“Developer Decisions That Scare Publishers”

Your choices as a developer can impact not just your game, but also how a publisher sees your team. In this talk, Eline Muijres shares real examples from her experience as a Publisher Producer, highlighting decisions and habits that can make collaboration tricky or even risk a publishing deal. 

From ambitious story content that is impossible to cut, to bloated budgets, or designs that will lead to player refunds, we’ll explore pitfalls that raise red flags for publishers. You’ll learn how your choices intersect with production realities, what publishers look out for, and how to avoid unintentional crises. 

By understanding these points, you can make smarter decisions, and create games that are not only creatively fulfilling but also collaboration-friendly.

Speaker bio

Eline Muijres is a freelance producer with 12+ years of experience across indie game development and publishing. As founder of Cohop Games, she hops on board to ship your game, together.

Eline’s career spans journalism, marketing, communications, and production, giving her a broad understanding of how games are built, positioned, and shipped. She managed multi-studio collaborations and worked closely with external partners, stakeholders and platform holders to translate creative vision into executable production plans. With a proven track record across original IP and work-for-hire projects in a wide range of genres, scopes, and platforms, Eline leads teams through complex projects with clarity, compassion, and momentum.

Beyond her production work, Eline is a committed advocate for inclusion and representation in the games industry and serves as a Board Member of the Games [4Diversity] Foundation.

Projects I have worked on:

• Bounden (2014)
• Friendstrap (2013)
• Jelly Reef (2015)
• Interloper (2015)
• Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem (2019)
• The Flower Collectors (2020)
• The Settlers Online (2021)
• Looking Good (2022)
• Howl (2023)
• On Your Tail (2024)
• Billie Bust Up
• Threads of Time

“Plum Road Tea Dream’s Origin Story - From Theatre making to Game Design”

In this talk I will layout the creation process of Plum Road Tea Dream. A videogame with an unconventional approach to creating. From the collaboration between a theatermaker and some game designers to game-jamming the project together in residencies in cultural institutes, to how many collaborations and contributions helped us with our signature eclectic style.

Speaker bio

Samuel Baidoo received their Masters in the Arts with a focus on Illustration and Graphic Design from Sint-Lucas in 2015 and graduated as dancer from the Dance department at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp in 2018.

They take on different roles in the field:

As performer, co-creating and touring works for young audiences and adults in Belgium and abroad for makers and companies such as: Koen de Preter, Maud Le Pladec, Lola Bogaert, Agostina D'Alessandro, Nat Gras, Tuur Marinus, Michiel Vandevelde & Nikima Jagudajev. 

As mentor & coach they guided the process of Rino Sokol & Hernan Mancebo Martinez for Physical Proof at Theater Aan Zee in 2020. Since 3 years they mentor the choreographic work of the Bachelor 3 students at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. In season 24-25 they will be coaching VOUW a new creation by Annelies Van Hullebusch. 

As part of the Hanafubuki collective they see their love for movement & the visual merging while enjoying the collaborative work. In recent years the creations of Hanafubuki have been seen all over Flanders and abroad. As individual maker they created wijtwee//nosotros for Nat Gras in collaboration with Hernan Mancebo Martinez and grot-nest-tempel-huis for Leuven-Hasselt based company tout petit that premièred in february 2024. They presented two iterations of Huis voor Tranen at STORMOPKOMST festival in De Warande in 2022 & 2023.

Currently Samuel works on Plum Road Tea Dream, a project exploring the possibility of the videogame or the virtual as a sanctuary from a queer and poc perspective.

“Growing a Studio on Your Own Terms”

How do you turn a passion-driven project into a studio that can actually last? In this talk, Tim Remmers shares how Team Reptile built an international audience while staying independent and creatively in control. Instead of relying on publishers, platform featuring, or traditional marketing beats, the studio focused on building a strong identity and a direct relationship with its players. Through a series of deliberate choices around scope, finances, and collaboration, Team Reptile grew at its own pace without becoming dependent on external validation. This session offers a personal perspective on the trade-offs behind that path, and what it really takes to build something that lasts.

Speaker bio

Tim Remmers is co-founder and managing director of Team Reptile, the studio behind Lethal League and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. He works at the intersection of creativity and strategy, focusing on how to build games and a studio that can stand on their own.

Projects I have worked on:

• HYPERFUNK
• Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
• Lethal League Blaze
• Lethal League
• Megabyte Punch

“The Emergence of Last Mile Financing and how this changes the Development Landscape”

Throughout 2024 and 2025 we've experienced a slew of late stage project cancellations and games that launched too early to fulfil their commercial promise. The landscape is unforgiving for teams which lose control of their budget, and games that are forced into compromises have a history of failure. Last-mile financing options are increasingly available to both publishers and developers, but planning for this funding option needs to start early. This talk aims to educate both publishers and developers about last-mile financing, terms, requirements and the necessity of early preparation.

