[From the industry] Develop:Brighton 2025 returns to the coast on July 8!

This is a press release posted in addition to our usual editorial content.

With just one week remaining until Develop:Brighton returns to the seaside, anticipation is building for the biggest event yet! From 8-10 July, the conference will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Brighton Metropole with talks, showcases and networking happening across all 3 days. 

A major highlight will be a fireside chat style keynote with Sam Lake, Creative Director at Remedy Entertainment who will explore his incredible career, from Max Payne to Alan Wake II.

MachineGames’ Design Director Jens Andersson and Audio Director Pete Ward will also be doing a keynote named ‘The Spirit of Adventure – Bringing Indiana Jones Back to Gaming’ – this fireside chat will offer an exciting exploration of adapting Indiana Jones for today’s gaming landscape.

As always, there will be talks by global games industry talent including Donald Barrett (Insomniac Games), Ilari Kuittinen (Housemarque) and Xu He (ustwo Games) as well as many more. 

This year, the ‘Performance Track’ has been introduced. The new track explores the power of performance through aspects such as voice, emotion and intimacy coordination in gaming. Jane Perry will be keynoting the track with her talk, “Performance in Games: From Data to Drama.” Her session will explore why performance in games matters more than ever, drawing on her own experiences in entertainment to show how its role is crucial to the future of the games industry.

The Indie Showcase returns for 2025, highlighting 10 original and innovative unpublished games chosen by industry experts. Develop:Brighton attendees will have the opportunity to play these games, meet the developers, and vote for their favourite in the People’s Choice Award. These games include titles like Bioframe Outpost, a 2D sci‑fi action‑adventure focused on exploration and experimentation, and Dayjob Daydreams, where players explore the abandoned server of a fictional indie collective and play the games they were developing.

Alongside the conference, the Develop:Star Awards return this year for an exciting evening at the Brighton Dome on 9 July. The evening will celebrate the achievements of the games industry over the last 12 months, with 18 categories including Best Game, Best Studio and Best EDI Initiative. All winners were voted for by the industry and will be announced on the night at a ceremony hosted by Strictly’s Alan Dedicoat.

Develop:Brighton 2025 starts in one week, so don’t miss out. See you by the seaside!