Develop 2012

Record breaking numbers attended this year’s Develop Conference making it the biggest in the event’s six year history.

1559 developers from more than 20 countries descended on Brighton in July, creating a year on year increase in attendee numbers of 19 per cent.

Delegates were treated to 101 top notch sessions across the four conferences – Develop, Evolve, Indie Dev Day and Games:Edu; 11 keynotes – including Phil Harrison interviewing the Media Molecule founders, Michael Acton Smith from Moshi Monsters, David Braben from Frontier Developments and Laura Fryer from WB Games Seattle; a multitude of out of hours parties and networking events across the three days.

“We’re delighted with the success of this year’s event – the support we receive from the industry is amazing and just shows how valued this UK-based developer event really is. We always try to reflect what’s happening in the world of game development, so this year we launched the new Indie Dev Day and Showcase and it attracted over two hundred indies and start-up studios,” commented Andy Lane, managing director of organiser Tandem Events.

The Develop in Brighton conference has once again received widespread praise for the quality of its speakers and the breadth and depth of the content.

Ian Livingstone, life president, Eidos: ”I thoroughly enjoyed the Develop Conference this year. There were some excellent speakers and it was a great learning and networking event for both UK and overseas developers. Brighton naturally creates a relaxed atmosphere. Attendees were happy to share experiences and ideas. I met up with lots of old friends and had a brilliant time. And of course winning the Legend Award was very special for me personally.”

Andrew Smith, founder, Spilt Milk Studios: “As a fairly new start-up developer it was very important to me that I got confirmation of my ideas on what challenges the future is going to bring, and it was also very reassuring to see the breadth of talkers from the giants of the traditional games industry and the champions of independent development and new business models.”

The next stop for the Develop Conference is Liverpool on 24 November where the Indie focus will continue with a dedicated track for independents as well as two other tracks boasting top speakers and the popular networking party. The forward-looking Evolve conference will return in London on 1 December.

Develop in Brighton returns for more learning and fun by the sea next year – 10 -12 July 2012.