Crowdfunding experts to share their secrets at Interface next month

Leading games developers will discuss how to make the most of crowdfunding at an opening keynote panel at Interface next month.

The panel will include industry veteran Charles Cecil, who took his Broken Sword series to Kickstarter in 2012 and made over £770,000.

Playtonic’s Andy Robinson will also join the discussion. Formed of former Rare developers, Playtonic made over £2m on Kickstarter with its game Yooka-Laylee, which will be published later this year.

We also have Chris Mehers, the founder and COO of Edge Case Games. Which generated just shy of $200,000 on Kickstarter for the game Strike Suit Zero, before finding around £3m in funding to launch the studio and develop Fractured Space.

Finally, we have investment and crowdfunding expert Thomas Bidaux, who works for ICO Partners and is used by major companies looking to use crowdfunding mixed with other investment.

‘The £6m panel’ will kick start the Interface conference, which is returning to London on May 5th at St Mary’s Church – inviting publishers, developers and investors to make new connections and do business in a unique and informative event. You can sign up here.

The event will bring together over 350 firms in a series of one-to-one pitching meetings, informative masterclass sessions as well as panel discussions and keynote presentations focusing on the key issues facing the games development industry.

There are limited free passes for indie developers – sign up here to secure your place. For sponsorship opportunities contact Conor Tallon at ctallon@nbmedia.com or Charlotte Nangle oncnangle@nbmedia.com.

On the day, attendees curate their own experience – typically a day will be a mixture of taking in conference sessions and keynote talks, pre-arranged one-to-one pitching meetings (arranged by us) and ad hoc meetings/product demonstrations at the exhibition. The entire day is designed to bring all aspects of the videos games industry together through an array of methods.

The conference schedule for Interface 2016 is as follows:

09:30 Registration & Coffee & Networking

10:00 Conference Welcome

10:10 Opening Keynote Discussion: The £6m Panel
Speakers:
Andy Robinson, Playtonic
Charles Cecil, Revolution
Thomas Bidaux, Ico Partners
Chris Mehers, Edge Case Games

Leading crowdfunding experts who have together raised more than £10m via the likes of Kickstarter discuss the merits and dangers of this method of raising money.

10:45 Secrets of Success: How to sell your game to an investor/publisher
Speaker: Debbie Bestwick, Team17

Tips, advice and support for small developers in pitching and selling their games to potential partners.

11:10 Panel Discussion: Is your game actually ready

So you’ve made a wonderful game and it’s ready for launch… but is it really? Will it pass certification? Have you checked for bugs and spelling? How do you make sure your game is good enough for the consumer? QA specialists, developers and publishers discuss the challenges they frequently face and how you can avoid them.

11:45 Coffee, Networking & Exhibition Visit

12:00 Indie Studio Surgey
Speaker: Dan Pinchbeck, The Chinese Room

Your questions about starting-up and running a small game company answered by Dan Pinchbeck, studio head of successful UK studio The Chinese Room. He’s actually a doctor too, so the analogy holds (OK, so his doctorate is in first-person shooters but it still counts, right?).

12:25 Working With Tax Breaks

Experts in UK Games Tax Relief from UKIE and the BFI discusses how to make the most out of the Government’s support for games developers

12:50 Lunch, Networking & Exhibition Visit

14:00 Panel Discussion: Is self-publishing dead

Leading publishers and developers discuss the merits, and pitfalls, of using publishers when releasing a game

14:35
The secret art to discoverability

Tips and tricks from leading data analysts on methods you could adopt in getting your game noticed on the App Store, Google Play, Steam, Xbox Live and PSN

15:00 Going Global

The games industry is an international business. But what should you consider when building your game when trying to sell your game abroad? Euromonitor share their data

15:25 Coffee, Networking & Exhibition Visit

16:00 PR Power Panel Discussion
Speakers:
Caroline Miller, Indigo Pearl
Lauren Dillon, Premier PR
Stefano Petrullo, Renaissance PR
Tracey McGarrigan, Ansible Communications

Leading PR experts from Indigo Pearl, Premier PR, Renaissance PR and Ansible Communications will discuss working with the media, utilising video and how best to use social media. We will also discuss pitfalls for studios to avoid when trying to sell their game

16:35 Closing Keynote: 10 sure fire ways to maybe do interesting stuff that could work, possibly
Speaker: Mike Bithell

A leading games independent developers discusses his/her rise from the bedroom to an international gaming legend

17:00
Closing Comments & Take-Away Tips

Developers in attendance last year included Digital Tales, Honey Tribe Studios, Input Mobile, RedBreast Studio, Fat Pebble, Chilled Mouse, Viewpoint Games, Sigtrap, Milky Tea, The Project Factory, Torque Studios, R Control, MoonJump, Pixlebomb, Universally Speaking, The Hero That Ran, Wish Studios, Pixel Spill, Giftgaming, Fat Fish Games, RedSix Games, Cupboard Games, Fourth State, UpDownLeftRight, RGBird Games, Sliding Pixel, Kurly Entertainment, LYTE, The Dangerous Kitchen, Gunkatana, Antstream, Large Visible Machine, Oxford Audio Post Production, FlySoftworks, Playback Interactive, Distinctive Developments. ??For more information, check out the Interface website here.