SUBOTRON/WKW pro games: International Indie Games Meeting
Donnerstag, 20. November 2014 - 19:00 Uhr
RaumD / Q21
SUBOTRON/WKW pro games: International Indie Games Meeting
Nachdem uns Rami Ismail von Vlambeer im Frühling und Martin Jonasson von grapefrukt im Herbst 2013 besucht haben, geht unser großer Roundtable zum Thema unabhängige Spielentwicklung in die dritte Runde.
“Ist das noch Indie?” – Die ewige Frage, was eigentlich ein Indie-Computerspiel ist, hat sich in den letzten Monaten zugespitzt. Viele unabhängige EinzelentwicklerInnen sowie kleine Teams lehnen den Begriff “Indie Game” mittlerweile ab und empfinden sich einfach als eine Gegenkultur zur millionenschweren Triple-A-Industrie, die aber nicht eine eigene Schublade braucht, sondern ihre Vielfalt lebt. Währenddessen erblühen auf Konsolen als auch am PC sowie auf tragbaren Geräten kleinere, innovative, unabhängig entwickelte Spiele mehr denn je zuvor. Dort heißen sie meist weiterhin “Indie Games” und reihen sich in Sachen Aufmerksamkeit und oft auch Verkäufe nahtlos an die klassischen, technisch aufwendigeren Industrieproduktionen.
Wie hat diese neue Selbstwahrnehmung die umfangreiche Gemeinschaft der unabhängigen Games-EntwicklerInnen geprägt? Wie viel Erfolg hat der Vorstoß auf Konsolen, Smartphones, Tablets und Steam gebracht? Welche wirtschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen haben sich in den letzten Monaten verändert? Ist es schwieriger geworden, sich in Zeiten von Game Jams und immer mehr an der Community teilnehmenden Hobby-EntwicklerInnen mit den eigenen Werken zu positionieren? Darüber und auch über aktuelle öffentliche Debatten, in denen “Indies” eine Rolle spielen, sprechen an diesem Abend folgende
Teilnehmer:
Piotr Iwanicki
SUPERHOT, Warsaw
Piotr Iwanicki is a director and lead developer of “SUPERHOT”, an experimental First Person Shooter game, where time moves only when you move – effectively turning the classic gaming experience into an intense and deadly puzzle. The project started as a prototype developed for the 7 Day FPS Challenge and quickly gathered surprising amount of attention. Grown from the original group is the studio that now employs a team of 7, working on further development of “SUPERHOT”. With the support of community and a successful Kickstarter campaign, the game is now being developed for a Steam and Xbox One release in mid 2015.
Andreas Zecher
Spaces of Play, Berlin/Stockholm
Andreas is part of Spaces of Play, the three-person indie studio behind puzzle game “Spirits” and action adventure “Future Unfolding”. The studio members initially met at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, Germany. “Future Unfolding” is co-founded by Indie Fund + Friends as well as by the Creative Europe MEDIA Program. The game is aimed to be released in 2015 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and other to-be-announced platforms. Andreas also runs Promoter, a web service for game developers to keep track of press mentions, promo codes and festival deadlines. His talk is about how focusing on your team’s individual strengths and values can help create something truly unique that stands out in a crowded marketplace.
Reinhard Schmid
DoubleSmith, St.Pölten
Gila and Reinhard Schmid founded DoubleSmith in 2013. Before the founding of DoubleSmith Gila and Reinhard worked for studios like Rockstar Games, Walt Disney (Blackrock Studios), Rabcat and Quadriga FX, where they helped to ship multiple AAA titles.
DoubleSmith has a strong focus on mobile development, they work on their own IP’s, and support other studios with art and animation contract work. In 2013 DoubleSmith released their first game “Headless”. Since September 2014 DoubleSmith is part of the Remote Control Productions family.
Philipp Schaefer
Zeppelin Studio, Wien/Berlin
Philipp Schaefer and Michael Benda decided to found Zeppelin Studio after “Schein” received a lot of attention in Austria. “Schein” is a tricky puzzle platformer, which started as a project at “FH Technikum Wien”. While the team was still on the move from university to a business they won the “Microsoft Imagine Cup Award”. Financial and morally strengthened they proceeded. The first price followed a second for Christmas – the “German Developer Award for Newcomer”.
Since mid-June “Schein” is available on multiple Online Distribution Platforms and will be released on Steam at the 10th October.
Moderation: Robert Glashüttner (ORF/FM4)
EXTRA: Vorstellung “Games Austria”
Games Austria is a non-profit organization and evolved from the IGDA Vienna Chapter. Its main goals are connecting, informing, promoting and supporting the Austrian Games Industry.
IGDA Vienna, the Vienna Chapter of the International Game Developers Association was founded on 1st August 2002, when game developers needed to connect with like-minded people. Today, the third generation of chapter leaders matured the chapter within 2.75 years to today’s Games Austria platform.