Speaker bio

Cat is Managing Director at Ichiba, a last-mile project financing fund dedicated to helping indie and AA games <15 months from launch. She has led investment teams at Kepler Interactive and Virtuos Games, with over a dozen acquisitions and 9 financed projects across both studios. On free hours she tests builds outside of Ichiba scope and writes tons of feedback.

“Narrative design without words”

Let's explore how games tell deeply touching stories without the usage of words, how meaning and emotions can be crafted from immersion and interactivity. We'll take as starting point the unique challenges and solutions I found while developing Koira, and then see how these can be generalized into narrative design tips.

Speaker bio

Ben Lega is an indie game developer from Brussels, who founded in 2022 Studio Tolima. We released our first commercial title Koira in April 2025. The studio specializes in the production of poetic, broadly accessible emotional experiences through a thoughtful and minimalistic approach.

Projects I have worked on:

Koira

“Viral Games On Social Media And What To Learn From Them”

Social media can make a game a huge success; that’s not news to anyone. But a lot of people put social media marketing down to chance, whether the algorithm ‘likes’ you, or if you’re just lucky enough to get a few shares. But there are valuable lessons to be learned from the games that ‘make it’ on social media, and ideas that can be implemented into your social strategy. How they make players feel involved in development, how games are designed with social media virality in mind, and the value of ‘hooks’ at the beginning of a video. 

Virality isn’t accidental; it often comes from a developer getting socials ‘right’. This talk aims to break down some of the top tips you can take away from the industry’s viral games and why they had viral success. The aim is to get the audience to feel like they have more control over their success on socials, and to look critically at gaming content to extract inspiration for their own games.

Speaker bio

Imogen Mellor is the Social Lead at YRS TRULY, a creative marketing agency based in London. Her role is to work with publishers and developers to create online content that spans a variety of platforms that speaks to existing audiences while opening the door to potential new players. 

As a former games journalist, Imogen has always loved talking about and presenting games to the world. And that means YRS TRULY's approach to socials is all about showing audiences that the content comes from fellow fans; that the team knows what it means to love these games. She and her team have had the pleasure of working with Ubisoft UK, Riot on VALORANT and League of Legends in the UK and Nordics, Square Enix on Life is Strange, and more.

“Everything I learned from starting a game studio”

All Hands on Deck was the first release for Studio Mantasaur. In this talk, co-founder and CEO Manou IJpelaar reflects on what running a studio and shipping a commercial title has taught her. 

She will talk about things like time- and resource management, the importance of Q&A, how to streamline implementation, balance the scope every day, but also what to look out for when releasing and what development looks like afterwards. By sharing her insights, Manou wants to give other young developers a head start on their first projects.

Speaker bio

Currently Technical Game Designer at Galaxy Grove. Previously Co-Founder / Game Designer of Studio Mantasaur. Was responsible for puzzle / level design, implementation, QA / testing, project management and the business side of things for award winning co-op puzzle game All Hands on Deck.

Projects I have worked on:

All Hands on Deck

“Agile without agony: A people-first approach”

We have all heard the complaints when a studio proudly claims to “do agile.” More often than not, those frustrations come from teams buried under ceremonies, meetings, and estimation tactics copied straight out of a playbook, while progress and morale grinds to a halt. 

For a lot of managers, Agile became a checklist taken from the playbook while forgetting the point of it all. 

Agile is not about keeping the standup on 15 minutes, or doing a sprint planning every two weeks. It's about giving team ownership of their pipeline, reduce friction and iterate. Producers shouldn't be there to command, but rather to remove obstacles, empower the team and create a safe environment where improvements are constantly made. 

 This is a talk that refreshes the perspective on what actually makes agile effective and hopefully make everyone fall in love with it again (or for the first time)

Speaker bio

Danny Perez Santana is a producer with 9 years of experience across indie and AAA titles. He has worked with studios such as Abstraction, Codeglue, and now at Behaviour Interactive. 

Originally from Canary Islands (Spain), his career began with a marketing internship at Codeglue, where he discovered production and quickly gravitated toward it. Since then, Danny has pursued production roles built on strong collaboration and a people‑first approach that closely aligns with his personality and values. 

Having worked on a wide range of projects, from tech‑heavy mandates to creative pipelines, Danny has experience working with diverse teams, timelines, publishers, and constraints. 

One thing has remained consistent throughout his career: people‑first approaches not only lead to his most successful projects, but also create a space where developers own their process and are at their happiest and most productive.

