This presentation aims to shed some light on exciting opportunities as well as the number of difficulties faced by QA and Test automation when looking at complex games. QA comes in all shapes and sizes, but trying to maximise efficiency in testing a complex game can be quite… complex. Join Albin in this session to learn about strategies for maximising efforts in high-level complex games.

Albin Wallin

Test Automation Engineer
Paradox Interactive

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Dive into the QA space and explore newly developed tools that can boost the efficiency of the function and of our roles. Discover how studios are using these tools to streamline testing processes, boost efficiency, and elevate the overall quality of gaming experiences while also maintaining a balance between humans and technology. 

From job titles through naming conventions to processes. This will be an open panel about if QA needs to be codified and, if yes, where do we start?

Sebastian Huzik

QA Manager
IO Interactive

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Simon Sandrock

QA Manager
Dovetail Games

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AI is the hottest topic, but one where the gaming industry, due to its complex make-up, has some catching up to do. In this presentation, we will hear about the experiments this studio has made with AI in QA and testing. With experimentation comes failure, and so this session will not only highlight the exciting triumphs but will also look at the failures that allowed them to happen.

Leave with some ideas of how you can integrate AI within your post-development process.

Looking outside of gaming and seeking insights from those in other industries can really aid our practice and success. This presentation will look at a case-study of partnering with sports professionals for a localised esports game. It will delve into the challenges faced with working externally and how to tackle these challenges. Getting value from elsewhere can broaden our horizons, but is not always easy, so this session will also understand some more soft skills that can help equip us to extract everything we possibly can from these partners.

Katerina Florinskaya

Head of Localization
Strikerz

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Join Alcir on a journey from gaming enthusiast to localization expert in this session. Memories of growing up frustrated by poorly localized games might be something that resonates with many, but so does witnessing the radical improvement of games through effective localization! Alcir turned his passion into a career and now he shares his experiences and insights into enhancing localization for legacy games.

Alcir Marques

Localisation Manager
Jagex

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This presentation will explore how we can adopt a player-centric approach to localization and how our workflow can influence this by answering the following questions:

• What is the significance of adopting a player-centric approach in the localization process?
• How can we integrate player feedback into the localization workflow and improve cultural relevance?
• What localization strategies resonate well with diverse player communities?

Advancements in technology including AI, NLP, and ML can be exciting to explore, but also difficult to apply. This session aims to showcase some new and exciting advancements in using AI not only for translation and language but for other aspects of localization including audio.

Mike Kim

Localization Director
Kong Studios

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Ekaterina Zaytseva

Senior Localisation Manager
Frontier Development

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In this session, we will be inspired by a studio that has navigated challenges within their community, demonstrating resilience and determination in the face of adversity. They have persevered through negativity, using it as fuel to drive positive change and strengthen their bond with their community. Join to hear about:

• Where the turning point was, and what negative community issues were faced
• How can we maintain a relationship with the community and not lose their trust in the long term?
• Dealing with toxicity and harassment
• Turning negativity into a positive community and learning experience

Jana Csanyi

Community Management Lead
Pixel Federation

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Richard Banic

Community Management Craft Owner
Pixel Federation

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Engaging a community that are more casual gamers requires a unique strategy. How can we still extract value out of our players and what does the engagement and retention look like? In this panel, discover how different-sized studios approach their community management and support and learn how their experience and interactions can be applied to our own communities. 

This case study will show one studio’s journey of taking player moderation to new levels:

• Integrating AI into our systems and communities to support effective moderation
• Building an enhanced understanding of our player communities to enable us to tailor our approach to moderation
• How can improved reporting support the overall moderation of our player communities?

From Facebook to Instagram to TikTok, this session aims to look at how we are using social platforms to our advantage, and how we can adapt our strategies to align with trends and tragedies. The session will cover the following topics:

• How can we use TikTok to build our communities?
• Introducing TikTok and other platforms for more established games and to those without an influencer angle
• Understanding whether a social channel is still relevant and useful to a community

Clément Ruggeri

Senior Community Manager
NetEase Games

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Fiene Ziegler

Senior Community Management Specialist
InnoGame GmbH

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