The devcom Developer Conference (#ddc2024) has officially wrapped up (August 18-20) after boasting over 300 speakers from the industry.
The conference (here is the official site) opened Sunday, August 18, with the Speaker & VIP Networking Dinner at the historic Wolkenburg, laying the foundations for the event. One of the highlights of the evening was the devcom Indie Awards, which honoured four outstanding games presented at the conference. In addition to celebrating independent innovation, devcom also revealed the results of its Speaker Survey.
devcom Indie Awards:
The devcom Indie Awards celebrate creativity and innovation within the independent gaming community. From a pool of over 270 submitted projects, 35 were selected, with 20 showcased on-site and 15 in the virtual exhibition. The awards were given in four categories:
Mobile Marvels (Powered by G5 Entertainment)
- Winner: Dungeons of Dreadrock, The Dead King’s Secret – Christoph Minnameier, Germany
- Potion Punch Rivals – Monstronauts Inc., Philippines
- The Horticulturists – Idun Studio, Denmark
Creative Overkill (Powered by Accelbyte)
- Winner: SWAP/MEAT – One More Game, USA
- Pieced Together – Glowfrog Games, UK
- The Midnight Crimes – DeadlyCrow Games, Chile
Graphics Galore
- Winner: Bahamut and the Waqwaq Tree – Starvania, Saudi Arabia
- Replaceable – THE PACK, Belgium
- Nightmare Circus – Fair Play Studios, Thailand
Blockbuster (Powered by astragon Entertainment)
- Winner: Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship – Zing Games Inc., USA
- Holiday Party – Namson Digital, Thailand
- Cozy Dungeons – Them Handsome Fellas, Chile
Here are the main data points from the devcom Speaker Survey.
Thanks to the insights from the 100 speakers, devcom conducted a survey to tackle urgent topics such as the role of AI in game development, preferred business models for games, lay-offs in the industry, and more:
- The best use cases for AI in video game development:
A significant number of speakers prefer minimal use of AI (31%). However, there is considerable interest in leveraging AI for coding and production (21%) and for marketing and communication (18%). A key finding from the survey is the prediction that AI could replace human translations/localizations within the next 12–24 months.
- Preferred business models for games:
Premium digital and physical games emerged as the favoured business model, with 65% of respondents in favour. In contrast, Free-to-Play with ads was the least popular option, chosen by only one respondent.
- The main challenges for the video game development industry:
Market saturation (55%) and rising development costs (46%) were identified as the two most significant challenges currently facing the sector. One participant highlighted the issue of “chasing the myth of infinite growth,” which can interfere with a studio’s ability to consistently produce quality games with experienced talent.
- Financial viability of AAA games:
An overwhelming 89% of participants believe that AAA games can achieve financial success only through a Buy-to-Play model. Additionally, 81% believe that cross-platform gaming is essential for the future of multiplayer games.
- Relevance of 1st Party platforms:
Despite the rise of subscription models, 62% of respondents do not foresee first-party platforms becoming less important.
- Lay-offs in the industry:
When asked about the future of lay-offs in the industry, 57% of speakers predict that lay-offs will continue at the same pace or accelerate in the next 12 months. 43%, on the other hand, believe that lay-offs will decrease or that more people will be rehired.
After wrapping up the event, devcom was able to boast its great success and excitement for future events.
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