On the 15th of February, the IGAI are organizing a games industry event at the Gibson hotel (opposite the 02) in Dublin.
The event will build upon a high level global game executives and politicians meeting held in Dublin last Sept. and provide more details on the development of an incentive package for the games industry in Ireland following the launch of the Forfás action plan for the Games Sector in Ireland (2011).
Speakers from the main game companies operating in Ireland will join government officials, agencies and affiliate partners as decisions are made on the final format of the package. There will also be over 350 jobs on offer from the existing startups and incumbent game development companies.
Keynote speakers on the day include Phil Campbell (Phil Campbell Design, San Francisco, CA). As Creative Director for Electronic Arts (ERTS) from 2001 to 2006, Phil led the design for the James Bond franchise, with two successful projects – ‘Agent Under Fire’ and ‘Everything or Nothing’ – shipping worldwide on multiple platforms. He was also Creative Director on EA’s ‘The Godfather ‘.
Also keynoting on the day is Dylan Collins – MD ‘Fight my Monster’ and formerly of Jolt and Demonware, who needs no introduction to an Irish games audience!.
There will be a panel on “The Future of Games Development in Ireland” involving Paschal Donohoe T.D., Hugh MacAtamney, Dublin Institute of Technology, Jessica Sachs, Director of Developer Relations, BigFish Games, Aphra Kerr, NUI Maynooth and Barry O’Neill, Chairman, Games Ireland.
The day will also have a panel on cloud computing and on social/mobile/locational games involving Steve Collins, MD, SWRVE, Ian Hurlock-Jones CTO BigFish Games, Greg Ward, Microsoft, Paul Breslin, MD Europe, PopCap, Barry Kehoe, Director, Activision Blizzard.
“Ireland already is an online hub for European games development but we need to get that message out around the world and deliver a single statement about all that is happening here and what is on offer”, said David Sweeney, CEO Games Ireland.
The IGAI event is aimed at those currently working in the games industry in Ireland, at all levels. Attendance at the event is free.
Please register in advance at http://gig2012.eventbrite.co.uk/
Format
2.30 pm Panel 1 – “The Future of Games Development in Ireland”
Paschal Donohoe, T.D.
Hugh Mac Atamney, Dublin Institute of Technology
Aphra Kerr, NUI Maynooth and gd.ie
Jessica Sachs, Director of Developer Relations, BigFish Games
Barry O’Neill, Chairman, Games Ireland
3pm Keynote 1
Dylan Collins MD ‘Fight my Monster’ – User Acquisition Strategies
3.30 – Panel 2 – ‘The Cloud’
Speaker from EMC
Steve Collins, MD, SWRVE
Ian Hurlock-Jones CTO BigFish Games
Greg Ward, Microsoft
4.15 pm Panel 3 – The opportunities in SOLOMO – social, locational and mobile
Paul Breslin, MD Europe, PopCap,
Barry Kehoe, Director, Activision Blizzard
Break
4.45 Keynote 2
Phil Campbell – Creative Director on major licensed franchises ‘The Godfather’, ‘James Bond’ and ‘Tomb Raider’. Game Design lessons
5.30pm – Irish Games showcase/surprise speaker
6-7.30pm – Drinks reception and networking (band)
About Games Ireland
Games Ireland (the Interactive Games Association of Ireland) represents companies involved in the creation, development, publishing and distribution of computer games on the island of Ireland.
It is an advocacy group which seeks to drive sustainable growth in the industry at a crucial time for this country. Members include international stakeholders such as Activision, X-Box, BigFish and Popcap and local pioneers Havok and Demonware.
See http://gamesireland.ie/
Further information:
For more on this event and on the IGAI contact Paul Hayes
paul@gamesireland.ie