The UK's premier indie, publishing and investment event

GI Live: London is the UK’s premier indie, publishing and investment event, taking place alongside the UK’s biggest games consumer expo: EGX. GI Live features two-days of in-person talks, meetings and roundtables, plus a bonus digital meeting day (Tuesday, September 20th). Tickets includes food and drink, plus a four-day pass to EGX. Access to the meeting system will be sent to you via email. The event will be held at CentrEd at Excel, which you can access via the reception by the docks. Map to venue The drink reception takes place at the Novotel Excel, Royal Victoria Dock – Upper Deck Bar.

Speakers

AJ Grand-Scrutton

CEO, Dlala

Alden Kroll

Designer, Valve

Archie Stonehill

Principal, Makers Fund

Bobby Wertheim

VP of Partnerships, Curve

Caroline Marchal

CEO and Creative Director, Interior Night

Cassia Curran

Founder, Curran Games Agency

Cecilia Thirlway

Creative Enterprise Evolve Mentor

Craig Duncan

Studio Head, Rare

David Yarnton

Chief of Business Development, Kinguin

Dawn Paine

Co-Founder and CEO, Aurora Creative Agency

Erik Peterson

Business Development, Valve

Gina Jackson OBE

Harry Hamer

Associate, London Venture Partners

Jane Kinnaird

Creative Strategist at Creative Shop, Meta

Lauren Hunter

Producer, Square Enix Collective

Mehjabeen Patrick

Chief Investment Officer, Creative UK

Mitsu Hirakawa

Director, Business Development EMEA Games Partnership at Twitch

Sean Shoptaw

Senior Vice President, Global Games & Interactive Experiences, Walt Disney

Shuhei Yoshida

Head of PlayStation Indies

Sir Ian Livingstone

Co-Founder, Hiro Capital

Spike Laurie

Partner, Hiro Capital

Stefano Petrullo

Founder, Renaissance PR

Schedule

20 September, 2022
1. 14:00 pm — 14:30 pm BST
  
  Why Disney’s games teams are working with developers of all sizes (Sean Shoptaw, Disney)
  
  AAA games based on Disney franchises are on the way from the biggest games companies on the planet, such as EA, Ubisoft, Sony, Bethesda and more. But did you know Disney is working with indie creators to bring classic characters and franchises back to consoles? In this video Q&A, Walt Disney Games’ Sean Shoptaw talks with GamesIndustry.biz about how the entertainment giant is working with partners of all shapes and sizes.
21 September, 2022
1. 09:30 am — 10:30 am BST
  
  Sign-in and teas/coffees/networking
2. 10:30 am — 11:00 am BST
  
  Fireside Chat: Shuhei Yoshida, PlayStation Indies
  
  The development legend will discuss all the things PlayStation is doing, and will do, to support the indie development community.
3. 11:00 am — 11:30 am BST
  
  Rare's Voyage into the Unknown - Live service, Game Pass & Pirates (Craig Duncan, Rare)
  
  Craig Duncan will discuss Rare's transformation from making traditional single-player and multiplayer games, into creating and managing the ever-evolving, live-service hit Xbox title: Sea of Thieves. He'll share lessons that the team have learned, plus its experience as being the first major game to launch day and date in Xbox Game Pass.
4. 11:30 am — 11:40 am BST
  
  Comfort Break
5. 11:40 am — 12:20 pm BST
  
  The GI Live Investment and Publishing Panel
  
  Lauren Hunter (Square Enix Collective), Cassia Curran (Curran Games Agency), Bobby Wertheim (Curve Games) and Harry Hamer (London Venture Partners) will discuss the latest trends in investment and publishing with GamesIndustry.biz Editor-In-Chief James Batchelor.
6. 12:20 pm — 13:30 pm BST
  
  Lunch and Networking
7. 13:30 pm — 14:00 pm BST
  
  Interview: Sir Ian Livingstone, Hiro Capital
  
  Hiro Capital's Spike Laurie will interview Sir Ian Livingstone to discuss the latest trends in investment and offer advice to studios.
8. 14:00 pm — 14:30 pm BST
  
  Presentation: Using Twitch to Help Build Communities and Strengthen Your Game Launch (Mitsu Hirakawa, Twitch)
  
  The video streaming giant will share advice with studios on how to make the most from its platform
9. 14:00 pm — 14:45 pm BST
  
  Roundtable: Curve Games
  
  Here's your chance to meet the Human: Fall Flat publisher and put your questions to the company
10. 14:30 pm — 15:00 pm BST
  
  Presentation: Everyone hates us and we don't care -- but we should (Gina Jackson OBE)
  
  Games haven’t received the social acceptance by both the global mass media and the general public that it should. We are proud of the revenues we make and the audience engagement we can deliver, but what could we do as an industry to get cultural cut through, and to get governments, politicians and the press onside? And what could that deliver for us and our players?
11. 15:00 pm — 16:00 pm BST
  
  Networking Break
12. 15:00 pm — 15:45 pm BST
  
  Roundtable: Renaissance PR
  
  Here's your chance to meet with the popular PR agency and receive advice on getting attention for your game and studio
13. 16:00 pm — 16:20 pm BST
  
  Presentation: Lessons From Supporting 100 Game Companies (Mehjabeen Patrick and Cecilia Thirlway, Creative Enterprise)
  
  Creative Enterprise presents invaluable advice on running your games studio - essential tips on becoming sustainable based on working with more than 100 games companies over the past few years.
14. 16:20 pm — 16:50 pm BST
  
  Presentation: Making Your Company Investable (Archie Stonehill, Makers Fund)
  
  Archie Stonehill from major international games investors Makers Fund gives an honest presentation about how you can make your company more investable.
22 September, 2022
1. 10:00 am — 10:45 am BST
  
  Roundtable: Creative UK
  
  Join Creative UK to find out more about the organisation's funding and programmes for games developers based in the UK, including the Creative Enterprise initiative
2. 11:00 am — 11:45 am BST
  
  Roundtable: Yogscast Games
  
  The publishing arm of the video media business will be answering your questions. You can even show them your games!
3. 13:30 pm — 14:00 pm BST
  
  From Battletoads to Mickey Mouse: Tips for Working With Major IP
  
  The CEO of Dlala Studios, AJ Grand-Scrutton, gives his advice and tips on working with established IPs - including how to pitch and following up on meetings. This is from the company that developed a new Battletoads game and has just announced it is working on Disney Illusion Island - don't miss this!
4. 14:00 pm — 14:25 pm BST
  
  Opportunities with ID@Xbox
  
  ID@Xbox's Ben Robinson with the latest offerings from the platform holder that supports the indie community
5. 14:35 pm — 15:15 pm BST
  
  Gaming – the new battleground for the world’s biggest companies
  
  Join Dawn Paine from Aurora Agency speaking to video game and entertainment leaders on the wider world of brands and their interest in the video games space
6. 15:15 pm — 16:00 pm BST
  
  Roundtable: ID@Xbox
  
  Your chance to put your questions to ID@Xbox in an intimate roundtable session
7. 16:00 pm — 16:45 pm BST
  
  Valve and Steam Live
  
  Join Alden Kroll and Erik Peterson from Valve in a live interview (they're streaming in from Seattle) where they'll discuss publishing on Steam, Steam Deck and more. Plus, an extensive Q&A segment where developers can put their questions to Valve
8. 16:45 pm — 17:10 pm BST
  
  The long road to As Dusk Falls
  
  A fireside chat with Caroline Marchal (Interior Night) about the making of the innovative As Dusk Falls, the challenges of getting it to market and lessons to be learned for other indie developers.