Program

Your Portside Game Assembly Conference will start with the boarding from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Please make sure to be on time!

Where should studios allocate their resources – and what game will help a studio prevail? Three speakers will share their approaches to these questions in 10-minute impulse talks:

10 Minute Impulse Talks:

• Game Idea Validation - by Philomena Schwab
  Philomena will give an impulse talk on game idea validation and how to make sure that your next game will be viable on the market.
• You Don't Need a Hook - by Jonas Tyroller
  What are the best entry point to start making a new game? Jonas believes: making fun games is easier than making appealing games, so it makes more sense to start with appeal. You don't need a "hook", you need to innovate in a way that makes sense.
• Don't Ship the Wrong Game - by René Habermann
  Shipping a good game that no one desires is a sad affair. René shares how bippinbits avoids this by building many prototypes, evaluating them against real people, and then going into an appropriately scoped production.

Followed by 30 minutes discussion time.

• A mobile port can offer indie game developers access to a much broader audience, as mobile platforms have a massive global user base and lower barriers to entry. It can extend the game's lifespan, generate additional revenue streams, and increase brand recognition. However, developers must carefully consider the limitations and expectations of mobile gaming, such as touch controls, performance constraints, screen size, and shorter play sessions.

• Small indie game developers can collaborate by sharing resources, skills, and knowledge across projects—such as co-developing a game, exchanging assets, cross-promoting each other’s titles, or supporting one another in areas like coding, art, or marketing.

• This kind of collaboration can reduce development costs, shorten production timelines, and improve the overall quality of a game through shared expertise. Additionally, it fosters a sense of community, helps avoid isolation, and can increase visibility through combined audiences. By working together, indie teams can achieve more than they might individually, while still retaining their creative independence.

The coffee break offers the opportunity to let the previous program sink in, move to another deck, talk to colleagues about what you have heard, recharge your batteries with coffee and snacks or get some fresh air on the sun deck.

5 Minute Impulse Talks:

• Keeping the Indie Mindset While Going Big - by Maurice Garcia
  When Blasphemous (2019) became a major indie hit during the pandemic in 2020, Mauricio García left the role of producer to focus on growing and diversifying into a multi-project studio. In this talk he pinpoints some of the challenging situations The Game Kitchen faced while trying to conserve as much as possible of the existing indie culture.

• Hold Your Horses: Why Slow is How We Grow - by Kevin Zuhn
  Young Horses Inc. was founded in 2011 with 9 core members, and over 14 years and 2 game releases has grown to a whopping team size of 11! Creative director Kevin Zuhn talks about how Young Horses has cultivated a culture of trust, transparency, and building consensus, and why they onboard new members into the team as slowly as possible.

Followed by a 20-minute discussion time moderated by Mariève Beauchemin.

• What is the right way to bring a game to market? Do you look for a publisher who can give you financial support in return for a piece of control? Or do you take a higher financial risk and become a self-publisher, retaining full control over your product?

• Self-publishing can offer indie game developers greater creative freedom and full control over their intellectual property, marketing, and release schedule. It allows them to retain a larger share of the revenue and build a direct relationship with their audience.

• However, this approach also comes with significant challenges. Without the support of an experienced publisher, developers may struggle with visibility, funding, and the complexities of marketing, distribution, and quality assurance.

• Longtail monetization can offer promising potential for indie game studios, as it might enable a steady stream of income beyond the initial release period. Instead of relying solely on launch-day sales, developers might gradually attract new players through discounts, platform expansions, and community engagement.

• A longtail strategy launch pressure and allow studios to target niche audiences that might stay loyal over time. Post-release updates, mod support, and visibility via streamers are just a few options helping to keep the game relevant in the long run. If successful, such a strategy might improve return on investment and lay the groundwork for future titles.

• Which methods are worthwhile to keep your game popular in the longtail? These and other questions will be the focus of this roundtable, hosted by Leonie Wolf, Senior Technical Animator at the Berlin-based indie studio Maschinen-Mensch.

5 Minute Impulse Talks:

• Developer by Day, Publisher by Night - by Søren Lundgaard
  In this short talk, Søren will walk you through the motivations for why Ghost Ship Games expanded with a publishing branch. And what they have learned so far from being both a developer and a publisher at the same time.

• Hold Your Horses: Why Slow is how we Grow - by Christian Nyhus Andreasen
  Christian will give insights to his 13 year tenure as angel investor in games and game tech across Europe - including some expensive lessons learned the hard way.
  

Followed by a 20-minute discussion time moderated by Mariève Beauchemin.

Enjoy the conference cruise through the Hamburg Harbour while networking and enjoying a drink on the upper Sun Deck.