Press release -
Develop:Brighton Announces Arkane Lyon’s Dinga Bakaba as Headline Keynote and Develop Star Award Recipient
Wednesday 16 March: Dinga Bakaba, Studio Director and Co-Creative Director of Arkane Lyon, has been announced as the headline keynote speaker for Develop:Brighton 2022 by organisers Tandem Events.
In addition to headlining the conference - running from Tuesday 12 July to Thursday 14 July at the Hilton Brighton Metropole - Dinga will also be honoured as the latest recipient of the prestigious Develop Star Award.
The Develop Star Award honours an extraordinary individual for their outstanding contributions to the industry. The award has previously been presented to Team17’s Debbie Bestwick in 2021, Bethesda Games Studios’ Todd Howard in 2020, Hello Games’ Sean Murray in 2019, and will be presented to Dinga this year during the Develop:Star Awards on Wednesday 13 July.
“I am humbled to receive this beautiful award,” said Dinga Bakaba, Studio Director and Co-Creative Director of Arkane Lyon. “I hope it can inspire new and aspiring developers, and it certainly motivates me to continue giving my best with the incredible team at Arkane Lyon to surprise and delight players!”
Titled ‘DEATHLOOP: Looking Inside a Design Loop’, this fireside chat will feature Dinga alongside key members of the award-winning Arkane Lyon team as they discuss the development challenges and successes they had during the production of DEATHLOOP.
Speaking alongside Dinga will be Campaign Director Dana Nightingale, Assistant Art Director Jean-Luc Monnet, and Gameplay Programmer Francesco Venco.
“Dinga is an incredible talent we’re delighted to be honouring at The Develop:Star Awards,” said Tandem Events Managing Director Andy Lane. “In Arkane Lyon’s opening keynote Dinga and the team are sure to provide fascinating insights and valuable development lessons as they discuss the creation of the outstanding, multi-award winning DEATHLOOP.
“This is just the beginning too. We’re thrilled to be returning to Brighton this summer for a week full of knowledge sharing, valuable learning and networking opportunities, with a host of quality sessions offering practical takeaways aimed at inspiring developers to push the boundaries of game-making.”
The first round of Develop:Brighton 2022 speakers will be announced later this month – talks and roundtable discussions will provide practical advice and insight across eight conference tracks: Design, Coding, Art, Mobile, Business, Discoverability, Audio and Roundtables. Plus, there’s the free Indie BootCamp which covers the basics for start-ups.
Networking opportunities will also continue to be a big part of Develop:Brighton this year, from the formal meetings tool Meet@Develop to Tuesday’s informal Icebreaker Drinks, to the many afterhours social events, including The Develop:Star Awards, which will take place on the evening of Wednesday 13 July.
A range of passes for the conference and expo are now on sale, available at 30% discount with our Super Early Bird Rate until Wednesday 6 April.
For the latest on speaker announcements, the Develop:Star Awards, and everything Develop:Brighton visit: www.developconference.com and follow @DevelopConf on Twitter.
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About Develop:Brighton conference & expo
Develop:Brighton brings together the entire UK game dev industry to learn from each other, share ideas and experiences, network, and do business in a friendly and inclusive environment. The event also offers high quality conference sessions - from the industries brightest minds and talents - with practical takeaways that allow delegates to “skill-up” and be inspired to make better games.
With a programme shaped to reflect attendees’ feedback and hot topics for game makers in 2022 (monetisation, the Metaverse, ethical working practices, environment and sustainability, etc.) the Expo brings together some of the most innovative companies from every sector of games development. Guests can also keep up-to date with the latest dev tools/tech and get hands on with all the games on display.
Develop:Brighton offers three days of inspiration, fulfilment, and fun by England’s south coast.
About The Develop:Star Awards
Taking place alongside the conference, the new Develop:Star Awards recognise the very best of the game development community. The achievements of developers and success of great games and creativity will be celebrated across 18 categories, including one ultimate ‘Develop Star’ honouring an extraordinary game developer for outstanding achievement and contribution to the industry.
Twitter: @developconf
LinkedIn: Develop:Brighton
Instagram: developbrighton
About Dinga Bakaba
Starting in the industry as a QA tester for mobile games before smartphones were a thing, Dinga Bakaba got his break as a game designer at Wizarbox in Paris, working on, among other things, Jane Jensen’s Gray Matter. After a stint at Playlogic, working on unannounced projects until the company closed, Bakaba made the dream move to Arkane to work as a game designer on Dishonored and it’s DLC before being promoted to lead designer on Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider. His most recent project was co-directing the critically acclaimed DEATHLOOP with his long-time collaborator Sebastien Mitton. Bakaba is currently Head of Studio at Arkane Lyon, and is a fan of creative use of Powerpoint, being a cool Dad and the Brazilian martial art of capoeira.
