Industry veterans David Perry, David Braben and more to speak at Develop

Video game veterans David Perry, Ian Livingstone, Philip Oliver and David Braben will speak at Develop in Brighton this summer as part of the conference’s brand new Visionaries Track. Develop in Brighton – Europe’s leading conference for game developers – takes place on 10-12 July 2012 at the city’s Hilton Metropole.

The Visionaries Track is being introduced to give Develop in Brighton delegates a unique opportunity to hear and learn from some of the industry’s most influential, inventive and inspirational entrepreneurs.

Within the Visionaries track are the Reloaded sessions Relearning from the masters: 1980s development. Inspired by the way the industry has come full circle since the 80s, these sessions are presented by David Perry and Philip Oliver: two of the industry’s master players who all started as bedroom coders and went on to set up leading studios and launch AAA games.

They will present half hour talks that look at what can we learn from the past and share the knowledge they have gained from living through – and surviving - this cycle:

David Perry (GAIKAI): Earthworm Jim: A game. A character. A legend.
Philip Oliver (Blitz Game Studios): Adventures on the ZX Spectrum

David Perry commented: “I’m really excited about presenting a Reloaded session at Develop – it’s a great opportunity for us old-timers to share what we’ve learned with upcoming developers. Many people say they enjoy conferences the most when they get something concrete to take home. That can be ideas, answers and connections. We asked ourselves could we deliver them all in a new kind of Develop session and the answer is, we can.”

Additional Visionaries sessions include:

Ian Livingstone (Eidos): From Dungeons to Downing Street
David Braben (Frontier): Raspberry Pi so far

Ian Livingstone, Eidos life president, said: “The games industry has come a long way in a short time. Its social, cultural and economic impact on society is finally being recognised in government and mainstream media. But celebration of the art form is not enough. The new digital landscape requires new skills and access to finance for the next generation of creative talent to succeed, building on the great legacy of the UK’s trailblazing developers. From my experiences with Games Workshop, Fighting Fantasy, Eidos, working with government and investing in Indies, I hope to help point the way.”

Develop in Brighton includes the following tracks:

Tuesday 10 July Evolve Conference
Wednesday 11- Thursday 12 July Develop Conference, Develop Expo, Indie Showcase
Thursday 12 July Indie Dev Day, Audio track

Notes to editors:
About the Develop Conference:
The seventh Develop Conference will take place at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton, UK, from 10 - 12 July 2012. Last year’s event attracted 1,559 game developers from over 20 different territories. The event is now firmly established as the leading conference in Europe for games developers. Tracks include: Art, Audio, Business, Coding, Design, Education, Evolve, Production and The Den.

Evolve focuses on how to develop games for new and emerging platforms, new technologies and new markets like social and casual gaming. It opens on Tuesday 10 July.

Indie Dev Day the new day-long conference and networking event running alongside Develop is designed for established independent studios, new start-ups, wannabe indies, freelance developers and students. The sessions will complement the Indie Dev Showcase: a dedicated area within the Develop Expo (11 - 12 July) featuring some of the exciting and new indie projects currently under development.