Main Day 2 - Wednesday 11th September

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Sarah Tilley

Product Management Director, Live Services
PlayStation Studio

9:05 am - 9:30 am PRESENTATION: Development a Live Service Mindset... When things are already in motion!

Alexander Rehm - Director of Live Operations, People can Fly

You may already work on a live title and want to create a new game, or you're doing this for the first time: building a new team and developing a new project is not easy. This session talks about:

·       Providing Clarity around our Objectives

·       Milestones vs Phase Objectives: validating your deliverables

·       The role of LiveOps: driving clarity through product & business objectives

·       Insights-informed development: focusing on player experience

·       Developing a Test Framework: Insights -> Actions -> Release

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Alexander Rehm

Director of Live Operations
People can Fly

  • Deliver GaaS strategies to drive business growth and innovation.
  • Working side-by-side with the development studio to bring quality gaming experiences to players, for a particular product or franchise, across multiple platforms.
  • Establishing technical infrastructure and publishing operations, without stifling the creativity and ingenuity of game teams.
  • Converting operational complexity into streamlined efficiency – cross-game analytics, data management, live ops team talent
  • How the gaming backend platforms can enable studios to effectively manage the intricacies and operations of live services and multi-title development.
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Sergei Vasiuk

Director of LiveOps
Wargaming

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Emma Farrow

Chief Publishing Officer
Avalanche Studios Group

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Alexander Rehm

Director of Live Operations
People can Fly

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Matthieu Burleraux

Senior Director, Puzzle Games
Rovio Entertainment

  • Achieving strategic goals for a product portfolio by driving excellence in game functionality and operational integrity throughout the lifecycle of gaming product (across multiple titles and platforms).
  • Effectively operating multiple live-ops titles (cost, team resources, content, technical delivery).
  • Scaling up a global LiveOps to deliver seamless experiences for players across the lifecycle of generation-defining game products.
  • Ensuring that the infrastructure matches the high-quality game content and workflows such as game updates are optimal.
  • What could go wrong? Resourcing internally to mitigate against technical issues and support long-term games success.
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Claire Bromley

Maps and Modes Live Service Producer – Battlefield 2042
Criterion Games

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Hunter Bulkeley

Director of Product Management
1047 Games

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Siddharth Dhulipalla

CEO & Co-Founder
Hathora

10:50 am - 11:20 am Networking Break & Refreshments

Stream A - Live Quality Operations

11:20 am - 11:25 am Chair Remarks
Garry Barter - Senior Business Program Manager, Jagex
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Garry Barter

Senior Business Program Manager
Jagex

Stream A - Live Quality Operations

11:25 am - 11:50 am PRESENTATION: It's All About the Bugs - Ensuring Quality of Service in Live Games to Retain and Grow the Player Base
Ben Wibberley - Games Industry Executive, Consultant
  • Enhancing Player Satisfaction through Quality of Service: Prioritizing the delivery of a high-quality gaming experience as the cornerstone of player satisfaction. This involves rigorous testing, timely updates, and consistent performance improvements to ensure that players enjoy a seamless and engaging gaming environment.
  • Effective Management of Bugs and Technical Debt: Addressing the challenges posed by bugs and technical debt in complex gaming environments head-on. Allocating resources to solve immediate fixes and long-term stability improvements.
  • Player-Driven Experience and Feedback Loops: Leveraging player feedback to guide improvements in game quality and service. This includes establishing channels for direct communication, analysing player behaviour and feedback, and integrating insights into development cycles to enhance the game's quality continuously.
  • Impact of Content Releases on Quality of Service: Examining how the release of new content affects game stability and player satisfaction. This involves balancing the introduction of engaging new features and expansions with the necessity of maintaining an optimal level of service quality, ensuring that updates enhance rather than compromise the player experience.
  • Analysing Player Retention through Quality of Service: How ensuring a bug-free, smoothly running game environment contributes to keeping players engaged over the long term, emphasizing the importance of quality as a key driver of player loyalty.
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Ben Wibberley

Games Industry Executive
Consultant

Stream A - Live Quality Operations

11:50 am - 12:15 pm PRESENTATION: AI-Powered Automation for Level Life Cycle Optimization
Theodoros Panagiotakopoulos - AI/ML Engineer, King
  • AI-Powered Playtesting and Tweaking: Exploring how we use AI to test new Candy Crush Saga levels and optimize them based on specific metrics, ensuring high-quality and engaging gameplay.
  • Building Maintainable and Usable AI Apps: How we build AI solutions that game teams can seamlessly extend with new features and iterations, ensuring long-term project maintainability.