Projects I have worked on:

• Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains
• ENDLESS™ Dungeon
• Gigantic: Rampage Edition
• King of Meat
• Shadowrun Trilogy: Console Edition
• The Escapists 2: Pocket Breakout
• Human: Fall Flat (Mobile)
• ibb & obb
• ROUNDS
• Descenders
• Corpse Party: Blood Drive
• Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed
• Gems of War
• Rocket Riot
• Castaway Paradise
• Antegods
• Saviors of Saphire Wings / Stranger of Sword City

“Live Evaluation Steam Store Pages: INDIGO Edition”

Earlier this year, Jingtong Zhu did a Live Evaluation Steam Store Pages in a DGA webinar. For INDIGO, she will do the same, live on stage. The format for this session is a live review: developers can share their Steam store page and Jingtong will discuss what she notices. This gives participants not only insights on the ‘whats’ of creating a successful Steam page, but also the ‘whys’ behind it. People can use this knowledge when setting up their Steam store page. You can take this opportunity to have your own Steam store page evaluated but it’s also fine to just listen and learn without submitting your own work.

Speaker bio

Jingtong is a Director of Business Development at Griffin Gaming Partners, one of the world's leading venture funds focused exclusively on gaming, where she focuses on discovering indie games and getting them funded. Before moving into the investment side, she spent six years as a publishing producer at indie publishers across China and Europe, working on over a dozen award-winning titles across multiple platforms and regions. Her cross-cultural background and career have given her a special interest in cultural differences in games and games that resonate across borders.

Projects I have worked on:

• Asterigos
• FEROCIOUS
• Potion Craft
• Punch Club 2
• Astor: Blade of the Monolith

“Steam's Serial Reviewers: An Untapped Marketing Force”

150 million active Steam accounts exist, but only 5% have written 5 or more reviews. These 7 million highly engaged players are your most valuable audience - they actively influence purchasing decisions at the critical moment, right on the store page. Yet most developers treat this manageable, identifiable audience as an afterthought. This talk explores why reviewers deserve strategic attention, what drives someone to become a serial reviewer, and how engagement creates compounding effects on sentiment and sales. Learn practical strategies for identifying your most valuable reviewers, responding effectively, and turning critics into advocates, with real examples from indie games that transformed negative reviews through simple engagement. 7.5 million people. Not 150 million Steam users. Not the entire internet. A targetable, engaged audience already talking about your game. You just need to talk to them on the forums!

Speaker bio

Chris Hanney is an independent game developer who has worked with teams all over the world to make fun interactive experiences, including Starship Home, Space Pirate Trainer, Shredders, Curiosmos and many more. He is also developing the game community tool Gameplainer.com

Projects I have worked on:

• Space Pirate Trainer
• Shredders
• Starship Home
• Laser Dance
• Order 13
• Roadside Research
• Curiosmos

“Beyond the Logo: Crafting Comprehensive Brand Systems for Games”

Game branding extends beyond merely combining a logo with key art, it's the essential connection between the immersive game world you've created and the players you aim to captivate. In our discussion, we'll explore the balance between brand consistency and flexibility, and examine how branding strategies differ in live service games versus non-live service games.

 Leveraging my experience in crafting visual identities for major PlayStation first and third party titles, I'll discuss the strategies, creative principles, and marketing insights that drive my approach.

Speaker bio

Matt is the Senior Creative Director at PlayStation Studios Creative. With over 17 years of experience in branding and campaign design across a wide range of industries, he joined PlayStation in 2018. Since then, he's led branding efforts for numerous high-profile titles, including Returnal, the Horizon franchise, Helldivers 2, Until Dawn, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Destruction AllStars, Spider-Man, and many more.

Projects I have worked on:

• The Last Of Us
• Saros
• Returnal
• the Horizon franchise
• Helldivers 2
• Until Dawn
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure
• Destruction AllStars
• Spider-Man

“A Dynamic Dogwalk: Rapidly Prototyping Adaptive Audio in Godot”

How do you craft a sonic identity when you only have two months? In this talk, we break down the audio development of DOGWALK (Blender Studio), exploring the shift from linear composition to fully adaptive systems. We'll swiftly move from concepting to implementation in Godot, demonstrating how to prioritize “following the fun” over perfection. From hand-crafting tiny footsteps to writing a dynamic soundtrack, we'll see why the creative process can’t always be linear - and why chaos can sometimes lead to better results. While examples highlighted are Godot-specific, strategies regarding iteration and design are applicable to all composers and sound designers working in any engine.

