Develop:Brighton 2024: First Speakers Announced

Thursday 14 March, 2024: Tandem Events, organisers of Develop:Brighton and The Develop:Star Awards, have today announced the first set of speakers for the 2024 conference, including representatives from EA, ustwo games, Firefly Studios, Roll7, and Ubisoft.

Following a record-breaking year in 2023, with just under 5000 attendees, the Develop:Brighton conference continues to have something for everyone. With eight tracks covering every discipline, as well as the free Indie BootCamp and Roundtables, attendees of the 2024 conference will be spoilt for choice.

“Develop:Brighton is back for 2024 and gives delegates the opportunity to gain insight from some of the very best that the game dev community has to offer. Whether it’s a talk or a roundtable discussion, everyone can benefit from coming to Develop, whatever your level of experience” said Tandem Events Managing Director Andy Lane.

Conference passes are available now. Secure your place at our Super Early Bird rates until Thursday 10 April. Micro Indie, Student, and Academic passes are also available, offering cheaper access to Develop for those starting out in the industry and in education. Indie Bootcamp sessions are also yet to be announced, so stay tuned!

“The first wave of talks we’re announcing today are just the start. We’ve chosen speakers that will allow the conference to cover a wide range of topics across fields, disciplines, and platforms that we know attendees are looking to hear about. These range from Emergent AI to narrative design, from creative marketing to creature design, with even more to be announced in due course,” Lane added.

As ever Expo Passes are free and include access to Indie Bootcamp sessions, Roundtables and more.

For more details on passes, visit the Develop:Brighton website:

https://www.developconference.com/event-info/passes-pricing

The first Develop:Brighton 2024 sessions to be announced include:

Art

The Weird Science of Creature Design
Molly Heady-Carroll, Freelance

Unlocking The Power Of Paintings in ‘Please, Touch The Artwork 2’
Thomas Waterzooi, Indie Developer

Everything I Learned Making Art for Illustrative Styles
Aubrey McCarthy, Roll7

Audio

From Ka to Boom – General Learnings From Creating an Explosion Sound Library
Mattia Cellotto, Mattia Cellotto Audio Libraries

Avatar: Frontiers of Sound Propagation
Kasparas Eidukonis, Massive Entertainment - a Ubisoft Studio

Elevating Diegetic Music – Tuning into Dead Island 2’s Identity
Matthew Lightbound, Dambuster Studios

Business

The Realities of Starting a Game Studio - From Knowing Nothing to Too Much
Abubakar Salim & Dana Thompson, Surgent Studios

Stuck in the Middle With You: Translating Between Business and Creativity as a Producer
John Lau, ustwo games

The Art of Leading Leaders
Charity Joy, Criterion (EA)

Coding

Future-Proofing Game Dev: Upcoming Trends & Strategies
Edward Bennett, Unreal Engine Specialist and Educator

Getting Started Developing for Apple Vision Pro Using Unity
Antonia Forster, Unity

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR: Delivering A Performant Living World in Mobile VR
Lisa Ridley, Ubisoft Reflections

Design

The Longest Game – EVE Online’s Blueprint for Resilient Communities & Enduring Games
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CCP Games

Designing a Safer Gaming Environment: How Developers Can Mitigate Real-Life Threats
Sharon Fisher, Keywords Studios

Tips and Insights on Narrative Design from Leading Writers
Host: Dr Jackie Mulligan, Game Republic
Rhianna Pratchett, Writer and Consultant
Paul Cornell, Writer
Judi Alston, Dreaming Methods
Charles Cecil MBE, Revolution

Discoverability

Cracking Early Access – From Design to Development – Lessons From the Front Line
Russ Clarke, Payload Studios

Game On: Navigating Crisis with Creative Video Game Marketing Strategies
Patricia Toledo, Playsense

TikTok for Discoverability: Content Do's and Don’ts
Natasha Evette, Firefly Studios

Mobile

How to Get Banned from the App Stores: An Intersectional Approach to Mobile Development
Sophie Artemigi, Indie Developer

Growing Your Game: Learnings from Experimentation
Tom Storr, The Experimentation Group

Cross Platform in Action - Taking a Game from Mobile to Console
Tom Westall, Super Evil Megacorp

Roundtables (Free to attend)

Accessible Communication and Managing a Neuro-diverse Studio
Adam Niall Clewes-Boyne, BetaJester

LGBQTIA+ Roundtable
Ladell Smith, Auroch Digital
Brynmor Richards, Super Rare Games

Develop: FTUE (First Time User Experience)
Jazeena McCallum, Surgent Studios

The Develop:Brighton Expo will run on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 July, and include the Indie Showcase competition finalists. The Develop:Star Awards also take place on that Wednesday and will celebrate the best and brightest of the game developer community.

Entries for The Develop:Star Awards are now open. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 3 April.

For more information on The Develop:Star Awards and how to submit nominations, please visit: https://www.developconference.com/awards

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