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Theodoros Panagiotakopoulos

AI/ML Engineer
King

Stream A - Live Quality Operations

12:15 pm - 12:40 pm PRESENTATION: Assassin’s Creed Mirage, an Analytics Retrospective for a Seemingly Non Live Service Game
Yossef Benzeghadi - Game Analytics Manager, Ubisoft Bordeaux Studio
  • From the get-go, Mirage did not have a huge live service and postlaunch ambition, yet it has the most accurate tracking of the franchise so far. Let’s dive in together to understand why!
  • A massive production like Assassin’s Creed faces numerous challenges during development. In such context, non-player facing features like analytics can be easily considered superfluous and be first on the CUT list. Analytics vision, organization and mindset has been key on our project and studio to avoid such pitfalls, and instead push the envelope on the analytics scope. It was not easy, but there’s much best practices to take away about how!
  • Surprisingly, analytics was not just used to track the number of cats players kindly hugged in the streets of 9th Century Baghdad. Many features and gameplay systems got iterated upon and improved thanks to the combined power of playtesting feedback and players’ data during production and beyond, feel free to join to discover a sneak peek of what!
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Yossef Benzeghadi

Game Analytics Manager
Ubisoft Bordeaux Studio

Stream B - Growing Live Games – Player Acquisition, Engagement and Retention

11:20 am - 11:25 am Chair Remarks
Gustav Pastucha - Strategic Partnerships, Pixel Federation
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Gustav Pastucha

Strategic Partnerships
Pixel Federation

Stream B - Growing Live Games – Player Acquisition, Engagement and Retention

11:25 am - 11:50 am PRESENTATION: Unpacking the Secrets of Player Engagement in Live Service Games
Sergei Vasiuk - Director of LiveOps, Wargaming

Boosting player engagement is tough in live service games because it's hard to define and measure. In this talk, I'll cover four key parts needed to improve engagement and three main enablers for your strategy. You'll also get a detailed look at the LiveOps Event Canvas we use in World of Tanks, which helps plan and run exciting events for players.


You will learn:

·       How to boost engagement.

·       How to measure the impact of engagement boosters.

·       How to enable your engagement strategy.

·       How to utilize the LiveOps Event Canvas.

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Sergei Vasiuk

Director of LiveOps
Wargaming

Stream B - Growing Live Games – Player Acquisition, Engagement and Retention

11:50 am - 12:15 pm PRESENTATION: Deepening Engagement and Enabling Personalised Economies
Matthieu Burleraux - Senior Director, Puzzle Games, Rovio Entertainment
  • The role of LiveOps in creating 'the cohort of one', where personalized content, offers, and in-game economies are tailored to individual player behaviours and preferences, fostering a deeper connection and sense of ownership.
  • Driving Renewed Growth in Established Franchises: How LiveOps can successfully reinvigorated interest and growth in longstanding game franchises, highlighting strategies that led to renewed player engagement and increased revenue streams.
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Matthieu Burleraux

Senior Director, Puzzle Games
Rovio Entertainment

Stream B - Growing Live Games – Player Acquisition, Engagement and Retention

12:15 pm - 12:40 pm PRESENTATION: Enhancing Player Onboarding and Retention with the "Greet and Guide" Outreach Program
Rafn Herlufsen - Director of Player Experience & Community, CCP Games
  • The "Greet and Guide" Outreach Program: A data-driven approach to personalize player onboarding and engagement.
  • Making predictions on a player's likelihood to subscribe and their preferred playstyle using various data points.
  • Tailored Player Interactions: Strategies for customized outreach during the onboarding process to improve key performance indicators (KPIs).
  • Measuring Success: An analysis of the program's effectiveness in enhancing player engagement and retention, supported by data on improved KPIs.
  • Insights into how the "Greet and Guide" program can evolve and continue to positively impact player experience and game success.
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Rafn Herlufsen

Director of Player Experience & Community
CCP Games

12:40 pm - 1:40 pm Networking Lunch

Stream A - Managing and Analysing Game Data at Scale

1:40 pm - 1:45 pm Chair Remarks
Garry Barter - Senior Business Program Manager, Jagex
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Garry Barter

Senior Business Program Manager
Jagex

  • Monitor the heartbeat of your game: Track engagement, retention, and monetization metrics in real-time to swiftly identify trends and adapt strategies. Ensure seamless updates and capacity planning by evaluating the need for expanded infrastructure like additional live servers.
  • Strategic, data-driven decision-making: Leverage comprehensive analytics to set initiatives that enhance player experiences and retention.
  • Measure ROI and Refine Strategies: Validate LiveOps impact using data to guide future-oriented investments. Continuously assess and optimize operations by integrating in-game data with player insights from community feedback, consumer studies, and user research to enhance relevancy and effectiveness.
  • Coordinate your productions teams and engage them in your data & players insights to make sure to sustain team engagement and motivation.
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Simon Diguet

