PGC London 2023 is now on! Our first Pocket Gamer Connects of the year is officially our biggest and most exciting event yet. With over 2,500 attendees and dozens of talks and panels taking place across the breadth of our venue at The Brewery in London, PGC has never been busier and it’s never been a better place to promote your business, game or simply to get invaluable insights and comments from literally hundreds of people from around the industry.
If you’re reading this and are attending, then for one congrats for keeping up with our regularly scheduled programming! But if you’re wanting to know what you’ve missed, and what to look out for as we cover the talks and tracks emerging from PGC London 2023 in the coming months, then read on and find out!
The Highlights
The day started strong with a talk from CEO of Steel Media, Chris James. Who boasted of how important this PGC London event was, and of how many attendees we managed to accrue. After which the day started in earnest. Aside from dozens of event booths and attendees from numerous companies such as Xsolla, Redlight Finance, Data.ai and Zebedee, we also had numerous tracks covering four rooms in total.
Track 1
After Chris finished his opening speech, the room for Track 1 switched first to the ‘Brightest Britain’ track, celebrating the UK games industry. With Britain as the home for many of our various writers and other parts of the Pocket Gamer family, it was important to show off a variety of key insights.
After which, the Global Trends track took hold, sponsored by Backtrace. Covering the key trends that are making their mark on the mobile game and video game industry as a whole. Whether that be working with creators, the use of AI for UA or even whether or not tech is making a game dev’s life easier.
Next came the Art of Publishing, where we had a variety of talks about the key for many game developers. Which is acquiriing a publisher and understanding how to go from there. Developing a game is half the battle, knowing is the other.
Finally we had Publishing Power to wrap up the day, sponsored by Voodoo. With a quick talk from Alexander Shea to promote Voodoo’s work with the newly re-emergent casual market. We also saw the final talk of this track, with Oscar Clark of fundamentally games emceeing a quick and quirky fantasy games pitch, with our panellists pitching a fantasy game based on a screenshot. Before Oscar revealed the real game behind the screenshot at the end.
Track 2
The Growth Track opened up the day in Track room 2, sponsored by bango. With discussions about the key to any mobile game’s success, growth. You can have an amazing game but without an understanding of how to make it grow, it’ll languish in obscurity. It may even have included some key insights about how the location your studio is set up in may affect that growth.
Next came Recurring Revenue, sponsored by Unleashd, whom you may remember from our previous reporting. Discussing not only game subscriptions which Unleashd parent company Multiscription specialises in, but also about new revenue streams and how to work with new ways of monetising.
Finally we had Marketing Mavens, sponsored by Reaktor. Covering a variety of talks and panels about some of the key issues surrounding the marketing world. Such as how Gen Z reacts to your advertising, how to get accessible marketing on any budget and even the art of advertising in gaming itself.
Track 3
We opened this track with the Live Ops Landscape series. Live Ops are one of the biggest new means of managing a game long-term. But still misunderstood massively. By supporting players, incorporating feedback and knowing when to stick to your guns, you can change and adapt your game over time to great effect. It may have even had a panel hosted by yours truly…
Next was Master the Multiplayer, sponsored by Photon. Although for some developers multiplayer may only be second thought in mobile games outside of those custom made for it, it’s still a key consideration if you want to look at it later down the line. Or if you’re like Superplus Games, develop a new title in a new genre whilst keeping your key identity.
Company Culture, sponsored by Product Madness, followed. As they discussed the inner culture of the companies that proudly make and work with games. Discussing how to build and remedy it remotely and working to emphasise and help a diverse team make the best of their talents.
Finally, we had Industry Visions + Values. Covering a variety of more abstracted talks on a variety of topics. Activism in games and what they can do to improve the world as well as the sustainability of business and the regulatory risks rising in the mobile industry. Similar to Track 1.
Track 4
We started track 4 with a brief but important opener. The Developer Toolkit sessions covered a talk and a panel discussing how you can offer great support and the trends, models and more you’ll need to keep an eye on going into 2023.
AI is a big trend in 2022 and now in 2023, so the AI Advances sessions sponsored by Ludo would probably be your choice if you’re interested in them. Covering all facets of the AI industry and how it will, or might, affect mobile game development.
Next we have Tech Trend Setters, sponsored by Scuti. Covering more upcoming trends, such as multi-platform, evolving monetisation and the general overview of where technology will take mobile gaming next. As always, looking towards the future helps inform best practice today.
Web3 Wallet is there for anyone who wants to know more about the Web3 monetisation game. A complex idea to understand, but fortunately for those who are interested we had great speakers and a panel that did their level best to break it down for us.
Finally was Building on Blockchain, Sponsored by Redlight Finance to wrap up the day. As they covered the late afternoon it gave a number of key talks on building with the blockchain technology that has been both controversial and discussed frequently amongst all circles, including in mobile gaming.
Want to find out more? Well we’ll have a similar wrap up tomorrow covering the final day of PGC London. But if you want to know what went on in these sessions you’ll have to look out for all our coverage in the coming weeks. And keep your eyes for Pocket Gamer Seattle, coming later in 2023.
It may just be the start of the year, but Pocket Gamer is starting strong with our most successful London event yet! Hope to see you in person at one of our events in 2023!
