First Develop:North speakers announced for inaugural Liverpool event

The first speakers have been revealed for the inaugural Develop:North, taking place at The Spine in Liverpool on November 14. They include individuals from the MCV Award-winning Sad Owl Studios. Remedy Entertainment, Sumo Digital, Criterion and Game Republic, with more to be revealed in the coming weeks. Super Early Bird passes are also available from today.

Develop:North was announced in the wake of this year’s Brighton conference and aims to be every bit as expansive and inclusive, though perhaps with fewer opportunities to grab an ice-cream

“Develop:North 2024 offers a comprehensive conference programme which will explore some of the key areas of UK game development, whilst providing a focal point for the hugely talented dev community in the North.” said Tandem Events Managing Director Andy Lane. “This is an exciting step in bringing the highly-regarded Develop conference further afield, this time to an award-winning venue in Liverpool, The Spine.

“The first wave of talks we’re announcing today covers a wide range of topics across fields, disciplines and platforms that we know our delegates want to hear about. These range from character art to developing new IP, from diversity in game narratives to TikTok, with plenty more to be announced in due course,” Lane added.

The first Develop:North 2024 sessions announced include:

Art

The Relationship Between Environment Art and Concept Art in a Game Production
Alex Beddows, Expert Environment Artist / That’s No Moon

It’s Not How It looks, It’s How It feels
Murray Somerwolff, Somerwolff Games

Audio

Alan Wake 2: Audio Systems in a Game of Two Halves
Joshua Bell, Project Lead Audio Designer / Remedy Entertainment
Gulli Gunnarsson, Senior Sound Designer / Remedy Entertainment

Tips and Tricks from a Music Supervisor to Navigate Music Licensing in Games
Irma de Wind, Music Supervisor / Founder / De Wind Music

Business

When and How Best to Lean into External Partners
Claire Bromley, Maps Producer / Criterion Studios

Build Better Games, Faster, Cheaper and Easier with Scrum
Daniel Susser, Embodied Agility

Running a Studio in Turbulent Times
Dr Jackie Mulligan, Development Director, Game Republic
Nina Roussakoff, Founder, Lovewish

Coding

Building Efficient Custom Tools in Unity to Improve Team Collaboration
Amy Elliott, Junior Programmer / Sumo Digital

Design

Viewfinding: From Mechanic to Game
Matt Stark, Game Director / Sad Owl Studios