Live Ops & Analytics Director
Amplitude Studios

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Amanda Cuthbert

Live Ops Marketing Director
Creative Assembly

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Teodora Petkova

Senior Live Ops Manager & Product Owner
Supersolid

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Anton Kiselev

Ex-Head of Analytics
Playrix

Stream A - Managing and Analysing Game Data at Scale

2:25 pm - 3:00 pm PANEL: Adapting and Growing Games For Global Players
Tamara Tirjak - Head of Localisation, Frontier Developments
Denis Ivanov - Head of Localization, Belka Games
Carla Condemi - Head of QA & Localisation, Dovetail Games
  • Why a localisation strategy is key to access in new markets and expanding your audience.
  • The impact that localisation has on the global player experience (including adapting to cultural expectations).
  • Providing better community experience – from translating in-game content to enhancing player-to-player communication across borders.
  • Adoption of technologies, such as machine learning and AI, to streamline localisation processes and increase efficiencies. 
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Tamara Tirjak

Head of Localisation
Frontier Developments

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Denis Ivanov

Head of Localization
Belka Games

Carla Condemi

Head of QA & Localisation
Dovetail Games

Stream B - Sustained Growth in Dynamic Environments

1:40 pm - 1:45 pm Chair Remarks
Sebastian Fleer - Consultant, Lensfleer
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Sebastian Fleer

Consultant
Lensfleer

Stream B - Sustained Growth in Dynamic Environments

1:45 pm - 2:10 pm PRESENTATION: Building a 1 Billion Dollar Game by Fostering a Community of Female Hardcore Gamers
Florian Blaesche - Director of Player Experience, Wooga
  • We will dive into how Wooga crafts engaging player experiences for their niche hardcore gaming audience.
  • Establishing a player-centric approach that brings value to both the player and the business.
  • How does Wooga know what the players want and how they build features that cater to their players motivations. How to make players continuously care about what is on offer, both in and outside of the game.
  • Thinking beyond the game and making players care about the Community.
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Florian Blaesche

Director of Player Experience
Wooga

Stream B - Sustained Growth in Dynamic Environments

2:10 pm - 2:35 pm PRESENTATION: Content Cadence: Hammering Habits into Your Players
Hunter Bulkeley - Director of Product Management, 1047 Games


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Hunter Bulkeley

Director of Product Management
1047 Games

Stream B - Sustained Growth in Dynamic Environments

2:35 pm - 3:00 pm PRESENTATION: Post-Launch Strategies for Longevity and Growth
Mohammed Benhenneda - Business Strategy & Live Performance Director (Rainbow Six), Ubisoft
  • Continuous Content Delivery: The importance of a roadmap for regular content updates to keep the game fresh and engaging for players.
  • Community Engagement and Feedback: Leveraging community feedback to make informed updates and changes, enhancing player satisfaction and retention.
  • Evolving Monetisation Strategies: Examining how successful games evolve their monetization strategies post-launch to boost revenue while maintaining player trust.
  •  Analytics and Adaptation: Using data analytics to understand player behaviour and adapt the game to meet changing preferences and trends.
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Mohammed Benhenneda

Business Strategy & Live Performance Director (Rainbow Six)
Ubisoft

3:05 pm - 3:30 pm Networking Break & Refreshments

3:30 pm - 3:35 pm Chair Remarks

Jeff Pabst - Founder & CEO, Gamesmiths Ltd
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Jeff Pabst

Founder & CEO
Gamesmiths Ltd

  • Analysing successful live service games that have adapted to these challenges, showcasing strategies that worked. This section will provide real-world examples of games that have managed to grow and maintain a loyal player base through innovative business models, engaging content strategies, and a commitment to balancing the needs and desires of their community.
  • Balancing Old and New Players: Crafting strategies to maintain an appealing, engaging environment (and content) for both veteran players and newcomers.
  • Expanding the Product to Win Back Players: In a competitive market, it's vital to continuously innovate and adapt to win back players who may have drifted away.
  • Adapting Business Models: Discussing the need for evolution in business models to thrive in a diversified entertainment ecosystem. In an age where no single game can dominate player time, it’s crucial for live service games to find innovative ways to integrate into players' lives, offering value that encourages loyalty and regular engagement.
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Marcus Bodin

Production Director
Mojang Studios

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David Mohr

Managing Director
Com2uS Europe

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Trevor Burrows

Head of Product for Farm Heroes Saga
King

  • Platform Agnosticism: Emphasizes seamless gaming across devices for broader accessibility and inclusivity.
  • Player Choice & Accessibility: Technological advancements provide players with unprecedented freedom and redefine digital accessibility in gaming.
  • Content Evolution: Highlights AAA studios' shift towards live service models and the critical role of user-generated content in engaging communities.
  • Technological Innovation: Speculates on the transformative potential of AR/VR, AI, and cloud computing in offering immersive and personalized gaming experiences.
  • Community and Monetization: Discusses the importance of community dynamics, social integration, and sustainable monetization strategies in retaining players and ensuring game success.
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Jussi Immonen

Chief Commercial Officer
Nitro Games

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Benjamin Villhauer

Chief Innovation Officer
MY.GAMES

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Anna Mostyn Williams

Senior Director of Commercial
Jagex

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Ksenia Samersava

Senior Technical Program Manager
Microsoft

4:55 pm - 5:00 pm Closing Remarks

5:00 pm - 5:00 pm End of Conference