Speaker bio

Composer, sound designer and gameplay audio programmer making adaptive audio systems for indie studios and solo developers. Their work focuses on creating sonic environments that respond dynamically to unique gameplay mechanics. Currently, they are working on a range of projects, including a rhythm-based acrobatics game, a horror musical and a narrative detective game about investigating smuggling. Besides game development, Max teaches Digital Literacy, using games to introduce students to design and programming logic.

Projects I have worked on:

DOGWALK (2025)

“Creating hairy characters from games to cinematic”

We will go through the stages to recreate one creature done for a game in a cinematic starting from the creative inputs to the various stages in houdini. We will look at the werebear from the Diablo Immortal: Druid trailer.

Speaker bio

Camille Fourniols Co-Founder & Groom Supervisor Camille Fourniols is a highly skilled and innovative grooming artist with a deep passion for bringing characters to life through cutting-edge techniques. As one of the co-founders of CG Flickers, Camille plays a key role in the company’s vision to redefine character grooming within the animation and VFX industries. A graduate of the renowned Supinfocom Arles (MOPA), Camille began her career in London as a generalist and grooming artist in advertising. She soon deepened her expertise in Houdini and went on to become a pivotal part of the grooming team at Axis Studios, where she led grooming efforts on major projects for clients like Riot Games, Wizards of the Coast, and Blizzard.

“Fireside Chat :: Pawel Miechowski and Christophe De bont will look back on 15 years 11 bit studios.”

In this fireside chat, Pawel Miechowski (11 bit studios) and Christophe De bont (VAF and former game journalist) will look back on 15 years 11 bit studios.

Miechowski has been part of the 11 bit studios team since the very first start and has helped establishing the growth the studio has seen since its inception in early 2010. Miechowski will reflect on how 11 bit managed to keep developing and releasing their own successful games for the past 15 years and how they extended into publishing a wide range of third party titles.

Speaker bio

Pawel Miechowski has been working in videogames since the 90s at the Metropolis Software team as a tester, animator, later designer and writer and eventually PR manager (favourite games: The Prince And The Coward, Gorky 17), then at CD Projekt Group and then from the company's start at 11 bit studios as a writer, PR manager and eventually brand expert (favourite games: Anomaly Warzone Earth, This War of Mine, Frostpunk). Co-founder of the Kultura Interaktywna foundation, organizer of the Student Games Festival and other initiatives expanding the fields of education in and around videogames.

Projects I have worked on:

• The Prince And The Coward
• Gorky 17
• Infernal
• Anomaly series
• Frostpunk series
• This War of Mine
• The Alters.

“Moonlight Peaks: finding your audience”

How do you turn a concept into a signed title? As the creators of Moonlight Peaks we want to share our journey and learnings of building a game alongside a community. This talk explores the process of finding your distinct theme and identifying your target audience early in development. With this talk we'll go into how to utilize social media not just for promotion, but to validate your game concept and refine mechanics, themes and characters based on real-time player feedback. We will discuss the power of involving your audience in the development journey and how that engagement translates into a pitch that attracts attention. Discover how a strong, validated fan base can be your greatest asset when securing a publisher. Whether you are starting a new project or looking to pivot, gain insights on bridging the gap between social engagement and commercial success.

Speaker bio

Yannis Bolman is the Game Director and "End Boss" of Little Chicken Game Company, a studio he co-founded in 2001 shortly after earning his MA in Gaming. Over the last two decades, Yannis has been the driving force behind the studio’s strategic evolution, successfully pivoting from a boutique advergame outfit to a creator of original IP. In his current role, Yannis strikes a balance between high-level studio oversight and hands-on creative leadership. He has overseen the development of diverse titles including REKT!, Rescue Wings, and the VR hit Traffic Jams. Currently, he is channeling his expertise into the highly anticipated supernatural life-sim Moonlight Peaks, published by Xseed Games/Marvelous. Yannis is dedicated to bridging the gap between Little Chicken's creativity and production power, ensuring every project is as polished as it is imaginative.

Projects I have worked on:

• Traffic Jams
• Moonlight Peaks

“No Two Levels Are Built The Same - A Metro Awakening VR Retrospective”

This lecture is a mini post-mortem about two levels in Metro Awakening VR, both combat encounters against mutants but vastly different in their approaches. Even with the same processes, parameters like circumstances, project phase, and tools have an impact on the final product. I unpack how, as the level-designer of these two levels, my design decisions evolved from the early iterations to completion.

Speaker bio

Sule Nur Karaaslan is a passionate level designer with three years of experience. After graduating from Breda University, she worked on Metro Awakening VR at Vertigo Games. Beyond her professional work, Sule Nur is committed to supporting the next generation of developers by mentoring, offering guidance and advice to help them navigate the complexities of breaking into the industry. Driven by a genuine love for games and the industry, she is dedicated to making a positive impact.