engagement to filtering and escalating feedback or cultivating digital civility and thwarting toxicity, the demands and pressures on these types of roles are often unique as well, felt outside office hours, and not always shared in common with other members of the development team.  This session is an open forum to discuss best practices, build support networks and share successes and challenges from the field. Oh, and of course, a chance to meet and connect with others working in games community management!