Games industry events are in full bloom, or are they?
Game Conference Guide Insights - March 2023
With a lot of roll calls circulating already, putting together groups for racing weekend, going dancing, hanging out at Yerba Buena Park, investigating where to eat and complaining about the ridiculous hotel prices, the season of events is in full bloom.
At least on a first glance.
Every year EGDF (European Games Developer Federation) is hosting a call for all European trade groups and associations to discuss burning topics and present the current state. They have asked me to join them again and give the attendees an overview how the events will look like.
You can read what I was talking about last year here.
And while last time I was a bit puzzled about which future of events to focus on, this year it shouldn’t have been that hard to predict. Or was it?
Last time many were seriously reconsidering going to GDC or any live event at that point. It was beginning of 2022 and it was too early. Nowadays everything looks like nothing has really changed and we are all back in the old tracks utilizing (in some cases) or ignoring what data are saying and what we have (or could have) learned during pandemic and applying new insights to processes.
We are clearly moving on, leaving behind juggling with the tech and spending first few minutes checking if the other side can hear us. The start of 2023 isn’t without its own challenges and events out of our control.
One of the producers on Final Fantasy XVI said the game won’t be delayed anymore unless Japan is hit with a meteor. Don’t jinx it, Naoki Yoshida. When you are organizing an event, you are preparing for the worst-case scenario to eliminate problems but also to teach the team to react super-fast and not to come to a screeching halt.
A few weeks ago, it was one year from devastating and brutal invasion of Ukraine which led to on-going conflict killing thousands of innocent lives. A devastating earthquake hit Turkey. There is still ongoing energy crisis, inflation is increasing prices and testing the limits of budgets.
In times where we are flooded with news, these come and go, and we are getting tired of it and becoming numb. Give me another, some might say. But I am steering away from the topic.
Let’s start with some good news
Event calendar has been stabilized. There are no more last-minute changes, nor changes to the format of the events. Organizers have a clearer view, where they are positioning their events. Yes, we do have cross overs caused by availability of venues trying to fulfil higher demand or due to very unfortunate events mentioned above. There are more events to choose from than pre-Covid, the variety, focus on different target demographic and formats is more diverse than ever. Virtually or physically.
On average there is 17 events scheduled per month during the first half of this year (in 2022 it was 20) and this is not the end. There are more coming, especially the ones surrounding upcoming Summer Game Fest and E3.
The total number of events is going to be very similar to last year, with return of the fan favourites and some new entries that took place after those that were basically killed by the restrictions or by frozen funds from public pool.
Online events are struggling to adopt to physical space, due to lack of experience, while others were cut completely from the funding, or the organizers just thrown a towel into the ring. Which bring me to the rising costs.
Paying more for events is the new normal. Currently you are paying for a GDC ticket 5% more compared to last year. Gamescom is steadily increasing prices; in 2022 you were paying on average 67% more than in 2019 for a daily ticket across the board. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another bump this year as well.
A lot of events are adopting or trying new things, adding new components to the traditional mix (meetings, expo, talks), competitions, showcases, streaming which makes them to stand out. Which is good. Some are going back to basics and running the events based on the years-proven blueprints.
PARTNER OF THE MONTH
In its 8th edition, Reboot Develop Blue is set to feature another stunning Reboot Develop Blue signature, 150+ speakers big, super unique, high-end lineup in 8 tracks.
Super early bird and Early Bird passes have been sold out completely and now the All Access Conference Pass pricing has switched to the Standard one. A large number of incredible speakers are waiting to be announced in the following days on the conference website as well as a lot of other interesting news and content related to the conference program.
Even with its vastly extended capacity, April edition of the conference is set to reach the limit of maximum attendees allowed (while the conference is set to be huge, impressively bigger than ever before, it aims to retain the unique boutique networking atmosphere) so be sure to book both your passes and accommodation on time.
Eastern Europe is getting hotter and hotter.
Countries like Serbia, Rumunia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, and Turkey to certain extent have seen new influx of new companies due to invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Many outsourcing and co-development companies are / were based there, and they relocated their resources or whole companies. On top, costs for hiring are attractive while the quality of work is competitive.
Event organizers reacted as well, and you can see new events popping up in these regions and opening more opportunities and bringing EU and CIS companies closer together. I highly recommend to check them out. On top, one of the first events returning back to Ukraine and to be organized in Kyiv is Games Gathering.
Are you ready for another virtual showcase?
Try to guess how many showcases happened this year? Or better yet, have you watched one lately?
While Game Conference Guide is focusing only on big press conferences and major announcements, lately I have started to track virtual showcases that are popping left and right as a guilty pleasure.
Since start of 2023 there has been 17 of them already, from selection of smaller games published by indie boutique label to Godzilla’s like unveiling PlayStation VR2 and its launch line-up. And there is going to be more!
Last year during the E3 week there was a whooping 16 virtual showcases (broadcasts) tied to the “summer games fest week”. And I believe, this is just the start. Not sure where we will get in the end, but the saturation is already leading to fatigue and is driving fans to become numb to announcements no matter how big they are. There is always another showcase around the corner they can watch. I am personally fed up with them, and I only watch the highlights, not the whole broadcasts.
Take Aways
From the outside not a lot has changed. But we could have said that in 2022 as well.
Prices went up for events to attend and to support them.
Events that started in virtual space are struggling with physical format.
Many events didn’t survive. Some changed focus or were cancelled and silently sunset.
Eastern Europe should be on your map due to opportunities.
We see new formats and unseen combinations like game jam with conference, invite only summits or events in very attractive locations.
Be prepared for flood of showcases from big and small brands.
[Game Conference Guide is tracking games industry & game developers events, trade shows, festivals, conferences and events around the world.]
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Pavol Buday, curator @ GCG