Next week, the Nordic Game conference returns for a ninth year, based as always in Malmo, Sweden. While luminaries from the region's ever-increasing number of game studios will of course be present, the conference maintains its global focus, with a list of speakers containing some of the biggest names in videogame development. Edge will be in attendance, with news, session reports and tweets from our man on the ground; below you'll find a few selected highlights from the conference schedule.
It all kicks off on the evening of Wednesday, May 23, with Nordic Game Indie Night, which returns for a third year. Designed to celebrate the region's development talent, the evening centres around the Indie Night Showcase, with co-organisers the Copenhagen Game Collective helping assemble a shortlist of eight games which will be playable to delegates and public alike during the evening. Attendees then select their favourite, with the overall winner awarded the Indie Sensation Award the following night.
On Thursday, the conference begins in earnest. After an introduction from Nordic Game MD Erik Robertson, Gearbox president Randy Pitchford will explain how a studio that divides its work between its own IP like Borderlands, and licensed properties like the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines, can maintain its own culture and identity. At the same time, Johan Mjönes of Swedish Battlefield 3 developer DICE will run through the technology powering the game's Battlelog system. Other highlights include Nathan Vella of Canadian studio Capy, who will explain how the Swords & Sworcery developer markets its wares on indie budgets, while Dorian Kieken will share BioWare's holistic approach to building studio culture. The evening plays host to the Nordic Game Awards - you can browse through the nominees here.
The following morning, Square Enix's Jonathan Jacques-Belletête will discuss the publisher's approach to art direction, before Id Software studio director Tim Willits will give an in-depth summary of how 2011 shooter Rage was born - not just the technology that underpins it, but the forays into comic books and smartphone apps that helped build buzz in the runup to its release. On a similar theme, Cyanide studio director Yves Bordeleau will speak about the company's Game Of Thrones RPG from a game and transmedia perspective.
Wooga's Wilhelm Österberg is sure to ruffle some feathers with his talk, Why Making Social Games Doesn't Have To Suck. Fez designer Phil Fish is no stranger to controversy either - telling a Japanese developer at GDC that "your games just suck" - but his talk, Good Design, looks at whether design best practice in other industries is suitable for videogames. Perimeter Partners' Jason Della Rocca will host the final session, the Grand Finale Debate, though topics up for discussion remain shrouded in secrecy.
There are plenty of other sessions, of course, split this year into seven tracks: Creation, Technology, Business And Financing, Transmedia, Production, Human Resources and Social Marketing. Throughout both days, the Pitch And Match area provides the setting for networking opportunities from companies in every area of the game industry. Like GDC, Nordic Game's organisers have adjusted well to a rapidly changing industry, ensuring the conference reflects the rise of social games and free-to-play without diluting its focus on the business and creation of traditional games. Keep an eye on the site next week for our coverage, which you can easily track by bookmarking the Nordic Game page.