Develop:Brighton, the conference featuring developers from around the world talking about all things gaming and game development, announces its conference schedule for 2023, which will be headlined by Horizon developer Guerrilla. The Dutch studio, previously known for its Killzone series on Sony PlayStation before creating Horizon Zero Dawn and sequel Horizon Forbidden West, will talk about the development of its latest game and the challenges faced along the way.
Guerrilla studio leaders Angie Smets, Jan-Bart van Beek, and Michiel van der Leeuw will discuss the process of creating Forbidden West, which has yet to follow Zero Dawn onto PC but seems likely to do so as Sony continues its push onto the platform. The team will also share a glimpse into the studio’s next chapter and what they’re looking forward to creatively. The studio will also receive the 2023 Develop Star Award, recognising outstanding achievements and contributions to the game industry.
“Guerrilla is thrilled to be delivering a keynote session at Develop:Brighton 2023 and truly honoured to be the first studio to receive the Develop Star Award,” former Guerrilla studio director and now head of development strategy at PlayStation Studios Angie Smets says. “We are excited to celebrate with our peers, share development insights from over two decades of studio history, and speak to why we’re confident about the road ahead.
Guerrilla will be joined by Develop:Brighton keynote speaker Jon Ingold, co-founder of indie studio inkle, with the third keynote set to be announced in the coming weeks. Among the other conference speakers are developers from the studios behind such great games such as Returnal, Dead Island 2, Lego Star Wars, God of War Ragnarök, As Dusk Falls, and RuneScape 3.
Develop:Brighton dates and tickets
Develop:Brighton takes place July 11-13 in The Hilton Brighton Metropole. If you’re looking to join in and hear from a wealth of industry leaders, you can pick up an early bird ticket for Develop:Brighton at a discounted rate until June 8 from the Develop website. Even better than that, you can use PCGamesN’s official code ARFWDS for a 10% discount when purchasing a Develop:Brighton ticket before June 8.
Develop:Brighton conferences
Here is a selection of the conferences for Develop:Brighton 2023:
- Concept Art in Returnal: How creative principles shaped Returnal’s visual development (Art) – Veera Hokkanen, Housemarque, PlayStation Studios
- The Innards of F.L.E.S.H: Dead Island 2’s gore system dissected (Art) – Dan Evans-Lawes and Aaron Ridge, Deep Silver Dambuster Studios
- Congrats! You’re a middle manager! Now what? (Business) – Marc Espinola Berestein, Sumo Digital
- Lego Star Wars: 200+ character states built for 384 playable characters (Coding)- Ian Simpson, TT Games
- Are your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives helping or hurting? (Business) – Anita Sarkeesian, Feminist Frequency
- Challenges in creating a completely new IP (Art) – Josh Grier and Mike Grier, Ember Lab (Kena: Bridge of Spirits)
- Programming for ‘As Dusk Falls’: Using Unity differently (Coding) – Ron de Feijter, Interior Night
- How to successfully kill a mobile game (Mobile) – Allan Stowe, Outfit7
- Creating the epic audio for God of War Ragnarök – Michael Kent, PlayStation Studios / Creative Arts
- How to end the world: A post-mortem of RuneScape 3’s 2022 season finale (Design) – Diana Flindt, Splash Damage
- Spreading an indie game on social media from announcement to release and beyond (Discoverability) – Brynmor Richards, Super Rare Games
- Why you’re already out of touch on TikTok (Indie Bootcamp) – Sam Jones, Pinpoint
- Overcoming the imposter syndrome (Roundtable) – Estelle Bailly, Hi-Rez Studios
For more, including a full schedule, head to the Develop website.
Develop:Brighton promises to be a great way to not only hear from the people behind some of the very best PC games, but also get a sneak peek at some potential upcoming games and the future of the game industry.